Mike Ashley proclaims House of Fraser strategy will be a ‘game changer’ ahead of Sports Direct annual meeting
Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley today said his strategy for newly acquired House of Fraser would be a "game-changer" ahead of his company's annual meeting today.
"Our strategy to transform House of Fraser into the 'Harrods of the High Street' will be a game changer," he said.
In a statement to the market ahead of the meeting, he also gave a trading update, saying business was on course to meet expectations of achieving anywhere between a five per cent to 15 per cent improvement in underlying earnings.
The statement comes ahead of what could be a fiery annual meeting for Sports Direct, which could see investors hit out at the company over the re-election of Ashley, who will not be in attendance, to the board.
City advisory group Institutional Shareholder Services has already taken issue with the decision to give Ashley's future son-in-law Michael Murray £5m for his work as head of elevation.
It comes a day after the accounting watchdog demanded the company hand over documents to assist with a probe into the auditing of its 2016 results.
The news caused the firm's share price to lose nine per cent yesterday, before closing five per cent down.
Read more: Sports Direct told to hand over documents in audit watchdog probe
Shares have continued the recovery this morning, creeping up two per cent in early trading.