sports direct international plc
annual report 2010 section 1  overview 
  01 2010 highlights
  02 sports direct at a glance
  04 chairman’s statement
section 2  the business review 
  06 chief executive’s report
  26 financial review
section 3  management and governance 
  36 the board
  38 directors’ report
  43 corporate governance report
  50 directors’ remuneration report
  57 directors’ responsibilities statement
  58 corporate responsibility report
section 4  financial statements and notes 
  64 report of the independent auditor to the members of sports direct international plc
  65 consolidated income statement
  66 consolidated statement of comprehensive income
  67 consolidated balance sheet
  68 consolidated cash flow statement
  69 consolidated statement of changes in equity
  70 notes to the financial statements
109 report of the independent auditor to the members of sports direct international plc
111 company balance sheet
112 notes to the company financial statements
116 consolidated five year record
section 5  additional information 
117 shareholder information sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p1
• group revenue up 62 to £1452m 
2009 £1367m
• uk retail up 110 to 1118m  
2009 £1007m
• international retail up 172 to £1199m  
2009 £1023
• brands division down 174 to £1905m  
2009 £2305m
• underlying ebitda up 173 to 
£1604m 2009 £1368m
• underlying profit before tax up 498 
to £1021m 2009 £682m 
• reported profit before tax up 10168 
to £1195m 2009 £107m 
• group gross margin decreased by 20 
basis points to 406 2009 408
• uk retail gross margin down to 413  
2009 425
• underlying earnings per share up 
562 to 1239p 2009 793p 
• uk retail likeforlike gross 
contribution increased by 34
• substantially reduced net debt by 
277 to £3119m 2009 £4313m
• net debt to underlying ebitda of 19 times
• the board decided not to recommend 
a final dividend
• strengthened our uk market leading 
position
• successfully expanded uk and 
international retail store portfolio
• strongest ever trading day in 
company history
• growth in brands licensing   71 
licenses signed during the year
• world’s first retail training academy 
created in partnership with nike 
2010 highlights the group’s uk stores other than field  t rek supply 
a wide range of competitively priced sports and leisure 
equipment clothing footwear and accessories under 
a mix of brands we stock third party brands including 
adidas nike reebok and puma group owned brands 
include dunlop slazenger and lonsdale and we also  
use licensed in brands 
a significant proportion of the revenue in the stores is 
derived from the sale of the group owned and licensed 
in branded products which allows the retail business 
to generate higher margins whilst at the same time 
differentiating the group’s stores from its competitors 
both in terms of the range of products on sale and the 
competitive prices at which they are offered 
field  t rek operates out of 19 stores in the uk  
selling a wide range of camping and outdoor equipment 
waterproof clothing and footwear including leading  
brands such as berghaus merrell and salomon 
the acquisition of field  t rek gave the group an entry 
into the outdoor market which had been identified as a 
strategic opportunity for the group and that has been 
strengthened following the acquisition of universal  
cycles by the introduction of a range of cycle products  
in both stores and online
as at 25 april 2010 the group operated out of 387 stores 
in the united kingdom excluding northern ireland the 
majority of stores trade under the sportsdirect com 
fascia although field  t rek stores trade under their  
own fascia
 
where we are 
the group has retail interests outside the uk and has 
a flexible approach to entry into new markets these 
interests include wholly owned retail outlets in belgium 
holland luxembourg and slovenia trading as sports 
direct joint ventures with other retailers such as in 
heatons stores in northern ireland and the republic of 
ireland stores within another retailer’s store  
as in cyprus
section 1  overview  
what we do
sports direct is the uk’s leading 
sports retailer by revenue and 
operating profit and the owner of a 
significant number of internationally 
recognised sports and leisure brands 
sports direct at a glance
a brief overview of our business sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p3
the group’s portfolio includes a wide variety of 
internationally recognisable sport and fashion brands  
the group’s retail division sells products under these 
group brands in its stores and the brands division exploits 
the brands through its wholesale and licensing businesses
the brands division wholesale business sells the  
brands’ core products such as dunlop tennis rackets  
and slazenger tennis balls to wholesale customers  
and distributors throughout the world obtaining far  
wider distribution for these products than would be  
the case if their sale was restricted to group stores  
the wholesale business also wholesales childrenswear 
and other clothing 
the licensing business licenses third parties to apply 
group owned brands to noncore products manufactured 
and distributed by those third parties and third parties  
are currently licensed in different product areas in over  
100 countries the brands division is closely involved in  
the development of licensed products and monitors 
licensees and their manufacturers to ensure product 
quality presentation and consistency with the appropriate 
brand strategy 
the brands division continue to sponsor a variety of 
prestigious events and retain a base of globally recognised 
high profile sports men and women 
in tennis slazenger continues to be the official ball 
supplier for the wimbledon championships and dunlop’s 
professional tour team continues to grow with the recent 
additions of fernando verdasco and nikolay davydenko 
both ranked in the world’s top 10 tennis players
golfers darren clarke and in particular lee westwood 
continue to shine in major tournaments under the 
sponsorship of dunlop
international cricket captains paul collingwood  michael 
clarke continue to be sponsored by slazenger whilst other 
sports such as badminton and squash continue to provide 
brand exposure for carlton and dunlop respectively 
the portfolio of boxing brands within the group remains 
strong as lonsdale celebrates 50 years and everlast 100 
years as specialists in manufacturing combat sports 
equipment and apparel both brands have a stable of 
sponsored boxers and mixed martial arts fighters that 
continues to grow
our brands
retail
87 of group sales
brands
13 of group sales in common with other sectors of the economy market 
conditions in sports retail remained challenging 
throughout the period under review our focus remained 
firmly fixed on doing what we do best – providing 
consumers with the widest possible range of the best 
products at the most competitive prices available our 
aim is to offer quality footwear clothing and equipment 
for every category of customer from the fashion conscious 
to serious competitors the group has a robust business 
model whose worth has been proved once again this year 
in the delivery of strong results from the group
in addition to exceeding our expectations outlined 12 
months ago in terms of both profit performance and debt 
reduction we are pleased with our sales performance both 
in the stores themselves but also with the increased sales 
in our growing internet business we continued to develop 
our international store network and were pleased with 
progress made in changing the balance of sales mix from 
wholesale to licensing in the brands division we made 
significant progress in our debt reduction programme 
during the year paying down £119m and intend to 
continue to reduce debt further in the coming year this  
is a key consideration in the decision not to pay a final 
dividend this year 
partnerships with world famous suppliers such as nike 
and adidas to name only two are critically important 
to our business and we value such relationships highly 
we are delighted to be creating a unique nike t raining 
academy at our shirebrook headquarters in partnership 
with nike where sports direct staff will benefit from 
extensive specialist training in the current nike range  
as well as likely future developments this is the first 
time nike has joined with a retail partner in such a facility 
anywhere in the world we welcome this innovative 
extension of our relationship with a valued third party 
supplier as well as the opportunity to take our staff 
training standards on to a new industry leading level 
the announcement in august 2009 of the competition 
commission’s interest in our acquisition of 31 stores from 
jjb sports plc and the potential investigation into our 
affairs by the office of fair t rading and the serious fraud 
office caused concern and reflected adversely on our share 
price we were pleased but not surprised by our complete 
exoneration by the competition commission in march 2010 
and are doing all that we can to help and facilitate the 
other regulatory bodies to reach the same conclusion as 
soon as possible 
we have provided the sfo with all the information they 
have requested to date and we have reason to hope the 
investigation may be concluded in the autumn
as previously announced the board is sorry to lose 
nonexecutive director malcolm dalgleish who has 
decided to stand down at the next agm we thank him 
for his contribution and will miss his wise counsel we 
are pursuing the appointment of a replacement and will 
update shareholders in due course 
management remains determined to provide the best 
products at the most competitive price in the market place 
we will continue to expand the number of stores develop 
further strategic partnerships and enhance our product 
range and customer experience we are determined to 
strengthen our position as the uk’s leading sports retailer 
and will expand our foothold on mainland europe 
finally on behalf of the board i would like to thank all our 
employees whose commitment and expertise have helped 
us to meet our 2010 targets and to deliver a strong set of 
results in what continues to be a challenging economic 
environment on a personal note i am delighted to join 
such a talented and hard working team and am confident 
that significant further group success lies ahead 
 
keith hellawell 
nonexecutive chairman 
 
22 july 2010
section 1  overview  
chairman’s statement sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p5
nike academy  shirebrook training centre chief executive’s report
it is good to be able to report on another year of strong 
growth for sports direct achieved by delivering what 
we said we would the resilience of our business model 
continues to add significant value to our operations by 
providing customers with an unrivalled depth and breadth 
of product choice at the best available prices across all 
categories and in all stores for serious sportsmen  
and women 
with a number of new stores opened during the year in 
the uk and europe we are taking our offer to an ever 
increasing customer base which is responding positively 
to stronger instore marketing and promotional initiatives 
we are proud of our reputation for quality and remain as 
determined as ever to strengthen our position as the clear 
market leader in the uk sports retail sector 
i am especially pleased that our people will benefit from 
their contribution to group success through our meeting 
the first year’s target for the employee bonus share 
scheme introduced last year 
 
group 
in the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 the year we 
increased group revenue 62 to a record £1452m 
compared with revenue of £1367m for the 52 weeks 
ended 26 april 2009 the increase was due to a strong 
performance in the retail division where revenues rose 
109 to £1261m 2009 £1137m the brand division 
revenues decreased as planned174 to £1905m  
2009 £2305m
group gross margin in the year fell by 20 basis points 
from 408 to 406 retail division margin fell by 50 
basis points to 408 2009 413 while brands division 
margin increased 60 basis points to 389 2009 383
group operating costs increased 14 to £4310m 2009 
£4250m retail division operating costs were well 
controlled and increased by only 33 in the year despite 
an increase in floor space of 52 and a rise in sales of just 
under 11 
brands division operating costs were down 234 to 
£542m 2009 £708m due to a combination of the 
reduction in costs in line with turnover and operational 
efficiencies also included within group operating costs 
is a £108m 2009 nil charge in respect of the employee 
bonus share scheme and p erformance share plan this 
charge has been taken centrally and except in note 4 
to the accounts is not reflected in divisional retail and 
brands numbers in this report 
we grew group underlying ebitda for the year by 173 to 
£1604m 2009 £1368m within this underlying ebitda 
the retail division increased 272 to £1514m 2009 
£1190m and the brands division increased 112 to 
£198m 2009 £178m
group underlying profit before tax increased 498 to 
£1021m 2009 £682m as a result of the £236m increase 
in ebitda together with a £128m reduction in interest 
payable and a £18m increase in depreciation
underlying eps for the year increased by 562 to 1239p 
2009 793p
debt reduction remains a priority for the group in 
december 2009 we announced a target to reduce net debt 
levels to below £400m by april 2010 in fact we actually 
reduced net debt to £3119m 2009 £4313m this was 
achieved by
• growing underlying ebitda from £1368m to £1604m 
• reducing inventory levels through the year from £2623m 
to £2188m
• reducing levels of capital expenditure by approximately 
50 to £194m as targeted last year
• reducing financing costs by £128m as a result of 
ongoing low interest rates and lower level of debt from 
£225m to £97m 
• saving the cost of the 2009 final and 2010 dividends
in the current financial year and beyond we will target to 
reduce levels of debt further to a range between one and 
15 times underlying ebitda by april 2011
 
section 2  the business review
overview of financial performance
group revenue
£1452m 
62
retail 
brands
2010 2009 2008 2007
£1452m
£1367m
£1260m
£1347m sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p7
2010 marks everlast’s 100th anniversary for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’m
26 april 2009 
£’m
change

retail revenue
uk retail 11177 10065 110
uk wholesale and other 235 280 161
international retail 1199 1023 172
t otal retail revenue 12611 11368 109
cost of sales 7461 6675 118
gross margin 5150 4693 97
gross margin percentage 408 413
 
