Sports Direct owner Frasers makes re-entry into FTSE 100
Sports Direct owner Frasers has made a return to the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100.
The retailer re-joined the blue-chip index on Tuesday, according to its new chief executive officer Michael Murray.
In a LinkedIn post, the CEO said the “significant milestone reflects the strength of our strategy and the strong performance that Frasers Group continues to deliver.
The retailer has made a series of acquisitions – including fast fashion firm Missguided – in recent months in a bid to diversify its portfolio of brands.
Murray, who is married to the daughter of the retailer’s former CEO Mike Ashley, previously did a stint as the brand’s head of elevation and helped it head in a more upmarket direction.
“This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without all our hardworking teams across Frasers Group, and we look forward to propelling the Group’s growth into the future, as the business continues to go from strength to strength,” Murray added on Tuesday.
In an interview with The Financial Times, Murray said this week that the House of Frasers owner was “definitely going to be increasing its efforts” to reach out to investors.
The retailer was presently recruiting for an investor relations manager, as well as “building up more communication” and planning to hold a capital markets day.
“If it doesn’t fit into sport, premium or luxury or add value to our ecosystem or platform…then we won’t be buying it,” Murray told the FT newspaper, when asked about Frasers’ acquisition approach going forward.
Referring to the company’s decision to sell stakes in Bobs Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports, Murray said he “didn’t believe they were core to the group’s strategy.”
However, when quizzed over which investments could be offloaded in future, Murray declined to point out any brands in particular. Frasers’ portfolio includes brands such as Evans Cycles and Studio Retail.
Frasers are “certainly trying to position themselves as leaders in the retail industry, gathering a huge portfolio of brands,” Wizz Selvey, retail strategy guru and former head of buying at Selfridges, told CityA.M. this summer.
“The Frasers Group are always looking for something that can bring additional resources or skills, or historically it has been physical space that [they] have been able to utilise within the business,” she added.