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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/28/sports-direct-buyback-scheme-sees-share-price-soar
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| Sports Direct buyback scheme sees share price soar | Sports Direct buyback scheme sees share price soar |
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| Shares in Sports Direct, the embattled retailer founded and owned by billionaire Mike Ashley, have risen sharply after it announced an £89m share purchase plan. | |
| The company said it would buy back up to 29.9m shares, or about 5% of the total, to reduce its share capital. The buyback will be conducted by Citigroup in the run-up to the annual meeting on 7 September, where it wants to gain support from shareholders for further buybacks. | The company said it would buy back up to 29.9m shares, or about 5% of the total, to reduce its share capital. The buyback will be conducted by Citigroup in the run-up to the annual meeting on 7 September, where it wants to gain support from shareholders for further buybacks. |
| Sports Direct’s share price jumped 16% after the announcement on Thursday, to about 300p, the biggest riser on the FTSE 250. The share price has fallen about 60% since August, with the company falling out of the FTSE 100 index of the UK’s biggest publicly listed firms, after facing criticism over its treatment of workers, revealed by a Guardian investigation last year. | |
| Related: Sports Direct’s staff are treated no better than Georgian-era factory workers | Paul Mason | Related: Sports Direct’s staff are treated no better than Georgian-era factory workers | Paul Mason |
| It has also had difficulties in securing the acquisitions it needed to meet profit targets while sales growth has stumbled. The company issued its second profit warning in a year in March. | It has also had difficulties in securing the acquisitions it needed to meet profit targets while sales growth has stumbled. The company issued its second profit warning in a year in March. |
| Last week, a parliamentary committee report into Sports Direct’s working practices found they were closer to those found in a Victorian workhouse than a modern company, treating workers “without dignity or respect”. | |
| Trade unions have been seeking the backing of City investors for a resolution to be put to Sports Direct’s AGM calling for a fully independent review of working practices at the retailer. | Trade unions have been seeking the backing of City investors for a resolution to be put to Sports Direct’s AGM calling for a fully independent review of working practices at the retailer. |
| Earlier this month, the retailer said it would not be paying a bonus to 3,000 permanent staff after underlying profits fell to £381.4m, missing the company’s target of £420m in the year to 24 April. Ashley told the board he had no plans to take the company private, despite its disappointing performance. |