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’m
26 april 2009 
£’m
change

brands revenue
wholesale 1673 2036 178
licensing 232 269 138
t otal brands revenue 1905 2305 174
cost of sales 1164 1422 181
gross margin 741 884 162
gross margin percentage 389 383
 
 
 
in spite of a difficult trading environment our strategy of 
focusing on our core strengths increasing efficiencies and 
controlling costs delivered another strong performance
 
uk retail
uk retail revenues growth was primarily driven by our 
retail and logistics skills – providing the best products at 
the best prices with universal availability
uk retail sales were up 110 to £1118m 2009 £1007m 
there were no major acquisitions or disposals within uk 
retail during the year sales in the second half of the year 
were up 72 to £5317m 2009 £4962m against strong 
comparatives the sales increase in the second half of the 
year was better than expected but was at the expense of a 
lower than anticipated margin 
online revenue continues to grow strongly and we will 
look at opportunities to develop this revenue stream 
further order fulfilment and stateoftheart information 
technology solutions are developed inhouse with full 
backup support from our national distribution centre 
resources in shirebrook derbyshire the website has 
benefited from the increased recognition of the online 
brand with approximately 90 of core store fascias now 
branded sportsdirect com online sales represented 
45 of total uk retail sales 200915 between march 
and june 2010 we ran our first television advertising 
campaign we saw a subsequent increase in both product
specific and new customer web traffic a second campaign 
is likely to be launched in the autumn
overall uk retail gross margin for the year fell by 120 
basis points to 413 2009 425 margin for the second 
half of the year was 409 2009 396 impacted by 
comprehensive promotions and clearance of stock in 
advance of the fifa 2010 world cup “world cup”
at the time of the group’s interim results in december 
2009 we expected sales in the second half to be lower than 
for the same period in 2009 with margin for the year as a 
whole to be at a similar level to 2009 the actual margin for 
the second half was lower than expected as noted above 
but this was more than compensated for by higher than 
expected sales partly arising from the sales generated 
ahead of the world cup
uk retail likeforlike gross contribution increased by 
34 over the 12 month period
operating costs increased 19 to £3235m 2009 
£3176m in spite of the uk minimum wage increase an 
increase in floor space and a rise in sales of just over 11 
review by business segment
brands revenue
£1905m 
174
wholesale 
licensing
2010 2009 2008 2007
£1905m
£2305m
£1926m
£1719m
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued
retail revenue
£12611m 
109
uk retail 
international 
retail 
wholesale
2010 2009 2008 2007
£12611m
£11368m
£10669m
£11752m sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p9
the boot room  sportsdirectcom store shirebrook underlying ebitda for uk retail was £1387m 2009 
£1070m this increase was driven by a £377m increase 
in gross margin including wholesale offset by a £59m 
increase in operating costs
during the year the office of fair t rading oft 
investigated our acquisition of stores from jjb sports plc 
“jjb” and concluded that in five locations they raised 
some concerns the oft subsequently referred the matter 
to the competition commission on 18 march 2010 the 
competition commission cleared the acquisition of the 31 
stores from jjb and ruled that there was not a substantial 
lessening of competition as a result of those acquisitions 
nor any adverse effects on customers we are still dealing 
with the oft  serious fraud office sf o enquiries while 
we have heard nothing from the oft we have provided the 
sfo with all the information they have required to date 
and we have reason to hope that the investigation may be 
concluded in the autumn of this year
the group’s retail businesses performed strongly in a very 
difficult economic environment our retail model offering 
outstanding value to our customers proved as resilient as 
we expected it to be both in the uk and internationally
throughout the year we continued to focus on our 
fundamental approach of offering the customer the most 
comprehensive product range and the best availability 
while reducing our costs wherever possible as ever store 
portfolio was constantly under review the performance 
of each store and ways of maximising performance being 
closely examined we continued to develop our store layout 
and to incentivise our store staff in ways that encourage 
better customer service and performance our industry 
leading national distribution centre at shirebrook 
continued to deliver efficiencies by way of example of 
cost control in our corporate responsibility report we 
describe some of the steps successfully taken to reduce 
our energy consumption at a time when energy costs were 
increasing significantly
during spring 2010 we started construction work on an 
extension to our national t raining facility at shirebrook 
which is located within the onsite store this exciting 
project involved a complete reorganisation of the store 
layout with new attractive specialist areas being refitted 
net sales area space increased from 18000 sq ft to 
25000 sq ft the store is now the blueprint for a roll
out programme of updating our core stores across the 
uk capital expenditure for this rollout is included 
in the expected group capital expenditure for fy11 of 
approximately £350m 2010 £194m 
we continued to work well with our major third party  
brand suppliers nike umbro adidas reebok and puma 
all have their own offices in our shirebrook head office 
which enables us to work very closely with them on a day 
to day basis 
we were delighted to achieve a notable first with the 
creation of a purposebuilt nike t raining academy at the 
shirebrook site this is the first time nike has entered 
into such a partnership with a retail partner anywhere in 
the world we are proud to host such a magnificent facility 
which will have its first open day on 21 july 2010 for up to 
300 of our national retail team 
the academy demonstrates our commitment to develop 
our training of staff in close partnership with our key 
third party brands we plan to have all permanent sales 
staff attend a training session in the academy within 12 
months of its opening as part of their ongoing training and 
personal development our goal is to have the best trained 
and most knowledgeable staff in uk sports retail
we continued to build on our storeinstore concept for 
certain key categories where we want to develop our role 
as the destination of choice for serious sportsmen and 
women our approach to the running category typifies how 
we are doing this constantly seeking to develop our retail 
offer since october 2007 we have owned a 25 share in 
brasher leisure ltd trading as “sweatshop” one of the 
leading specialist running retailers in the uk the strategy 
for the running category within sports direct is to develop 
with sweatshop an attractive new sales area branded 
as “she runs he runs” catering to the growing “main 
stream” runner these areas deliver on range availability 
price clear merchandising and self help if preferred and 
will be further enhanced by the training initiatives being 
driven from our national t raining centre
installation progress has been swift with 50 of our 300 
core stores already having “she runs he runs” sections 
the rollout programme to other stores continues 
additionally 75 of stores now feature our specialist 
football “boot room” display area
the strategy outlined on developing our running category 
will also be applied to certain other sporting areas many 
of which are in different stages of development these 
include golf outdoor and cycling
on 17 march 2010 the group made an indicative non 
binding offer for the entire issued and to be issued share 
capital of blacks leisure group plc “blacks” with a view 
to seeking that company’s recommendation we were 
disappointed that this was not forthcoming 
uk retail continued
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p11
october 2009  dunlop brand ambassador lee westwood 
celebrates winning the portugal masters on 29 march 2010 sports direct announced that it had 
approached the board of blacks to advise that it was 
seriously considering a material increase in the level 
of its indicative offer however the group also advised 
that it had become aware of indications that some 
key blacks suppliers would not supply the company if 
the sports direct offer was successful sports direct 
requested confirmation of and the details underlying 
any such supplier indications to blacks in the event this 
information was neither provided nor denied accordingly 
sports direct determined that it would not be in its 
shareholders’ interests formally to submit an offer 
blacks subsequently raised additional capital from its 
shareholders 
we did not participate in this fundraising believing it not to 
be the best use of the group’s funds
as of 25 april 2010 we operated 387 stores in the uk 
excluding northern ireland a total retail sales space of 
circa 37m sq ft 2009 circa 35m sq ft
during the course of the year we opened 34 stores 
including nine core stores and closed six one of which 
was core we have taken advantage of the weaker property 
market during the year by taking 19 of the 25 new noncore 
stores on initial temporary leaselicence arrangements 
this has enabled us to work very closely with landlords 
to exploit opportunities with a view to converting initial 
temporary stores into long term lease agreements where 
appropriate 
we currently operate 306 sportsdirect com fascias 
19 field  t rek three lillywhites and 59 other stores 
gilesports hargreaves etc
retail stores
2010 
2009
in the 12 months to 25 april 2010 53 rent reviews have 
been agreed on stores the average increase in rent was 
99 191 annual equivalent there are currently 80 
rent reviews outstanding with a further 50 falling due in 
201011 
for a number of years our uk retail division has occupied 
32 stores which are owned by mike ashley the group’s 
major shareholder under the terms of a five year lease 
dated march 2007 the management intend to discuss with 
shareholders and mr ashley the possibility of obtaining 
a year’s extension to the current term together with an 
option to purchase these properties during the extension 
period at a price no more than original cost the option 
would require nonrelated party shareholder approval and 
would contain terms whereby it would be exercised only if 
it were demonstrably in the group’s interest to do so
in the current financial year we are targeting to open 
between six and ten new core stores in the uk excluding 
northern ireland 
we will continue to open temporary noncore stores as 
suitable opportunities arise and convert as many of these 
as is justified to long term deals 
 
