Sports Direct rallies as it says delayed results will meet guidance
Shares in Sports Direct surged on Wednesday after the retailer said that its delayed full-year results will be published on Friday and confirmed that they will be in line with the guidance it gave back in December.
Frasers Group
828.00p
16:35 17/05/24
FTSE 250
20,749.90
16:49 17/05/24
FTSE 350
4,631.57
16:49 17/05/24
FTSE All-Share
4,584.23
17:09 17/05/24
General Retailers
3,957.62
16:49 17/05/24
"The accounts and audit are at an advanced stage and the results are expected to be within the guidance issued by the company on 13 December 2018," the company said in a statement.
The group had said in its interim results in December that full-year underlying EBITDA growth would be between 5% and 15%. Including House of Fraser, it said the results would be behind the previous year.
Sports Direct announced earlier this month that it was delaying the release of the results due to the "complexities" of integrating House of Fraser. It also warned at the time that December's guidance could be "materially" affected.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "This is a relief to investors no doubt but shares remain at ear-to-date lows so there is an implication that they’re still unsure about the strategy and cost of acquisitions.
"On that note, the guidance around House of Fraser suggests that it still is leaking cash and we will be waiting for what the next steps are for this brand."
At 1205 BST, the shares were up 10% at 251.40p.