Sports Direct International plc the UK's leading sports retailer, today announces its Interim Management Statement

Sports Direct International plc ("the Group"), the UK's leading sports retailer, today announces its Interim Management Statement relating to the period from 28 April 2014 to 9 September 2014. The Group will hold its Annual General Meeting in Shirebrook at 3pm today.

Current Trading Update

Group sales for the 13 weeks ending 27 July 2014 were up 12.2% to £711.2m (2014: £634.0m) and gross profit increased 11.8% to £301.2m (2014: £269.3m).

Sports Retail sales in the 13 week period increased 16.3% to £611.8m (2014: £526.0m), and Sports Retail gross profit increased 15.8% to £260.4m (2014: £224.8m).

Premium Lifestyle sales in the period decreased 8.8% to £52.1m (2014: £57.1m) with gross profit decreasing 11.6% to £20.5m (2014: £23.2m).

The Brands division revenue decreased 7.1% to £47.3m (2014: £50.9m), and the corresponding gross profit decreased by 4.7% to £20.3m (2014: £21.3m).

There has been no material change in the financial position of the Group since the end of the most recent reporting period on 27 April 2014.

Dave Forsey, Chief Executive of Sports Direct International plc, said:

"As we highlighted at our preliminary results in July, recent trading, including the period since 27 July, has been in line with management's expectations with some stronger weeks offset by England's disappointing World Cup performance.  Within Sports Retail we continue to focus on upgrading our store portfolio and integrating recent acquisitions, including Eybl and Sports Experts in Austria.

"Consistent with previous guidance we continue to target underlying EBITDA (before share scheme costs) of £360m for the current period."

The Group will report its Interim Results on 11 December 2014.

For further information, please contact:

Sports Direct International plc / T. 0845 129 9229 / Dave Forsey, Chief Executive / Jeff Blue, Director, Strategic Development

Powerscourt / T. 0207 250 1446 / Rory Godson / Victoria Palmer-Moore / Greg Lawless

Notes to Editors

Sports Direct is the UK's leading sports retailer by revenue and operating profit, with approximately 400 stores across the UK. The Group provides an unrivalled range of products, offering exceptional quality and unbeatable value, from a wide variety of third-party and Group-owned brands, both in-store and online. Sports Direct operates in 19 countries in Europe, including Belgium, Austria, Slovenia, Portugal and France.

The Group has an extensive brand portfolio, comprising 29 internationally recognised sports, fashion and lifestyle brands including Dunlop, Slazenger, Everlast, Lonsdale and Karrimor.

Sports Direct was founded in 1982, listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2007 and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.

For more information please visit: www.sportsdirectplc.com

This information is provided by RN / The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

By press release