international retail
international retail sales were up 172 to £1199m  
2009 £1023m on a currency neutral basis the increase 
was 110
international retail grew gross margin by 40 basis points 
due to improved stock control
operating costs within international retail increased by 
161 to £425m 2009 £366m the increase was less 
than the £81m increase in gross margin and together with 
a £15m decrease in income from associates resulted in 
an increase in underlying ebitda of 58 to £127m 
2009 £120m
internationally as at 25 april 2010 we operated 44 stores 
in belgium 12 in slovenia four in holland three in cyprus 
one in france and one in luxembourg all of these stores 
are operated by companies wholly owned by the group 
we opened seven new stores in europe including two 
relocations in the period including our first store in france 
we closed four smaller stores during the year as at 25 
april 2010 international retail operated from a total retail 
sales space of c650000 sq ft 2009 c620000 sq ft 
uk retail continued
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued
core stores
noncore stores
t otal uk stores
300
87
387
292
67
359
0 400 sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p13
european golf  sportsdirectcom store shirebrook the group increased its shareholding in the heatons chain 
to 50 up from 425 there are 11 sports direct stores  
in northern ireland and 23 sports stores in the republic  
of ireland
we continue with our strategy to identify partners in new 
territories while continuing to expand our operations in the 
countries where we currently trade 
 
brands 
brands total revenue reduced 174 to £1905m 2009 
£2305m driven by our deliberate strategy to change the 
mix of sales from predominantly wholesale to licensing
wholesale revenues were down 178 to £1673m 2009 
£2036m in line with this strategy to focus on contribution 
rather than revenue this strategy is well illustrated by our 
north america market move from wholesale to licensing in 
dunlop golf
the market for our wholesale businesses in the uk 
europe and the us remain challenging and the customer 
base has been restructured to eliminate unprofitable 
business 
licensing revenues were down 138 to £232m 2009 
£269m which was in line with our expectations and in 
light of our decision to cancel one significant everlast 
licence with the attendant costs
t ough market conditions particularly in north america 
resulted in decreased licensing income during the year 
with key licensees leading to a fall in the level of income in 
excess of the licence minimums we continue however to 
lay the foundations for future growth during the year we 
signed new licence agreements with 71 licensees covering 
multiple brands and product categories with minimum 
contracted values of 87m over the terms of  
the agreements  
longer term we regard licensing as the key driver for the 
brands division profitability and growth of the business 
our resources have been adjusted in order to focus on this 
objective the main growth areas are expected to be asia 
pacific and the americas
brands gross margin improved to 389 2009 383 
reflecting the improved mix of sales and a slight 
improvement in wholesale gross margin to 304 2009 
302 
operating costs decreased by 234 to £542m 2009 
£708m partly as a result of the lower revenue the 
consolidation of the brands division management into 
shirebrook continued and costs were tightly controlled as 
systems and working practices were standardised payroll 
costs in the division reduced significantly
our continued aim is to limit costs in the 2011 financial 
year such that the wholesale contribution covers operating 
costs and all licensing income is retained as profit
underlying ebitda increased 112 to £198m 2009 
£178m as the decrease in costs of £166m was greater 
than the decrease in gross profit of £143m
cash flow in the division was strong with tight working 
capital management resulting in a reduction in stock and 
debtors of £151m and £196m respectively
the business continues to sponsor and receive 
endorsements from leading players and tournaments 
including slazenger’s 107th year as the official ball 
supplier for the wimbledon championships we believe 
this to be one of the longest continuous sponsorship 
arrangements anywhere in the world slazenger continues 
to sponsor matt prior and p aul collingwood and we 
congratulate paul as england’s captain at the recent icc 
world t wenty20 cricket competition where england  
scored a notable victory over australia to win the 
tournament who were also captained by slazenger 
endorsee michael clarke
dunlop has recently signed nikolay davydenko and 
fernando verdasco both ranked in the world’s top 10 
tennis players lee westwood number 3 in the world 
rankings continues to shine in the world’s top golf 
tournaments under the sponsorship of dunlop apparel
international retail continued
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p15
may 2010  slazenger brand ambassador  england captain paul 
collingwood reacts after scoring the winning runs in the men’s icc 
world twenty20 final match between australia and england the board monitors the performance of the group by 
reference to a number of key performance indicators 
kpi’s which are discussed fully in this chief executive’s 
report and also in the financial review and in the 
corporate responsibility report on pages 26 to 35 and 58 
to 61 respectively the most important of these kpi’s are
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 26 april 2009
financial kpi’s
group revenue £1452m £1367m
underlying ebitda 
1
£1604m £1368m
uk retail gross margin 413 425
uk retail likeforlike stores gross 
contribution 
2
34 25
underlying earnings per share 
3
1239p 793p
financial kpi’s
no of core stores 
4
300 292
customer complaints  change 40 75
employee turnover 170 290
cardboard recycling 5847 tonnes 6007 tonnes
 
1
 the way in which underlying ebitda is calculated is set out in the financial review
2
 likeforlike gross contribution for uk retail is the percentage change in successive 
12 month periods likeforlike gross contribution is adjusted to eliminate the impact 
of foreign currency movements a likeforlike store is one that has been trading for the 
full 12 months in both periods and has not been affected by a significant change such as 
a refit store gross contribution is the excess of sales revenue net of vat over the cost 
of goods sold this kpi excludes online sales revenue the gross contribution would only 
be adjusted if a significant promotion affected the comparison
3
 the way in which underlying earnings per share is calculated is set out in the 
financial review
4
 a core store is a store acquired and fitted out by the group or otherwise so designated
 
contracts essential to the  
business of the group
the group has long established relationships with nike 
and adidas the major suppliers of third party branded 
sporting goods particularly footwear and considers that 
continued supplies from these companies is critical to the 
business of the group 
 
the group’s retail businesses will undoubtedly be affected 
by the economic climate and changes therein movements 
in interest rates and exchange rates affect the businesses 
directly and consumer confidence and spending is affected 
by a wide range of factors including employment tax and 
interest rates house prices and the general ‘feel good 
factor’ factors beyond the group’s influence we are 
relieved that the government has given plenty of warning 
that the vat increase to 20 will not take place until 4 
january 2011
all of the above apply equally to our brands businesses 
both wholesale and licensing reduction in customer 
demand is reflected in the wholesaling and licensing 
business as orders and royalties are affected moreover in 
difficult economic times suppliers come under increasing 
pressure to reduce their prices to their customers and all 
suppliers run the risk of their customers ceasing to trade 
reducing demand for their products difficult economic 
conditions can also make it difficult for suppliers to obtain 
credit insurance in respect of some customers leaving 
the supplier with a difficult question of whether or not to 
supply and if they do with the attendant risk of bad debts
later in this report we comment on risks and 
uncertainties that relate to the group’s businesses and 
while we manage to reduce risks where possible the 
likelihood of their occurring and their impact if they do 
they are factors that could influence the group or part of it
the group is now applying hedge accounting which is in 
line with other major retailers this will reduce an element 
of potential volatility in reported profit
 
environmental matters 
a review of the assessment of the group’s impact on the 
environment is included in the corporate responsibility 
report on page 58 
 
employees 
in no small measure the progress we continue to make 
is down to the dedication and expertise of over 17000 
staff throughout the business i am delighted to take 
this opportunity to thank everyone in the team for their 
outstanding contribution and i look forward to working with 
them towards our further growth and success 
key performance indicators
main trends and factors likely to 
affect the future development and 
performance of the group’s businesses
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p17
nike football  sportsdirectcom store belgium we intend to incentivise staff further by enabling them to 
share in the group’s success through a new bonus share 
scheme for which we will seek approval at the a gm the 
bonus share scheme is focused on underlying ebitda it 
is designed to motivate colleagues help improve retention 
of key employees and to align the interests of employees 
and shareholders the share scheme is also aligned with 
the group’s business plan
all permanent uk employees in uk retail brands and 
head office with at least one year’s service participated in 
the 200910 bonus share scheme 
the bonus is in two stages the first bonus is 25 of base 
pay in shares of £100 per share the first bonus target was 
underlying ebitda of £155m in 200910 and was achieved  
in the year the first bonus will vest in two years’ time and 
is subject to continuous employment until then the bonus 
targets are stretch targets and are net of scheme costs
the second bonus is 75 of base pay in shares of £125 per 
share the second stage of the bonus is conditional upon 
the first bonus target being met in 200910 which has 
already been achieved and the second bonus targets are 
underlying ebitda of £195m in 20102011 and underlying 
ebitdanet debt ratio of two or less at the end of 201011 
the shares vest subject to continuous employment until 
then two years after the second bonus targets are met 
proposals will be put forward to shareholders at the 
forthcoming agm to extend and revise the bonus share 
scheme for subsequent periods
 
shirebrook campus
the group continues to invest in infrastructure and the 
process of consolidating the brands business including 
acquired businesses at shirebrook continues
 
