Statement responding to PIRC report

RNS Number : 4889Z

Sports Direct International Plc

15 March 2017

 

15 March 2017

SPORTS DIRECT INTERNATIONAL PLC

("Sports Direct" or the "Company")

Media Release

Statement responding to PIRC report

Sports Direct International plc today issued a media statement correcting what it described as 'fake news' about the Company's chief executive-to-average employee pay, which was attributed to a list compiled by Pensions & Investment Research Consultants ("PIRC").

A spokesman for the Company said that the Sports Direct figure in the table of data published by City AM, and attributed to PIRC, was incorrect. The table incorrectly claims that Sports Direct had a chief executive-to-average employee pay ratio of 400:1, the second highest in the FTSE 350.

A spokesman for Sports Direct said: "This is fake news that appears to have been either deliberately or recklessly circulated by an irresponsible organisation that is making headlines at the expense of Sports Direct. We have contacted PIRC to request a copy of the report and we will be writing to them to express our disappointment. It is incorrect to state that Sports Direct has the second-highest ratio of chief executive-to-average employee pay."

The incorrect data table was presumably based on an unvested bonus entitlement that was previously accrued by Dave Forsey, the former chief executive of Sports Direct. This entitlement was accrued over several years (which was not immediately apparent from the published PIRC list, neither would it have amounted to the sum in question), but in any event, Mr Forsey chose to forego the bonus, which was never paid.

The bonus award in question was granted in 2011 and subject to the satisfaction of four Underlying EBITDA targets for FY12 to FY15, and was due to vest in 2017, but, as stated, was never paid to Mr Forsey. This is explained more fully in the Directors' Remuneration Report on pages 60 and 61 of the Company's 2016 Annual Report and Accounts.  The true ratio over the period in question would therefore have been closer to 9:1, according to PIRC's own calculations.  The Company's current Chief Executive, Mike Ashley, does not draw a salary, and never has.

Ends.

KBA PR                                    Keith Bishop

T. 0207 734 9995 E. [e-mail]

 

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