JD Sports on the up while JJB struggles September 20, 2009 RIVAL sportswear retailers JD Sports and JJB Sports are due to report half-year figures this week amid mounting controversy in the sportswear sector.JD Sports has been relatively resilient throughout the downturn, reporting sales lifts and profiting from the ailing fortunes of its rivals. Selling mainly sportswear fashion, rather than sports equipment, it has been cushioned [...]
JJB Sports investigation takes flight to Reykjavik September 13, 2009 THE Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has jetted to Iceland to investigate what is believed to be crucial evidence into an alleged fraud perpetrated by sportswear retailers JJB Sports and Sports Direct. The Icelandic visit is said to be of mutual interest to the SFO and the Icelandic government, which is trying to unearth financial crimes [...]
Strap on your walking boots and head to the Dolomites September 13, 2009 FOR walkers, September means one thing: the last chance of the year to pull on those boots and get up into the mountains. “It’s not Switzerland,” sniffed my wife, when I suggested that we take a break form our usual stomping ground and head to the Dolomites in north Italy. Well, you can’t argue with [...]
Authorities start sport retail probe September 10, 2009 SPORT retailers JJB Sports and Sports Direct are at the centre of a double-pronged probe into allegations of anti-competitive behaviour that could see the companies and their directors landed with heavy fines and even jail time. Separate investigations are being conducted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which [...]
Probe tangles sport retail web further September 10, 2009 ALLEGATIONS of anti-competitive behaviour at JJB Sports and Sports Direct are the latest to ripple a very murky pool. In 2003, JJB – then led by founder Dave Whelan – had to cough up £6.7m in fines after Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United, alerted the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) [...]
Sports Direct profits climb September 9, 2009 SPORTS Direct, the sports retailer founded by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, yesterday upped its profit forecast for the year as it revealed encouraging trading figures for the summer period. The group, which owns the Sports World and Lillywhites chains, said gross profit for the 13 weeks to 26 July increased to £157m from £150m [...]
HOW SUCCESSFUL IS SPORTS DIRECT’S STRATEGY IN COMPARISON WITH ITS CLOSEST COMPETITORS? September 9, 2009 JONATHAN PRITCHARD ORIEL SECURITIESSports Direct is benefiting from better demand on the high street for its wares but also making hay whilst its competition is struggling, and as we approach the World Cup next June we see sales growth accelerating further. Given the problems at JJB and the change of tack at JD Sports, Sports [...]
THE TIPSTER UPTICK PUTS MPC DECISION IN FOCUS September 6, 2009 FOLLOWING last week’s gloomy forecasts from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), spread betters will be watching the Bank of England’s policy decision on Thursday closely. While rates are expected to remain on hold at 0.5 per cent and quantitative easing at £175bn, investors will listen carefully to see what they’ll say about [...]
FULL CIRCLE IN SPORT RETAILERS’ WILY WORLD August 19, 2009 IS THERE no end to the incestuous intricacies to the colourful sports retail sector? The current hot potato in the industry is the tide of bad feeling towards JJB chairman Sir David Jones, whose past emails criticising the firm’s directors were recently leaked by former chief executive Chris Ronnie, the man widely blamed for bringing [...]
How Mr Wigan has put JJB and the City behind him to live the dream August 16, 2009 EVAN at 72 Wigan serial entrepreneur Dave Whelan still gives an impression of a man in a hurry. Whelan moves at a sprightly pace between tables in the director’s box at Wigan Athletic, the Premier League football club he owns, and his trim figure still hints at a man who played professional football for Blackburn, [...]