Frasers eyes expansion as profit rises

Frasers Group is planning more acquisitions and more stores as sales and profit rise. Pretax profit for the company, which owns Sports Direct, Jack Wills, House of Fraser, Flannels, Game and Evans Cycles, increased to £366m in the year to 24 April from £8.5m a year before, as sales rose by almost 31% to £4.7bn. The group issued a bullish profit target, saying it believed it could make between £450m and £500m before tax in the year ahead, which would be at least a 23% rise. Chief executive Michael Murray said in the longer term the group was aiming to almost double the size of the Flannels chain to 100 stores across the UK and Ireland. It also wants to open stores in mainland European cities. The group said it planned to open its first Flannels stores in Ireland – in Dublin, Blanchardstown and Cork – and a flagship Sports Direct in Manchester in the year ahead. The Guardian