Sports Direct sees flat earnings

By Mark Potter

LONDON (Reuters) - Sporting goods retailer Sports Direct (SPD.L), reported a 30 percent fall in core earnings for its first year as a public company, calling it the toughest in its history and forecasting no upturn this year.

The Sports World and Lillywhites stores operator and owner of the Slazenger, Lonsdale and Dunlop brands saw it shares fall as much as 15 percent to a new low of 61.25 pence on Thursday.

"Retailing on the high street is the worst for the 25 years that we've been doing it," Mike Ashley, Sports Direct's billionaire founder who still controls about 70 percent of the company, told reporters.

Ashley, who also owns Newcastle United soccer club, made 929 million pounds when Sports Direct shares floated at 300 pence each in February 2007, but was widely criticised when the shares then slumped on a series of profit warnings.

He conceded that mistakes had been made.

"A year ago, we probably had our eye off the ball with becoming a Plc (public limited company) to be totally honest," he said on a conference call.

But Ashley, who is executive deputy chairman, said the firm had also been hit by a downturn in consumer spending, the wettest summer on record and, following the England soccer team's failure to quality for the Euro 2008 tournament, the worst selling replica England shirt on record.

He said it had also taken steps to turn the business around by, for example, improving stock management, which were bearing fruit.