Key highlights
Sports Retail gross margin increased by 170 bps to 44.6%
Group underlying EBITDA increased by 15.7% to £383.2m
Underlying profit before tax up 20.5% to £300.3m
Underlying free cash generation of £301.8m
Sports Retail like-for-like stores gross contribution increased by 7.4% (FY14: 10.5%)
Continued roll-out of large format city centre stores
Successful UK launch of Click and Collect in FY15 H2
Record EBITDA achieved v. 4th year Share Scheme target
Net debt decreased to £59.7m
Dave Forsey, Chief Executive, said:
"The Group has delivered another solid set of results in spite of challenging trading conditions including the adverse impact on performance during the period of England's early departure from the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and unseasonably mild weather during Autumn, reducing footfall.
"However, with our ongoing focus on providing customers with exceptional quality and unbeatable value, we have continued to grow Group revenues and EBITDA and have succeeded in surpassing our fourth and final EBITDA target under the 2011 Share Scheme. The first of these awards will vest with participants in September 2015 and the second in September 2017. We owe our continued success to the commitment and hard work of those participants and we are delighted that we are able to reward them in this way.
"Trading since the period end has been in line with management expectations and will continue to be driven by improvements in product range and availability, optimisation of both our in-store and web offerings, the introduction of Click and Collect in the UK and further investment in our store portfolio."
DIVIDEND
The Board has decided not to propose a dividend in relation to FY15. The Board remains of the opinion that it is in the best interests of the Group and its shareholders to preserve financial flexibility, facilitating the pursuit of potential acquisitions and other growth opportunities. The payment of dividends remains under review in future years.
