RECORD results at Sports Direct sparked large bonuses for staff and also pushed the share price higher meaning Sir Tom Hunter has seen his stake in the business double in value to around £2.5 million in less than a year.
Trading at Sports Direct, founded by Newcastle United owner and Rangers investor Mike Ashley, was buoyant with a 40% rise in pre-tax profits to £207.2m.
Revenue in the 52 weeks to April 28 increased 21% from £1.8 billion to £2.19bn boosted by better margins and major sporting events such as the London Olympics and European football championships.
The results mean employees who were on a salary of £20,000 a year in 2009 stand to get 12,000 shares next month.
However, Sports Direct said it was scrapping plans for a contentious "super-stretch" bonus for Mr Ashley which could have seen him handed 10 million shares before the end of the decade.
While Mr Ashley has not drawn a salary since Sports Direct floated in 2007 he remains a major shareholder and recently raised £100m by offloading a 4% stake.
The company said it will look at "various options" to reward him before its annual general meeting in September.
In the trading year the UK sports retail business posted a 17% increase in revenue from £1.34bn to £1.57bn after main rival JJB went out of business and Sports Direct purchased some of its stores.
The premium lifestyle division was up from £73.5m to £128.4m on the back of a full-year trading performance from Cruise and USC, which were bought in July 2011, plus the acquisition of Republic stores out of administration and the purchase of a majority stake in The Flannels Group.
Sir Tom bought into Sports Direct, which has a retail joint venture with Rangers, in August last year paying around £1m for 392,156 shares.
Previously his West Coast Capital vehicle had sold a majority stake in USC to Sportsdirect in July 2011 with the Scottish entrepreneur also offloading a stake in luxury retailer Cruise.
Sportsdirect said it has now purchased the additional 20% of Cruise from Sir Tom which it did not own for an undisclosed sum.
In Sports Direct's wholesaling, revenue doubled from £41.2m to £88.1m while international retail, where the company operates across 19 countries, grew from £154.2m to £185.2m. The branding and licensing arm was up almost 7% from £195.9m to £209m.
Sports Direct said it had started the new financial year well.
Dave Forsey, chief executive, said: "Trading since the period end has remained strong and is ahead of management's expectations for the first quarter."
Analysts believe Sports Direct will continue growing with Espirito Santo upping estimates for earnings per share by 4% in spite of tough comparable figures.
They said: "The company is building a formidable record of disciplined growth."
Analysts at N+1 Singer said: "Sports Direct's strategy has played out extremely well over the last year and there is still an ongoing boost to sales from JJB."
Richard Curr, from Prime Markets, said: "That we are a nation of sports fans has never been in doubt, but the sheer growth momentum at Sports Direct is in itself a championship-winning performance.
"A 40% hike in profits, revenues up 21% and online revenues up 52% represents a heady mix of overachievement, but with Andy Murray's Wimbledon title and hopes for an Ashes series win, the fundamental drivers are all in place to maintain this pace of growth."
Shares closed up 37.5p, or 6.2%, at 638p.
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