Staff at Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct will "miss out on bonus payments potentially worth thousands of pounds each, despite a move last year to make the targets easier to hit, after the sportswear chain surprised analysts with a steep fall in profits," according to Mark Vandevelde of the FINANCIAL TIMES. However, Sports Direct shares "spiked" 13% in early trading in London, supported by the retailer's announcement that it was "considering a share buyback." Higher wages contributed to an 8% drop in pre-tax profits, "far worse" than the 2% slide expected by analysts. Britain's biggest sportswear retailer said that it was working on a new "incentive scheme to continue to reward our people for their commitment and performance." Sports Direct said that next year's prospects "had been darkened by the fallout from Britain's vote to leave the EU" (FT, 7/7). In London, Ashley Armstrong reported Sports Direct CEO Dave Foresey, who already waived his £3.7M ($4.8M) bonus, said that Sports Direct’s earnings of £381M ($491M) "failed to meet" a £420M ($542M) target for the employee share scheme and "as a result the company was working on a new incentive scheme." Sports Direct's share scheme has "delivered major windfalls for its staff in previous years;" in '13 a cleaner at its Shirebrook site collected a £48,000 bonus (TELEGRAPH, 7/7).