risks are an inherent part of the business world the 
group has identified the following factors as potential risks 
to and uncertainties concerning the successful operation 
of its business
suppl y chain 
any disruption or other adverse event affecting the 
group’s relationship with any of its major manufacturers 
or suppliers or a failure to replace any of its major 
manufacturers or suppliers on commercially reasonable 
terms could have an adverse effect on the group’s 
business operating profit or overall financial condition
foreign exchange risk 
the group operates internationally and is exposed to 
foreign exchange risk arising from various currency 
exposures primarily with respect to the us dollar and 
euro
foreign exchange risk arises when future commercial 
transactions or recognised assets or liabilities are 
denominated in a currency that is not the entity’s 
functional currency as exchange rates move 
as explained previously in the group’s case the majority 
of foreign exchange contracts relating to the sourcing 
of group branded goods are denominated in us dollars 
and a strengthening of the dollar or a weakening of the 
pound sterling makes those goods more expensive 
these expenses are hedged via forward foreign currency 
contracts which are designated as cash flow hedges
the group also holds assets overseas in local currency 
and these assets are revalued in accordance with currency 
movements this currency risk is not hedged
interest rate risk 
the group has net borrowings which are principally at 
floating interest rates linked to bank base rates or libor 
credit risk 
the group primarily through its brands division could 
have a credit risk if credit evaluations were not performed 
on all customers requiring credit over a certain amount 
the group does not require collateral in respect of 
financial assets 
funding and liquidity risk 
funding and liquidity for the group’s operations are 
provided through bank loans overdrafts and shareholders 
funds the object is to maintain sufficient funding and 
liquidity for the group’s requirements but the availability 
of adequate cash resources from bank facilities and 
achieving continuity of funding in the current financial 
climate could be a risk to the group in future years
employees continued
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued
risks and uncertainties relating  
to the group’s business sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p19
karrimor sponsored climber dave pickford investment risk 
the group also holds shares in publicly listed companies 
and fluctuations in their share prices will have a financial 
impact on the business results
reliance on non uk manuf acturers 
the group is reliant on manufacturers in developing 
countries as the majority of the group’s products are 
sourced from outside the uk the group is therefore 
subject to the risks associated with international trade and 
transport as well as those relating to exposure to different 
legal and other standards
pensions
some subsidiaries in the group make contributions to 
certain occupational defined benefits pension schemes 
an increase in the scheme’s funding needs or changes 
to obligations in respect of the schemes could have an 
adverse impact on its business
market f orces 
the sports retail industry is highly competitive and the 
group currently competes at national and local levels with 
a wide variety of retailers of varying sizes who may have 
competitive advantages and new competitors may enter 
the market such competition continues to place pressure 
on the group’s pricing strategy margins and profitability
operational
any significant disruption to the operations of the group 
divisional head offices and the national distribution centre 
at shirebrook or interruption to the smooth running of 
the group’s fleet of vehicles might significantly impact its 
ability to manage its operations distribute products to its 
stores and maintain its supply chain
any long term interruption of the group’s it systems 
would have a significant impact on the group’s operation 
particularly in the retail division
business continuity and acts of terrorism 
the majority of the group’s revenue is derived from the 
uk and accordingly any terrorist attacks armed conflicts 
or government actions within the uk could result in a 
significant reduction in consumer confidence which would 
in turn have an adverse affect on sales in stores 
leg al
the group’s trade marks patents designs and other 
intellectual property rights are central to the value of 
the group brands third parties may try to challenge the 
ownership or counterfeit the group’s intellectual property 
the group may need to resort to litigation in the future to 
enforce its intellectual property rights and any litigation 
could result in substantial costs and a diversion of 
resources 
the group believes that its licensees suppliers agents 
and distributors are in material compliance with 
employment environmental and other laws the violation 
or allegations of a violation of such laws or regulations 
by any of the group’s licensees suppliers agents or 
distributors could lead to adverse publicity and a decline 
in public demand for the group’s products or require 
the group to incur expenditure or make changes to its 
supply chain and other business arrangements to ensure 
compliance
sales
the group’s retail businesses are subject to seasonal 
peaks the incidence and participation in major sporting 
events will have a particular impact on the uk retail 
business prolonged unseasonal weather conditions or 
temporary severe weather during peak trading seasons 
could also have a material adverse effect on the group’s 
businesses
consumers
the group’s success and sales are dependent in part on 
the strength and reputation of the brands it sells and are 
subject to consumers’ perceptions of the group and of its 
products which can fall out of favour adverse publicity 
concerning any of the group brands or manufacturers 
or suppliers could lead to substantial erosion in the 
reputation of or value associated with the group
environmental 
environmental disasters such as the recent volcanic ash 
cloud have highlighted how it is impossible to predict how 
an environmental occurrence will affect businesses
the group constantly updates systems to mitigate any 
delay or loss of goods in transit or the absence of any 
employee or large numbers of employees that they may or 
may not be altered by acts of nature 
 
research and development
the group’s success depends on the strength of the group 
brands and to a lesser extent the licensedin brands the 
group’s efforts to continually develop or obtain brands in a 
timely manner or at all may be unsuccessful
 
 
risks and uncertainties relating to 
the group’s business continued
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p21
nike shoe wall  sportsdirectcom store liverpool the identification and management of risk is a continuous 
process and the group’s system of internal controls and 
the group’s business continuity programmes are key 
elements of that the group maintains a system of controls 
to manage the business and to protect its assets we 
continue to invest in people systems and in it to manage 
the group’s operations and its finances effectively and 
efficiently
the group has a credit policy in place and the exposure to 
risk is monitored on an ongoing basis credit evaluations 
are performed on all customers requiring credit over 
a certain amount and concentration of credit risk is 
managed investment of cash surplus borrowings and 
derivative investments are made through banks and 
companies which have credit ratings and investment 
criteria approved by the board
the group’s follows policies of forging long term 
relationships with suppliers and of utilising two leading 
supply chain companies to procure much of the group’s 
own branded goods is described on page 61 in the 
corporate responsibility report 
many risks relating to the supply chain reliance on nonuk 
suppliers and to the reputation of the group’s brands are 
managed and mitigated by the implementation of those 
policies
close monitoring of the market competitors the economy 
consumer confidence participation in major sporting 
events the weather companies in which the group 
holds strategic stakes the behaviour of licensees and 
of possible infringement of intellectual property and the 
development of contingency plans and rapid response 
to changing circumstances manages and does much to 
mitigate the risks caused by these factors
the group maintains close contact with its bank and made 
contact with other banks so as to begin to address the 
renewal of its facilities during 201011 the group is cash 
generative and taken steps to reduce the level of debt 
and has no reason to believe that refinancing will not be 
available on acceptable terms
the business continuity programme addresses the risk 
of disruption to the shirebrook campus accordingly the 
board is confident that as far as is practical the risks and 
uncertainties that face the group are being monitored and 
managed and that where required appropriate action is 
being taken
we are confident that the group is well placed to deliver 
significant further growth in the future our focus remains 
strongly on growing the core uk retail business by 
continuing to drive efficiencies and deliver the unrivalled 
value for money which our growing customer base has 
come to expect while developing our offering in specialist 
sports categories we have established an excellent 
platform for growth which we will build on with our 
proposed ebitda related share bonus scheme 
outside the uk our brands business will focus on 
licensing opportunities and will continue to restructure 
the wholesale businesses we will continue to invest in our 
brands through advertising and promotion 
we believe that acquisitions and strategic investments in 
other related businesses are beneficial to the group and 
we will continue to evaluate opportunities as they arise 
while for the time being remaining mindful of the priority 
to reduce debt
 
current tradingfifa world cup 2010
 
the build up to the world cup started during spring 2010 
with the launch of the umbro “away” red shirt on 3 march 
t rade in this period was as strong as expected culminating 
in the strongest trading day that the company has ever 
experienced on the day of the usa match we continue to 
offer the most comprehensive range of england branded 
products including special edition shirts as well as name 
and number personalisation also this was the first fifa 
world cup for the online store and both traffic and sales 
have grown significantly
unfortunately the period during the tournament was less 
successful and sales correlated with the poor performance 
of the england team and the negative mood this created 
amongst fans and consumers 
our buying team had followed the seedings and we were 
confident of at least a “last eight” outcome for england 
so exiting the tournament before that meant in effect that 
we were one game short although this was exacerbated 
by the disappointing performance in the four games 
therefore the negative impact of clearing the excess stock 
will offset some of the positive pretournament trade 
nevertheless current uk retail trading remains well 
ahead of the same period last year 
 
 
management and mitigation of risk
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued
our strategy for growth  sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p23
april 2010  lonsdale brand ambassador 
carl froch knocks down mikkel kessler of 
denmark during their super six wbc  
super middleweight title fight looking ahead although we shall have to manage the 
impact of the announced increase in vat in january 2011 
we are confident that initiatives we are taking across 
all areas of the group including improved staff training 
and new specialist instore merchandising areas put 
us in a strong position for the next phase of our growth 
we believe we are operationally stronger than ever 
accordingly and assuming no significant deterioration 
in economic conditions we are targeting fy11 group 
underlying ebitda of around £195m
 
dave forsey 
chief executive
22 july 2010
outlook
chief executive’s report
continued
section 2  the business review  sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p25
puma shoe wall  sportsdirectcom store shirebrook the financial statements for the group for the 52 weeks 
ended 25 april 2010 are presented in accordance with 
international financial reporting standards ifrs as 
adopted by the eu
 
summary of results
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’m
26 april 2009 
£’m
change

revenue 14516 13673 62
underlying ebitda 1604 1368 173
underlying profit before tax 1021 682 498
reported profit before taxation 1195 107 10168
pence per 
share
pence per 
share
basic eps 1573 279 6639
underlying eps 1239 793 562
 
the directors believe that underlying ebitda underlying 
profit before tax and underlying earnings per share 
provide the more useful information for shareholders 
on the underlying performance of the business than the 
reported numbers and are consistent with how business 
performance is measured internally they are not 
recognised profit measures under ifrs and may not be 
directly comparable with “adjusted” profit measures used 
by other companies
ebitda is earnings before investment income finance 
income and finance costs tax depreciation and 
amortisation and therefore includes the group’s share 
of profit of associated undertakings and joint ventures 
underlying ebitda is calculated as ebitda before the 
impact of foreign exchange and any exceptional and other 
nontrading items
ebitda
£’m
pbt
£’m
operating profit 580
depreciation 475
amortisation 29
exceptional items 100
share of profit of associated undertakings 72
excess of fair value over consideration  
associates 39
fair value adjustment within associated 
undertakings 11
reported 1206 1195
realised fx loss 398 398
ias 39 fx fair value adjustment on 
forward currency contracts  377
other investment income  245
exceptional items  100
excess of consideration over fair value  39
fair value adjustment within associates  11
underlying 1604 1021
 
there is a significant difference between underlying 
and the higher reported profit before tax underlying 
profits before tax and underlying ebitda exclude 
exceptional items which decreased profit by £100m 
realised exchange profitloss and ifrs revaluation of 
foreign currency contracts which decreased 2010 profits 
by £398m and increased profit by £377m respectively 
a £39m profit arising from fair value exceeding 
consideration paid for an associate and a £11m profit on 
fair value adjustments within associated undertakings 
section 2  the business review 
financial review sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p27
in 2010 dunlop made history by becoming the official ball supplier for the clay court season 
‘making an impact’ in europe’s famous city landmarks for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’m
26 april 2009 
£’m
change

retail revenue
uk retail 11177 10065 110
uk wholesale and other 235 280 161
international retail 1199 1023 172
total 12611 11368 109
brands revenue
wholesale 1673 2036 178
licensing 232 269 138
total 1905 2305 174
total revenue 14516 13673 62
 
t otal group revenue increased by 62
retail revenue increased by 109 the uk accounted 
for 905 of total retail revenues with the balance in 
continental european stores 
retail margins in the uk decreased from 425 to 413 
our representation in both parts of ireland is covered 
by heatons in which we now have a 500 interest the 
results of which continue to be reported as an associate
brands revenue decreased by 174 licensing income 
decreased by 138 with a decrease in wholesale revenue 
of 178 
brands margins increased from 383 to 389
 
selling distribution and 
administration costs 
selling distribution and administration costs for the group 
decreased as a percentage of revenue this was as a result 
of cost and efficiency savings offsetting inflation
 
