Sports Direct shop staff in line for £44,000 average bonus

Share bonus thought to be largest windfall for shop workers in Britain Sports Direct’s 2,200 permanent staff will receive a share bonus averaging £44,000 after the sportswear retailer, controlled by Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, hit its profit targets for the second year in a row. It is thought to be the largest windfall handed out to shop staff in Britain. Full-time workers will get shares worth more than twice their salaries, which average £20,000. Britain’s biggest sporting goods retailer, which owns the Sports World and Lillywhites stores, reported underlying profits of £200.4m for the year to 24 April, which included a World Cup boost and beat its target of £195m. This comes after the group made a £171.2m profit the previous year, ahead of its £165m target. Based on Thursday’s share price of 256.5p, Sports Direct’s bonus share scheme pot of £88m will pay out shares worth an average of about £44,000 each to 2,200 permanent staff working in its shops, warehouses and the head office. But they will have to wait until the summer of 2013 for the lion’s share (about £31,000). The only other major retailer that pays out big staff bonuses is the John Lewis Partnership, which awarded an average £2,500 in cash to its 76,500 staff in March. The number of staff eligible for the 34m share payout for 2011 and the next three years has risen to 3,000, but targets for all four years have to be met. Sports Direct’s 14,000 employees on part-time or flexible contracts will go empty-handed again. City analysts welcomed the results. Sports Direct has benefited from the woes of its rival JJB Sports, which faces a five-year road to recovery , according to its chairman, Mike McTighe, a restructuring expert who was parachuted in at the end of last year. “These [Sports Direct] figures are at the top end of expectations and are excellent considering the economic backdrop,” said Freddie George, retail analyst at Seymour Pierce. He believes Sports Direct’s Lonsdale, Slazenger, Dunlop and Everlast brands could be marketed more widely overseas. He also reckons the retailer stands to benefit from the keep-fit trend and the London Olympics and Euro 2012 football championship next year. In an attempt to rid itself of its discount image and target the luxury market, Sports Direct recently acquired majority stakes in the USC and Cruise Clothing fashion chains controlled by Scottish retail tycoon Sir Tom Hunter. Their financial contributions are small at the moment, though, with the 38-strong USC chain making sales of £70m last year, while Cruise has 10 UK stores and an annual turnover of £20m. Sports Direct plans to open or relocate 15 to 20 shops over the coming year in the UK, including one in Stratford close to the Olympic site. It has already opened seven in the first quarter. Sports Direct International Retail industry Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 15, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.