Sports Direct profits fall a whopping 91 per cent

It certainly seems to be raining shit on Newcastle at the moment. Not only do they prepare themselves for the forthcoming Championship season with an uncertain management team, a restless squad and a dreadful away strip, but owner Mike Ashley has taken a fiscal pounding thanks to his underperforming sportswear chain.

Sports Direct, the company in which the rotund businessman owns a 71 per cent share, has suffered a 91 per cent fall in pre-tax profits. Earnings fell from £118.9m to £10.7m this year, even though revenues topped £1bn and sales were up 5.1 per cent.

The huge downturn is a result of the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander (KSF) - the very same organisation that ruined former West Ham owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson. The collapse caused the sports retailer to write-off a staggering £53.1 million of shares, which is an awful lot of hoodies and baseball caps.

‘Silent Stan’ given a voice at the Emirates

Arsenal this morning confirmed that American billionaire Stan Kroenke - the gent on the right in the picture above - has been invited onto the board to take a non-executive director role. The owner of the the MLS’ Colorado Rapids and the NBA’s Denver Nuggets has held a 12.4 per cent stake in the club since last year, and his invitation to the board appears to counter the takeover ambitions of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

On the club’s official website, Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood says:

“We are delighted to welcome Stan to the Board of Arsenal. He brings with him a wealth of experience through his direct involvement in sports clubs in the US and we expect to benefit from his commercial insights and knowledge.”

It’s great that Hill-Wood is so welcoming, particularly as he once remarked of the American: “We don’t need his money and we don’t want his sort.”

Kroenke is not party to last year’s lock-down agreement (whereby directors can only sell their stakes to board-approved persons), but has agreed not to extend his shareholding beyond 29.9 per cent in the next year. If either Usmanov or Kroenke reach thirty per cent, they would have to launch a formal takeover.

Next week, Arsenal’s annual results will be formally announced, revealing a huge £225m turnover and record pre-tax profit of £36.7m.