Sports Direct International: sales up 6.5% in first half

By

Sarah Ahssen

Published
Dec 15, 2014

For the first half of its 2014/15 fiscal year ending on October 26, Sports Direct International recorded a 6.5% sales increase at 1.8 billion euros (1.432 billion pounds) and a 10.8% increase of its EBITDA at 256 million euros.   

The British group’s growth has largely been driven by its network of sports stores, which alone generated 1.55 billion euros, up 8.3%, with a 11.1% jump in online sales to 222 million euros. Sports Direct has also created a new fitness division with the acquisition of 18 LA Fitness clubs in the UK. 

But while Sports Direct International’s sports division is doing well, others continue to struggle. Its premium lifestyle division (the chain Republic in particular, acquired in February 2013) experienced a 2.8% drop in sales to 126 million euros (99.9 million pounds). The decline was partly due to the closure of unprofitable Republic and USC stores. 

Moreover, Sports Direct’s brand business fell by 3.9% to 128 million euros, and its licensing business dropped by 0.6% to 19.3 million. 

The first six months have been very busy for the British group, with investment in the grocery giant Tesco, the purchase of shares in the English department stores Debenhams and the acquisition of shares in the Australian flash sales site MySale.

1 euro = 1.24 US$ = £0.79