Sports Direct races ahead October 22, 2009 Mike Ashley’s budget sports retailer Sports Direct gave an up beat pre-close trading update, saying it is still confident of achieving earnings before interest, tax and depreciation of at least £150m in the current financial year. Ashley also said the board is comfortable the company could reduce its net debt to below £400m. The company, [...]
Battered JJB to carry on with cash call October 11, 2009 JJB Sports is ploughing ahead with its ambitious £100m cash call, despite calling it off on Friday following a suspected dirty tricks campaign. JJB Sports is expected this morning to hand over a dossier of emails and bank documents to City watchdog the Financial Services Authority for it to investigate what it believes is a [...]
Top lady shot takes the helm at a new City member’s club October 11, 2009 CLAIRE Zambuni could be dangerous. A leggy blonde with Baywatch-style features and a big smile, I’d not be surprised to hear that men routinely fall at her feet. But its her way with a gun that makes her particularly worth buttering up – she’s the UK’s best lady shot, in the top three best shots [...]
JJB Sports plunges to a huge 43m loss September 24, 2009 EMBATTLED sportswear retailer JJB Sports yesterday reported widening losses for the six months to July, dragging the group £42.9m into the red. JJB Sports said that the losses had grown from £14.8m the year before, as revenue dived by 42.5 per cent to £178.6m. The group also said like-for-like sales were down by 27.4 per [...]
Scandals do little damage to Renault and JJB September 22, 2009 BRAND INDEXSTEPHAN SHAKESPEARE WE’VE discussed before the stability of brands: British Airways is a great example of those that have suffered all sorts of media squalls and yet always return to their same high BrandIndex score. They are in the overwhelming majority: it’s one of the key reasons to invest heavily in brand-building, that it [...]
HOW WELL IS JD SPORTS PERFORMING IN WHAT CONTINUES TO BE A CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT FOR RETAILERS? September 22, 2009 KEITH BOWMAN HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The figures are at the higher end of expectations and the dividend hike is encouraging, though recent sales are a little disappointing. But JD Sports seems to have avoided the worst of the retail shakeout due to its young customer base, so it will be given the benefit of the doubt [...]
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 [...]