Sports Direct "is hoping to soothe simmering tensions with the City by beefing up its board amid the chain’s worst results in four years," according to Ashley Armstrong of the London TELEGRAPH. The retailer has been "attempting to repair its battered reputation by improving corporate governance" following a pledge by Founder Mike Ashley to make the business "more transparent." Sports Direct will reportedly reveal this week that it has hired two City figures to "boost its depleted board." The appointees have "a mixture of retail and financial backgrounds," City sources said. Sports Direct "is expected to report on Thursday that underlying earnings, a key measure for the cut-price retailer as it highlights profit margins," have tumbled 35% to between £140M ($178M) and £150M ($191M) for the six months to the end of October. The company’s profits "are expected to have been boosted" from its £12.5M ($15.9M) sale of shares in JD Sports. Analysts are predicting that total sales have risen around 10% to £1.57B ($2B) as a result of currency benefits from its European shops (TELEGRAPH, 12/3).