the group manages the impact of currency movements 
through the use of forward fixed rate currency purchase 
and sales contracts the company’s policy has been to 
hold or hedge up to four years with generally a minimum 
of one year on anticipated purchases in foreign currency 
the exchange loss of £398m 2009 £142m gain included 
in administration costs have arisen from
a accepting dollars and euros at the contracted rate and
b the translation of dollars and euro denominated 
assets and liabilities at the period end rate or date of 
realisation
the exchange gain of £377m 2009 £126m gain included 
in finance income substantially represents the reduction 
in the marktomarket provision made under ifrs for 
the forward contracts at 26 april 2009 a number of the 
forward contracts outstanding at 25 april 2010 qualify 
for hedge accounting and the fair value gain on these 
contracts of £109m has been credited to equity through 
the consolidated statement of comprehensive income 
the group has sufficient us dollar contracts to cover all 
purchases in uk retail for the 2011 financial year these 
hedged contracts are at an average rate of 1617 
the sterling exchange rate with the us dollar was 1471 
at 26 april 2009 and 1538 at 25 april 2010
 
exceptional operating costs and 
revenues
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’m
26 april 2009 
£’m
impairment of intangible assets  148
impairment of freehold property  157
provision for legal costs relating to 
regulatory enquiries 78 
provision for the cost of legal disputes 22 
100 305
 
foreign exchange revenue and margin
section 2  the business review 
financial review
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p29
he runs she runs  sportsdirectcom store shirebrook for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’m
26 april 2009 
£’m
bank interest receivable 05 12
other interest receivable 03 
expected return on pension plan assets 16 21
fair value adjustment to forward foreign 
exchange contracts 377 126
401 159
 
the profit on the fair valuing of forward foreign exchange 
contracts arises under ifrs as a result of marking to 
market at the period end those contracts held to hedge the 
group’s currency risk
 
finance costs 
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’m
26 april 2009 
£’m
interest on bank loans and overdrafts 80 200
interest on other loans 02 11
interest on retirement benefit obligations 23 25
fair value adjustment to forward foreign 
exchange contracts  
105 236
 
the fall in interest payable is a result of the reduction in 
interest rates and borrowings during the year
 
t axation
the effective tax rate on profit before tax for 2010 was 
253 2009 2456 this rate reflects depreciation on 
nonqualifying assets and the nonrelievable losses in 
certain overseas subsidiaries
excluding the impact of nonrecurring items the effective 
rate of taxation for the year would be 314 2009 329
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
pence per share
26 april 2009 
pence per share
change

reported eps 1573 279 6639
underlying eps 1239 793 562
weighted average number of 
shares actual 568452000 568452000
 
basic earnings per share eps is calculated by dividing 
the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the 
weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding 
during the actual financial period 
the underlying eps reflects the underlying performance 
of the business compared with the prior year and is 
calculated using the weighted average number of shares 
it is not a recognised profit measure under ifrs and may 
not be directly comparable with “adjusted” profit measures 
used by other companies 
the items adjusted for arriving at the underlying profit 
after tax are as follows 
 
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’m
26 april 2009 
£’m
profit after tax 894 158
post tax effect of exceptional items
fair value adjustment to forward foreign 
exchange contracts 271 85
realised lossprofit on forward foreign 
exchange contracts 286 96
other investment income 241 10
cost relating to regulatory enquiries 56 
excess of fair value of assets acquired 
over consideration 28 
legal disputes 16 
derecognition of listed investments  532
impairment of freehold property  156
impairment of intangible assets  100
fair value adjustment within associated 
undertakings 08 12
underlying profit after tax 704 451
 
finance income
section 2  the business review 
financial review
continued
earnings sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p31
2010 marked slazenger’s 109th partnership year with 
the championships wimbledon an interim dividend of 122p per share totalling £694m 
in respect of the year ended 26 april 2009 was paid on 30 
april 2009 to shareholders on the register at 3 april 2009
 
capital expenditure
capital expenditure amounted to £194m 2009 £378m 
this included £05m 2009 £64m on freehold property 
the remaining balance includes expenditure on licenses 
which is include in intangible assets
 
acquisitions
the group spent £33m on acquisitions during the year 
the principal acquisitions were the remaining 22 of share 
capital in antigua enterprises that was not previously 
owned by the group and an additional 75 stake in 
heatons
 
strategic investments
during the year the group held investments in blacks 
leisure group plc jd sports and fashion and jjb sports 
plc changes in the value of these shares are recognised 
directly in equity while for contracts for difference they 
are recognised in the income statement in accordance 
with ifrs
25 april 2010 
£’m
t otal availableforsale investments at 26 april 2009 55
additions in the period 222
disposal proceeds in the period 81
profit taken to the income statement 183
revaluation through equity 137
total availableforsale investments at 25 april 
2010 516
 
we have previously reported that some of our strategic 
stakes were held by kaupthing singer  friedlander 
ksf and partly financed by them on 8 october 2008 
ksf went into administration and we were in dispute 
with the administrators concerning the ownership of the 
shares they held in the 2009 financial statements we 
concluded that we may not directly “control” the shares 
for accounting purposes and therefore treated them as 
having been derecognised 
on 21 february the company entered into an agreement 
with the administrator of ksf to acquire any rights which 
may be determined they hold
on 13 may the judgement of the court proceedings which 
commenced on 26 april 2010 was handed down the court 
determined that the group acquired a beneficial interest in 
12153071 ordinary shares in blacks leisure and 5775255 
ordinary shares in jd sports on 8 october 2008 this 
acquisition is reflected in these financial statements the 
judgement also meant that the group regained control of 
the shares
the administrator of ksf has now appealed the decision 
but sports direct’s ownership of the shares is no longer in 
dispute were ksf to be successful in their appeal then 
sports direct would be required to pay an amount of  
c £147m which is currently held in escrow and included 
in other debtors this amount represents the difference 
in value of the shares between 8 october 2008 and 21 
february 2010
the group also has a claim submitted with the 
administration for the shares in amer sports blacks and 
jd that were not in ksf’s possession and also for the 
dividends and group funds held by ksf this amounts to 
approximately £91m in total and the latest information 
from the administrator suggests a distribution of around 
70 this amount is included in other debtors
the respective shareholdings at 25 april 2010 and 26 
april 2009 not reflecting the derecognition for accounting 
purposes were as follows
at 25 april 2010 26 april 2009 
shares ‘m holding shares ‘m holding
blacks leisure group 12153 2850 12728 2985
amer sports corporation   1066 148
jd sports fashion 5775 1197 6475 1331
jjb sports   11944 476
 
on 24 may 2010 blacks leisure issued 39281011 new 
ordinary shares as part of a fundraising in which the group 
did not participate as a result the group’s interest in 
12153m shares now represents 145 of blacks’ share 
capital
 
dividends
section 2  the business review 
financial review
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p33
umbro ‘tailored by england’ store graphics in addition to the amounts invested in capital expenditure 
and acquisitions the group paid a net £83m a cash 
outflow £163m and inflow of £80m for the purchase and 
disposal of strategic investments net debt decreased by 
£1194m from £4313m at 26 april 2009 to £3119m at 25 
april 2010
the analysis of debt at 25 april 2010 was as follows
at 25 april 
2010 £’m
 at 26 april 
2009 £’m
cash and cash equivalents 251 324
borrowings 3370 4637
net debt 3119 4313
 
the group continues to operate comfortably within its 
banking facilities and covenants our facilities are in place 
until april 2011 and we will continue discussions with 
banks during the current financial year
 
cash flow
t otal movement is as follows
at 25 april 2010 
£’m
 at 26 april 2009 
£’m
underlying ebitda 1604 1368
realised profit on forward foreign 
exchange contracts 398 142
t axes paid 347 253
free cash flow 859 1257
invested in 
working capital and other 805 315
acquisitions including debt 33 66
net purchase ofproceeds from 
investments 83 89
reduction in ksf debt  203
net capital expenditure 188 348
equity dividend paid 69 256
finance costs and other financing 
activities 97 225
decreaseincrease in net debt 1194 339
 
t otal equity movement is as follows
at 25 april 
2010 £’m
t otal equity at 26 april 2009 1537
profit after tax for the 52 weeks ended 26 april 2009 894
share based payment 108
items taken directly to equity
exchange differences on translation of foreign 
operations
80
exchange differences on hedged contracts 109
actuarial loss on pension 82
fair value adjustment in respect of availableforsale 
financial assets
137
t ax on items taken directly to equity 08
movement in equity issues
movement in minority interests 18
total equity at 25 april 2010 2597
 
pensions
the group operates a number of closed defined benefit 
schemes in the dunlop slazenger companies the net 
deficit in these schemes increased from £123m at 26 april 
2009 to £197m at 25 april 2010
 
bob mellors 
finance director 
 
22 july 2010
cash flow and net debt reconciliation of movement in equity
section 2  the business review 
financial review
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p35
dunlop brand ambassador fernando verdasco 1 dr keith hellawell qpm
nonexecutive chairman aged 68
dr hellawell was appointed to the board on 24 november 
2009 and is also chairman of the nomination committee 
and a member of the remuneration and audit committees 
prior to joining sports direct international plc  
dr hellawell spent over forty years in public sector 
management being a former chief constable of two  
british police forces between 1998 and 2002 working 
directly for the prime minister he wrote and coordinated 
the united kingdom national and international anti  
drugs policy
he has been involved in the private sector since 1998 
when he joined evans of leeds a fully listed property 
company since then he has served on the boards of both 
dalkia plc and sterience limited subsidiaries of the 
french company veolina env dr hellawell is currently 
a nonexecutive director of mortice plc a singapore 
based facilities management company and a director of 
huddersfield giants superleague team he was non
executive chairman of goldshield group plc a marketing 
led pharmaceutical and consumer health company from 
may 2006 to its sale in december 2009 he has held a 
number of other nonexecutive board positions in private 
companies including vehicle manufacturing and it  
he runs his own management and training consultancy 
company
 
2 mike ashley
executive deputy chairman aged 45
mike ashley established the business of the group on 
leaving school in 1982 and was the sole owner of the 
business until the company’s listing in march 2007 mike 
is the executive deputy chairman and is responsible for 
formulating the vision and strategy of the company
 
3 dave forsey 
chief executive aged 44
dave forsey has been with the business for over 24 years 
during which he has acquired significant knowledge 
and experience he is chief executive and has overall 
responsibility for the business
 
