The good news is that Findel (FDL) has finally managed to offload its sporting goods business, Kitbag, for approximately £14m. The bad news is that the retail group had to book a £4.8m loss on disposal of the business to a subsidiary of Fanatics Inc, following a prolonged period of underperformance. That means 2015 figures have been restated to reflect continuing operations following the completion of the sale in February 2016.
Elsewhere the picture doesn't look too pretty either. The education business, which sells learning materials to schools, is under pressure due to squeezed government budgets, while the express gifts division suffered a £1.8m dent in adjusted operating profits as the result of negative foreign exchange movements. However, chairman David Sugden said sales momentum in express gifts had picked up in recent months.
As for Sports Direct (SPD) - which increased its stake in Findel to just shy of 29 per cent - Mr Sugden refused to be drawn on whether the discount sports chain would make a formal bid for the retailer.
Analysts at N+1 Singer expect pre-tax profits of £28m for the year ending March 2017, giving EPS of 24.8p, compared with £24.8m and 21.9p in FY2016.
| FINDEL (FDL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 153p | MARKET VALUE: | £132m | |
| TOUCH: | 153-157.75p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 255p | LOW: 130p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 91p* | NET DEBT: | 275% | |
| Year to 25 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 461 | -14.2 | -0.4 | nil |
| 2013 | 491 | 0.5 | 3.4 | nil |
| 2014 | 468 | 5.6 | 4.5 | nil |
| 2015 | 407 | 0.5 | -5.6 | nil |
| 2016 | 411 | -1.7 | -1.9 | nil |
| % change | +1 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: na Payment: na *Includes intangible assets of £47.3m, or 55p a share | ||||
