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Why Sports Direct delaying its results is a problem

Inside Business: Investors haven’t had an update on trading since December

James Moore
Chief Business Commentator
Monday 15 July 2019 16:08 BST
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Sports Direct founder is now spinning a dizzying number of plates
Sports Direct founder is now spinning a dizzying number of plates

The obvious inference from Sports Direct announcing a delay to its results while suggesting all might not be well with House of Fraser (HoF), the department store chain it bought out of administration, is that the empire is starting to crack.

Founder and generalissimo Mike Ashley, who owns 61 per cent of the shares, is now spinning a dizzying number of plates. Yet another one was announced alongside the delay: the group said it had formally taken control of Game Digital. So something like this was always on the cards.

That was the view of the City and investors duly ran for cover. Sports Direct’s shares lost more than ten per cent within minutes of the stock market opening.

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