4 bob mellors 
group finance director aged 60
bob mellors has been the group’s finance director 
since 2004 a graduate in economics he qualified with 
pricewaterhousecoopers in london before joining eacott 
worrall where sports direct became a client in 1982 he 
was managing partner and head of corporate finance at 
eacott worrall before joining the business
1 2 3 4
section 3  management and governance 
the board sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p37
5 simon bentley 
senior independent nonexecutive director aged 55
simon bentley was appointed to the board on 2 march 
2007 and was acting chairman from 31 may 2007 to 
23 november 2009 he is also chairman of the audit 
committee and a member of the remuneration and 
nomination committee simon qualified as a chartered 
accountant in 1980 and in 1987 joined blacks leisure 
group plc where he was chairman and chief executive 
for 12 years until 2002 simon chairs and is on the board 
of a range of companies and organisations among these 
he is chairman of the swiss domino’s pizza franchisee 
global brands sa and is deputy chairman of the country’s 
premier leadership in management organisation the 
leadership t rust he is chairman of the hotelier maypole 
group plc and is the principal owner and chairman of the 
leading mobile atm operator cash on the move he has 
lengthy experience of the sporting goods industry and is  
a director of the country’s leading running retailer 
brasher leisure 
 
6 malcolm dalgleish 
nonexecutive director aged 58
malcolm dalgleish joined the board on 25 october 2007 
malcolm is currently head of retail in the europe middle 
east and africa area at cb richard ellis in 2005 cbre 
acquired dalgleish  the leading retail real estate services 
specialist in the uk which malcolm founded in 1979 and 
of which he was the principal shareholder malcolm is a 
member of the board’s audit nomination and  
remuneration committees
 
7 david singleton 
nonexecutive director aged 59
dave singleton joined the board on 25 october 2007 dave 
spent 25 years with reebok international limited he 
stepped down in april 2007 having helped to successfully 
integrate reebok following its acquisition by adidas group 
in january 2006 for eight years he was vice president 
northern europe region  uk and since 2003 was senior 
vice president europe middle east  africa dave has an 
extensive senior management record and brings valuable 
experience of international sports brand operations he is 
chairman of the board’s remuneration committee and a 
member of the board’s audit and nomination committees 
he is also a director of bolton lads  girls club
5 6 7 the directors of sports direct international plc present 
their annual report to shareholders together with the 
audited consolidated financial statements for the company 
and its subsidiaries for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
the year
this document contains a number of forwardlooking 
statements relating to the company and its subsidiaries 
the group with respect to amongst others the 
following financial conditions results of operations 
economic conditions in which the group operates the 
business of the group and future benefits of the current 
management plans and objectives the group considers 
any statements that are not historical facts as “forward
looking statements” they relate to events and trends that 
are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the 
actual results and financial position of the group to differ 
materially from the information presented in the relevant 
forwardlooking statement when used in this document 
the words “estimate” “project” “intend” “aim” “believe” 
“expect” “should” and similar expressions as they relate 
to the group and the management of it are intended to 
identify such forwardlooking statements readers are 
cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward
looking statements which speak only as at the date of 
this document neither the directors nor any member of 
the group undertake any obligation publicly to update or 
revise any of the forwardlooking statements whether as a 
result of new information future events or otherwise save 
in respect of any requirement under applicable laws the 
listing rules and other regulations
 
principal activities
the principal activities of the group during the year were
• retailing of sports and leisure clothing footwear and 
equipment 
• wholesale distribution and sale of sports and leisure 
clothing footwear and equipment under group owned or 
licensed brands and
• licensing of group brands
further information on the group’s principal activities 
is set out in the front of this document and in the chief 
executive’s report and business review on pages 6 to 24
the trading results for the year and the group’s financial 
position as at the end of the year are shown in the attached 
financial statements and discussed further in the chief 
executive’s report and business review and in the 
financial review on pages 6 to 24 and 26 to 34 respectively
 
business review and future 
developments
the statutory business review required by the companies 
act 2006 the 2006 act is included in the chief executive’s 
report and business review and in the corporate 
responsibility report on pages 6 to 24 and 58 to 63 
respectively a review of group activities during the 
year together with the factors likely to affect its future 
development performance and conditions is included in 
the chief executive’s report and business review on pages 
6 to 24 the financial position of the group its cash flow 
liquidity position and borrowing facilities are described 
in the financial review on page 34 the chief executive’s 
report and business review also describes on page 18 
to 22 the principal risks and uncertainties that face the 
group and note 3 to the financial statements includes the 
group’s objectives policies and processes for managing its 
capital its principal financial risk management objectives 
details of its financial instruments and hedging activities 
and its exposure to credit risk and liquidity risk details 
of the group’s key performance indicators by reference 
to which the development performance and position of 
the business can be measured effectively are stated in the 
chief executive’s report and business review on page 16
the corporate responsibility report on pages 58 to 63 
reports on environmental matters including the impact of 
the group’s businesses on the environment the group’s 
employees and on social and community issues
 
going concern
as highlighted in note 22 to the financial statements the 
group finances its day to day working capital requirements 
and has made investments and conducted a share  
buyback programme in the past using a facility with 
the bank of scotland that is due for renewal in april 
2011 the current economic conditions however create 
some uncertainty in the economy and particularly in 
respect of the exchange rate between sterling and the us 
dollar which impacts on the cost of the group’s products 
manufactured in the far east and the availability of bank 
finance in the foreseeable future
results for the year
section 3  management and governance 
directors’ report sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p39
the group’s forecast and projections taking account of 
reasonably possible changes in trading performance  
show that the group should be able to operate within 
the level of the current facility the group has opened 
negotiations with bankers and at this stage has not sought 
any written commitments no matter has been drawn to 
its attention to suggest that a facility would not be made 
available to the group on acceptable terms indeed the 
directors expect an adequate facility to be made available 
on acceptable terms 
the directors have thoroughly reviewed the group’s 
performance and position relating to historical results 
current trading forecast performance cash reserves 
and financing arrangements additionally the directors 
have also considered the group’s reliance upon its key 
stakeholders including customers and suppliers and 
found no over reliance on any particular stakeholder 
the directors are therefore confident that the group will 
continue in operational existence for the foreseeable 
future on this basis the directors continue to adopt the 
going concern basis for the preparation of the financial 
statements
 
appropriations
the group has agreed not to recommend a final dividend 
this year
 
group structure and operations
during the year the group acquired the remaining minority 
interest of antigua enterprises inc the usa golf sporting 
and leisure goods wholesaler and delisted it from the 
t oronto stock exchange it also acquired a further 7 
interest in warrnambool the parent company of the irish 
retail chain heatons to take the company shareholding to 
50
 
share capital
the authorised share capital of the company is 
£100000000 divided into 999500010 ordinary shares of 
10p each and 499990 redeemable preference shares of 
10p each 
the ordinary shares have all the rights that usually attach 
to such ordinary shares including the right to receive 
dividends if paid or declared to receive notice and attend 
and vote at meetings of shareholders and subject to 
what is said concerning redeemable preference shares 
to receive a share of the assets of the company on any 
winding up
the redeemable preference shares do not carry any right 
to receive a dividend or to participate in any distribution of 
the profits or assets of the company or to vote at meetings 
of shareholders but holders of redeemable preference 
shares have the right to receive notice and attend meetings 
of shareholders and on any winding up of the company 
the redeemable preference shares are redeemed at par 
in priority to any distribution to the holders of ordinary 
shares no redeemable preference shares are in issue
there are no specific restrictions on the transfer of shares 
which are governed by the provisions of the articles of 
association and prevailing legislation
during the year the group increased the issued share 
capital by 50000 so that 640502369 ordinary shares of 
10p are in issue and fully paid of which 64000000 are 
currently held in t reasury 
the directors are not aware of any agreements between 
holders of the company’s shares that may result in 
restrictions on the transfer of securities or on voting 
rights
details of executive and employee share schemes are set 
out on page 51 to 53 no votes are cast in respect of the 
shares held in the employee benefit t rust and dividends 
are waived
 
powers to issue shares
at the company’s annual general meeting on 9 september 
2009 the director’s were generally and unconditionally 
authorised to allot relevant securities in the capital 
of the company up to an aggregate nominal amount 
of £19215078 being approximately one third of the 
then issued share capital for the period expiring at 
the conclusion of the next annual general meeting 
of the company a further authority to allot shares 
up to a maximum nominal value of £2882618 being 
approximately 5 of the then issued share capital as 
if statutory preemption rights did not apply was also 
approved the authorities expire at the close of the next annual 
general meeting of the company but a contract to allot 
shares under these authorities may be made prior to the 
expiry of the authority and concluded in whole or part after 
the annual general meeting and at that meeting similar 
authorities will be sought from shareholders 
in line with guidance from the association of british 
insurers the company proposes at the next a gm to 
request authority to issue a further third of the issued 
share capital to a nominal amount of £38433491 being 
approximately 35 of the issued share capital further 
details will be provided in the circular to shareholders
 
the company’s power to purchase 
shares
at the company’s annual general meeting on 9 september 
2009 the company was generally and unconditionally 
authorised to make market purchases of ordinary shares 
of 10p each in the company of up to a maximum aggregate 
number 57645236 representing 10 of the company’s 
issued ordinary share capital
the above authority expires at the close of the next annual 
general meeting of the company and at that meeting a 
similar authority will be sought from shareholders no 
shares were purchased during the year
 
shareholders
no shareholder enjoys any special control rights and 
except as set out below there are no restrictions in the 
transfer of shares or of voting rights 
mike ashley and the company have entered into a 
relationship agreement pursuant to which mike ashley 
undertook to the company that for so long as he is entitled 
to exercise or to control the exercise of 15 or more of 
the rights to vote at general meetings of the company he 
will 
• conduct all transactions and relationships with any 
member of the group on arm’s length terms and on a 
normal commercial basis and with the approval of the 
nonexecutive directors 
• exercise his voting rights or other rights in support of the 
company being managed in accordance with the listing 
rules and the principles of good governance set out in 
the combined code and not exercise any of his voting or 
other rights and powers to procure any amendment to 
the articles of association of the company 
• other than through his interest in the company not have 
any interest in any business which sell sports apparel 
and equipment subject to certain rights after notification 
to the company to acquire any such interest of less than 
20 of the business concerned and certain other limited 
exceptions without receiving the prior approval of the 
nonexecutive directors and not solicit for employment 
or employ any senior employee of the company
as at 22 july 2010 the following party had a significant 
direct or indirect share holding in the shares of the 
company 
number of 
shares held
percentage of issued 
ordinary share capital 
with voting rights held
nature 
of holding
mash holdings 
limited 410400000 712 direct
 
mash holdings limited is wholly owned by mike ashley
 
suppliers
it is the policy of the group to agree appropriate terms 
and conditions for its transactions with suppliers ranging 
from standard written terms to individually negotiated 
contracts and for payment to be made in accordance with 
these terms provided the supplier has complied with its 
obligations 
the number of days purchases outstanding for the group’s 
uk operations as at 25 april 2010 was 37 days 2009 36 
days
 
contracts essential to the business of 
the company
the chief executive’s report sets out on page 16 
information about persons with whom the company has 
contractual or other arrangements which are essential or 
material to the business of the group
 
