Dave Forsey Chief Executive 19 July 2012 - Sports Direct International

16 / THE BUSINESS REVIEW
Chief Executive’s Report
Overview of financial performance
I am pleased to be able to report another year of strong underlying profit growth for
Sports Direct, in a consumer environment that remains tough. The resilience and flexibility
of our business model continues to add significant value to our operations by providing
customers with an unrivalled depth and breadth of product choice at the best available
prices, across all categories and in all stores and online. We constantly review and
improve our stores to provide a fresh and exciting retail environment for our customers.
With new stores opened during the year in the UK and Europe,
we are proud of our reputation for quality. We have continued to
strengthen our position as the clear market leader in the UK sports
retail sector, and we are very pleased to report that we increased
our UK 52 week like-for-like gross contribution by 0.7% over the
12 month period, in spite of the challenging environment and
tough comparatives.
We have established a strong online presence, delivering rapid
growth in the Year. Critically, our online sales benefit from our UK
market-leading position on the high street and from our established
systems and processes, while our retail stores continue to
perform strongly.
Furthermore, we have broadened our consumer offering with
the creation of our Premium Lifestyle division, which includes our
acquisitions of the USC, Cruise and Van Mildert retail fascias.
Deontay Wilder
Everlast Brand Ambassador
We also announced, post the period end, the acquisition of
Flannels Group Limited, which will join the Premium Lifestyle
division. We have high expectations that this exclusive offering
will benefit from our strong supply chain and provide a high-quality
customer experience.
Due to the success of our 2009 Bonus Share Scheme, in 2011
the Company launched a new four-year scheme covering the full
years 2012 to 2015 with challenging underlying EBITDA targets of
£215m, £250m, £260m and £300m. We are pleased to confirm
that the first of these targets has been achieved and thank our
colleagues for all their efforts this year. Both of these schemes
have helped introduce and maintain a substantially lower level of
employee turnover than before the scheme. This August will see
the first part of the 2009 Bonus Share Scheme vest and we look
forward to seeing our dedicated colleagues well rewarded for their
hard work.