Sports Direct H1 Profit Surges

Sports Direct International PLC SDISY reported a 5% gain in its pretax profit for the first half of the year. For the year, Sports Direct posted a pretax profit of 149.7 million pounds ($234.77 million), compared to GBP143.1 million, in the year-earlier period. The company's underlying core earnings before its share scheme costs surged to 203.1 million pounds in the year. Its revenue surged to GBP1.43 billion, from GBP1.35 billion. Sports Direct shares closed at $21.45 yesterday.