t akeovers
the directors do not believe there are any significant 
contracts that may change in the event of a successful 
takeover of the company details of the impact of any 
successful takeover of the company on directors’ 
bonus and share schemes are set out in the directors’ 
remuneration report on page 53 
powers to issue shares continued
section 3  management and governance 
directors’ report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p41
executive directors’ service contracts and nonexecutive 
directors’ appointment letters contain no specific 
provisions relating to any takeover of the company
 
employee share schemes
details of the p erformance share plan and bonus share 
scheme are set out in the directors’ remuneration 
report on pages 51 to 53 the 2007 p erformance share 
plan period has been completed and as the eps and tsr 
targets were not met these awards lapsed
at the next annual general meeting of the company the 
company intends to seek approval of the establishment of 
the executive bonus share scheme and the 2011 employee 
bonus share scheme full details are set out in the 
circular to shareholders
 
employee involvement
the group employs 17360 employees those employees 
are fundamental to the future success of the group the 
group communicates with its people through a wide 
variety of channels including briefings held at head 
office information transmitted through line managers 
and an employee forum at the head office and national 
distribution centre at shirebrook the company’s open 
management style encourages employees to develop and 
to contribute to the development of the business 
all uk permanent employees of the group in uk retail 
brands and head office participate in the bonus share 
scheme the scheme is intended to motivate and provide 
those employees with a direct and substantial link 
between group performance and their remuneration and 
encourage employee participation in the group the bonus 
share scheme will operate in addition to the current 
workplace bonus schemes which are directly related to 
specific workplace performance
the group has entered into an agreement with the trade 
union unite in respect of collective bargaining of the pay 
hours and holidays of certain groups of employees at the 
group’s national distribution centre at shirebrook
further information on relationships with employees can 
be found in the corporate responsibility report on page 
58  to 59
the group’s policy for its employees and for all applicants 
for employment is to fit the abilities and aptitude of each 
individual to an appropriate job irrespective of gender 
race religion or belief sexual orientation age disability 
or ethnic origin the company and other group companies 
will not tolerate discrimination in any form applications 
for employment by disabled persons are given full and 
fair consideration for all vacancies in accordance with 
their particular aptitudes and abilities the group does 
all that is practicable to meet its responsibilities towards 
the training and employment of disabled people and to 
ensure that training career development and promotion 
opportunities are available to all employees 
the group makes every effort to provide continuity of 
employment in the same or similar job where an employee 
becomes disabled including offering retraining in order 
that the employees’ employment within the group may 
continue
 
research and development
the group designs clothing and some footwear for sale 
in stores and has arrangements with suppliers for the 
research and development of goods for the brands 
division
 
charitable and political donations
during the year the group made charitable donations 
of £4000 2009 £50000 to the children’s t rust 
additional non cash items are contained in the corporate 
responsibility report no political donations were made 
2009 nil
 
directors
directors who served during the year were
date of appointment
mike ashley
21 december 2006
simon bentley
02 march 2007
malcolm dalgleish
25 october 2008
dave forsey
08 february 2007
keith hellawell
24 november 2009
bob mellors
21 december 2006
dave singleton
25 october 2007
equal opportunities details of directors their roles responsibilities 
achievements and significant external commitments are 
set out on pages 36 and 37 and in respect of directors 
standing for reappointment in the annual general meeting 
notice which is sent to shareholders with this report 
the appointment retirement and reappointment of 
directors are governed by the company’s articles of 
association the combined code the companies act  
and related legislation the articles may be amended  
by special resolution of the shareholders the powers  
of directors are described in the board’s t erms of 
reference and in the corporate governance statement  
on pages 43 to 46
the board believes that each director standing for 
reappointment continues to demonstrate commitment is 
an effective member of the board and contributes to the 
balance of skills knowledge and experience identified by 
the board as being required the board is satisfied that 
the chairman is not precluded from devoting sufficient 
time to his duties to the company by reason of his other 
commitments the board recommends reappointment of 
the directors standing for reappointment
information on service contracts and details of the 
interests of the directors and their families in the share 
capital of the company at 25 april 2010 and at the date of 
this report is shown in the directors’ remuneration report 
on pages 53 and 56 respectively copies of the service 
contracts of executive directors and of the appointment 
letters of the chairman and nonexecutive directors are 
available for inspection at the company’s registered office 
during normal business hours and at the annual general 
meeting
no director has a directorship in common or other 
significant links with any other director except in the case 
of executive directors holding directorships of subsidiary 
companies of the company 
 
directors conflicts of interest
the board has put in place procedures to deal with 
directors’ conflicts of interest during the year the board 
reviewed and where appropriate approved certain 
situational conflicts of interest that were reported to it by 
directors and a register of those situational conflicts is 
maintained and reviewed also during the year the board 
noted any transactional conflicts of interest concerning 
directors that arose and were declared no director took 
part in the discussion or determination of any matter in 
respect of which he had disclosed a transactional conflict 
of interest
the company has entered into deeds of indemnity for 
the benefit of each director of the company and for the 
benefit of each person who was a director during the year 
in respect of liabilities to which they may become liable 
in their capacity as director of the company and of any 
company in the group these indemnities are qualifying 
third party indemnity provisions within the meaning given 
to that term by sections 234 and 235 of the 2006 act and 
all these indemnities remain in force
 
annual general meeting
the annual general meeting of the company will be 
held on 7 september 2010 at unit d brook p ark east 
shirebrook ng20 8ry the meeting will commence at  
300 pm the board encourages shareholders to attend 
and participate in the meeting
 
auditors
grant thornton uk llp has expressed a willingness 
to continue in office in accordance with section 489 4 
of the companies act 2006 resolutions to reappoint 
grant thornton uk llp as auditors and to authorise 
the directors to determine their remuneration will be 
proposed at the annual general meeting
 
by order of the board
bob mellors 
company secretary
 
22 july 2010
deeds of indemnity directors continued
section 3  management and governance 
directors’ report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p43
corporate governance report
the board of directors of the company is committed to 
maintaining high standards of corporate governance and 
to managing the affairs of the group in accordance with 
the provisions of the listing rules and of the combined 
code on corporate governance issued by the financial 
reporting council in june 2008 the “combined code”  
a copy of the combined code is available on the financial 
reporting council’s website at wwwfrcorguk the 
board has reviewed the company’s corporate governance 
processes and policies and has concluded that during the 
52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 the “year” the company 
complied with the provisions of the combined code except 
as set out below 
the combined code code provision a32 recommends 
that at least half of the board of directors of a uk listed 
company excluding the chairman should be comprised 
of nonexecutive directors determined by the board to be 
independent in character and judgement and free from 
relationships or circumstances which may affect or could 
appear to affect the director’s judgment prior to the 
appointment of the nonexecutive chairman dr hellawell 
the company did not comply with this provision of the 
combined code the board is currently made up of the 
nonexecutive chairman three executive directors and 
three independent nonexecutive directors the company 
will continue to remain compliant until the retirement of 
malcolm dalgleish at the a gm in september 2010
the combined code also provides code provisions 
b21 and c31 that each of the remuneration and audit 
committees of the board should comprise of at least 
three independent nonexecutive directors the code 
also provides that in respect of the remuneration 
committee the company chairman may also be a 
member but not chair the committee if he or she was 
considered independent on appointment as chairman 
until 23 november 2009 these committees comprised 
two independent nonexecutive directors and the acting 
chairman and as such did not comply with the code 
from 24 november 2009 and the appointment of the 
nonexecutive chairman the acting chairman reverted to 
nonexecutive director and the company complied with 
the code
the combined code provides code provision a41 that 
the majority of the members of the nomination committee 
should be independent nonexecutive directors until 
23 november 2009 the committee comprised the acting 
chairman and two nonexecutive directors and did not 
comply with the code the committee is now compliant 
with the provisions of the code due to the appointment of 
the nonexecutive chairman 
 
the company has in the past used recruitment consultants 
to search for a chairman and for additional independent 
nonexecutive directors and the nomination committee 
has approved job descriptions for those roles
during the year the company appointed dr keith hellawell 
as nonexecutive chairman a search for a new chairman 
through recruitment consultants had previously been 
unsuccessful upon the recommendation of an institutional 
shareholder dr hellawell was interviewed and appointed 
to the board
following the departure of malcolm dalgleish at the 2010 
annual general meeting the company will continue 
to seek his replacement based on the job description 
approved by the remuneration committee
the board currently believes however that the board and 
its committees as currently constituted are working well 
and that in a period of challenging economic conditions it 
may be difficult to recruit an appropriate person to be an 
independent nonexecutive director of the company the 
nomination committee and the board will continue to 
actively look to fill this appointment
 
