LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) -
Frasers, the British sportswear and apparel retailer that owns the Sports Direct brand, reported a 13.1% rise in annual profit and forecast more growth in its new financial year as it benefits from a plan to shift the group upmarket.
FTSE 100-listed Frasers, controlled by founder Mike Ashley, is pursuing what it calls an "elevation strategy" with investments in flagship stores and in online operations, and the strengthening of ties with brands such as Nike, Adidas and The North Face. Its shares are up 10% year-on-year.
The group's brands also include House of Fraser, Flannels, USC and Jack Wills, and it holds strategic equity stakes in a raft of other retailers including Hugo Boss , ASOS, Boohoo, Currys and AO World.
Frasers made an adjusted pretax profit of 544.8 million pounds ($708.4 million) in the year to April 28 - at the top end of its guidance range of 500-550 million pounds and up from 478 million pounds made in 2022/23.
"Our successful Elevation Strategy is powering our strong financial performance, with strategic brand relationships giving us better access to product across the Frasers Group," it said.
It forecast profit of 575 million pounds to 625 million pounds for its new financial year - a year that has the Euro 2024 soccer championship behind it and the Paris Olympics coming up.
"We remain confident that our strategy will drive continued strong performance, and we expect significant synergies from both our automation program and the integration of acquisitions," Frasers added. ($1 = 0.7691 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Kate Holton)