the board
during the year the board comprised a nonexecutive 
chairman three executive directors and three non
executive directors the names and short biographies of 
the nonexecutive chairman and other directors are set 
out on pages 36 and 37
the nonexecutive chairman keith hellawell and the 
nonexecutive directors are considered by the board to 
be independent the board considers that an independent 
director is one who is independent in character and 
judgment and where there are no circumstances that 
are likely to affect or could appear to affect his or her 
judgement relationships or circumstances that could 
affect judgement include having been an employee of 
the company or of any group company during the past 
five years having had a material business relationship 
or having been a partner shareholder director or senior 
employee of a body with a material business relationship 
with the company or any group company in the past three 
years receiving remuneration from the company other 
than directors’ fees participating in any share option or 
bonus schemes or in a company pension scheme having 
had close family ties with any of the company’s advisors 
directors or senior employees having cross directorships 
or significant links with any other director representing a 
significant shareholder or serving on the board for more 
than nine years
corporate governance simon bentley resumed his position as senior independent 
nonexecutive director and is available to shareholders 
if they have concerns which have failed to be resolved 
through the normal channels of chairman executive 
deputy chairman chief executive or group finance 
director or for which such channels are inappropriate 
the company has entered into a relationship agreement 
with mike ashley the executive deputy chairman whose 
wholly owned company mash holdings ltd currently 
holds approximately 712 of the issued share capital of 
the company excluding treasury shares this agreement 
is described in the directors’ report on page 40 
given the structure of the board and the terms of the 
relationship agreement the board believes that no 
individual or small group of individuals can dominate the 
board’s decision making 
the board has established a nomination committee to 
ensure a formal rigorous and transparent procedure 
for the appointment of new directors to the board the 
composition of that committee and a description of its 
terms of reference are set out on page 48
details of executive directors’ service contracts and of the 
chairman’s and the nonexecutive directors’ appointment 
letters are given on page 53 copies of service contracts 
and of appointment letters are available for inspection at 
the company’s registered office during normal business 
hours and at the annual general meeting
executive directors normally retire on reaching the 
age determined by the board from time to time as the 
retirement age for executive directors
nonexecutive directors are appointed for an initial 
term of three years from the annual general meeting 
following their joining of the board and subject to 
performance there is an expectation of reappointment 
for a further period of three years exceptionally a non
executive director may be invited to serve for a further 
and final three year term nonexecutive directors’ fees 
are determined by the board in the absence of the non
executive directors other than the chairman 
all directors appointed by the board are appointed after 
consideration of the recommendations of the nomination 
committee and those so appointed must stand for 
reappointment at the following annual general meeting 
every director must retire at least once every three 
years and in addition at least one third of the continuing 
members of the board must retire by rotation each year 
retiring directors may seek reappointment if willing and 
eligible to do so and if so recommended by the nomination 
committee the chairman will when proposing the 
reappointment of a director confirm that following formal 
performance evaluation the director’s performance 
continues to be effective and he or she continues to 
demonstrate commitment to the role
malcolm dalgleish will retire at this year’s a gm and will 
not put himself forward for reelection having been 
appointed since the last annual general meeting keith 
hellawell will retire from the board and being eligible 
will offer himself for election mike ashley will retire by 
rotation and being eligible will seek reappointment 
the board has adopted a formal process for the 
performance evaluation of the board its committees 
and individual directors every year each director has an 
opportunity to express his or her views on the organisation 
and operation of the board and its committees their 
effectiveness and contribution to the business and on 
any other matter they consider relevant these views are 
expressed in response to a questionnaire prepared and 
circulated by the secretary who holds the comments of 
individual directors in confidence the results of these 
questionnaires are consolidated and reported to the 
chairman and in so far as they relate to the chairman to 
the senior independent nonexecutive director and in so 
far as they relate to the board as a whole or to any of its 
committees to the board as a whole the chairman has 
begun a process of evaluation which he will complete in 
the next financial year
given the current small size of the board the board 
does not consider the use of independent consultants 
appropriate or useful 
in addition the chairman will meet with individual 
directors privately at least once in every year to review 
the contribution of that director to the board and his or 
her development needs the chairman has completed his 
evaluation for the 0910 financial year the chairman will 
meet with the nonexecutive directors as a group and 
in the absence of any executive directors at least twice a 
year and as part of the board evaluation programme the 
nonexecutive directors led by the senior independent 
nonexecutive director will review the performance 
of the chairman having taken account of the views of 
the executive directors the senior independent non
executive director will undertake his first review of the 
chairman in the coming year
the board continued
section 3  management and governance 
corporate governance report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p45
the board and the nomination committee will consider 
the output from the evaluation programme in their 
evaluation of the skills knowledge and experience of the 
board and in formulating development plans
the board provides corporate governance training for 
those directors appointed to the board for whom it is 
their first appointment to a listed company board and 
provides a tailored induction programme for all directors 
on appointment in addition the board is made aware 
of material changes to laws and regulations affecting 
the group’s business from time to time all directors 
have access to the advice and services of the company 
secretary and each director and each board committee 
may take independent professional advice at the 
company’s expense subject to prior notification to the 
other nonexecutive directors and the company secretary 
the company maintains appropriate directors and officers 
insurance
the division of responsibilities between the nonexecutive 
chairman the executive deputy chairman and the chief 
executive is in writing and has been agreed by the board 
the chairman is responsible for leadership of the board 
for ensuring its effectiveness and for ensuring that all 
directors are able to play a full part in the activities of 
the company he ensures effective communication with 
shareholders and that the board has an understanding of 
the views of major investors the chairman is available to 
provide advice and support to members of the executive 
team the executive deputy chairman is an ambassador 
for the company and takes the lead in the strategic 
development of the company formulating the vision and 
strategy in conjunction with the chief executive the chief 
executive is responsible for leading the management team 
the running of the group’s business for the delivery of 
the strategy approved by the board and for implementing 
specific decisions made by the board no one individual 
has unfettered power of decision
the board currently plans to meet on a formal preplanned 
basis six times during each year with up to four additional 
strategy meetings at convenient time throughout the year 
when broader issues concerning the strategic future of the 
company will be discussed the board will meet on other 
occasions as and when the business demands during the 
year the board met on nine occasions 
the board is collectively responsible for the success of the 
company and has a programme to enable it to discharge 
its responsibility of providing effective and entrepreneurial 
leadership to the company within a framework of prudent 
and effective controls an agenda is established for each 
meeting and appropriate documentation is provided to 
directors in advance of them 
for regular meetings the agenda will include reports 
from the chief executive and the group finance director 
reports on the performance of the business and current 
trading reports on meetings with investors reports 
from committees of the board and specific proposals 
where the approval of the board is sought presentations 
are also given on business or strategic issues where 
appropriate and the board will consider at least annually 
the strategy for the group minutes of the meetings of 
committees of the board are circulated to all members of 
the board unless a conflict of interest arises to enable all 
directors to have oversight of those matters delegated to 
committees and copies of analysts’ reports and brokers’ 
notes are provided to directors 
attendance by directors at board and committee meetings 
during the year and the total number of meetings that 
they could have attended are set out in the table below 
all directors attended all meetings of the board and of 
committees of the board of which they were members 
unless prevented from doing so by prior commitments 
 
 
board 
meetings
audit 
committee 
meetings
remuneration 
committee 
meetings
nomination 
committee 
meetings
keith hellawell 22 22 33 22
mike ashley 99   
simon bentley 99 44 55 33
malcolm dalgleish 79 34 45 33
dave forsey 99   
bob mellors 99   
dave singleton 99 44 55 33
 
the board has a formal schedule of matters reserved for 
decision by it matters so reserved include the approval 
of the strategic plan and longterm objectives of the 
group the annual budget and the allocation of resources 
to achieve that budget decisions relating to unbudgeted 
expenditure over certain limits significant acquisitions 
disposals and joint ventures other material contracts 
changes to the corporate structure of the group the 
appointment and removal of the company secretary 
approval of accounting policies and practices and approval 
of the annual report the board delegates management of 
the businesses of the group to the executive management 
and delegates specific responsibilities to board 
committees  the board believes that the appointment of executive 
directors to be nonexecutive directors of other listed 
companies benefits the group through the additional 
experience and knowledge gained by such an appointment 
and accordingly executive directors are permitted to 
accept one such appointment where no conflict of interest 
arises and to retain the fees received currently none of 
the executive directors holds such an appointment
all nonexecutive directors disclose to the board prior to 
appointment their significant other commitments and they 
are required to notify and have notified any changes to or 
additional commitments from time to time simon bentley 
is chairman of global brands sn maypole group plc and 
deputy chairman of the leadership t rust he is also a 
director of brasher leisure and chairman of cash on the 
move dr hellawell is currently nonexecutive director 
of mortice plc a singapore based facilities management 
company the board is satisfied that dr hellawell and 
simon bentley meet their obligations to the company all 
nonexecutive directors are available to meet with major 
investors 
 
board committees
there are three principal board committees all of which 
have written terms of reference summaries of the terms 
of reference and details of the membership of committees 
are set out below copies of the terms of reference 
are available from the company secretary and on the 
company’s website only members of each committee are 
entitled to attend the meetings of committees although 
each committee may invite other directors managers 
and advisors to attend and have done so membership of 
board committees will be regularly reviewed given the 
current size of the board and the terms of reference all 
nonexecutive directors are members of every board 
committee 
it is however the board’s intention that when the number 
of independent nonexecutive directors appointed to the 
board permits the chairman of the remuneration 
committee will not serve on the audit committee and vice 
versa the board is satisfied that currently no one director 
exercises a disproportionate influence
attendance at meetings of committees is set out on the 
previous page
 
directors who served on the committee during the year 
were
simon bentley chairman 
malcolm dalgleish  
keith hellawell 
dave singleton 
the chairman of the committee is a chartered accountant 
and has recent and relevant financial experience
the committee met on four occasions during the year
the committee’s programme is preplanned to ensure that 
each aspect of its responsibilities is discharged as part of 
an annual cycle during the company’s financial year the 
main responsibilities of the audit committee are
• assisting the board with the discharge of its 
responsibilities in relation to internal and external audits 
and controls
• monitoring the financial reporting process and the 
integrity and clarity of the group’s financial statements 
including making recommendations on judgments they 
contain and the financial reporting process
• agreeing the scope of the annual audit and the annual 
audit plan and monitoring the same 
• reviewing and monitoring the independence of the 
external auditors and relationships with them and in 
particular agreeing and monitoring the extent of the 
nonaudit work that may be undertaken by external 
auditors
• advising on the appointment reappointment and 
removal of external auditors
• reviewing accounting and financial reporting policies 
terms of engagement and remuneration of the external 
auditors and any changes thereto and the method of 
accounting for unusual transactions
reviewing and monitoring the effectiveness of the internal 
control and risk management policies and systems in 
place within the group and ensuring that appropriate 
arrangements are in place under which employees 
can raise concerns about possible financial or other 
impropriety which are then appropriately investigated
during the year the committee considered the matters 
that fell within its area of responsibility above and in 
particular the arrangements for monitoring the 
effectiveness of internal controls and also considered  
the current economic climate and its likely impact on  
the group
the board continued
section 3  management and governance 
corporate governance report
continued
audit committee sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p47
the audit committee will normally meet not less than 
three times a year
the external auditors attend meetings of the committee 
other than when their appointment is being reviewed the 
group finance director also attends as appropriate the 
committee will meet with the auditors in the absence of 
executive management at least twice a year
the audit committee considers annually the 
reappointment of the auditors and their remuneration and 
makes recommendations to the board and the auditors 
are reappointed each year at the annual general meeting 
the committee will consider the level of service provided 
by the auditors and their independence annually
the committee has approved a policy on the engagement 
of the external auditors for nonaudit work in order to 
ensure that the objectivity of the auditor’s opinion on the 
group’s financial statements is not or may not be seen 
to be impaired and has established a process to monitor 
compliance with that policy
the policy identified three categories of potential work 
firstly those tasks that the auditors may not provide as 
to do so would represent a real threat to independence 
that work includes the preparation of accounting 
entries or financial statements it systems design and 
implementation management of projects and tax planning 
where the outcome would have a material impact on the 
financial statements or where the outcome is dependent 
upon accounting treatment
secondly types of work that the auditors may undertake 
with the consent of the chairman of the audit committee 
included in this category are certain corporate finance 
services acquisition due diligence management 
consultancy and secondment of staff other than for the 
preparation of accounting entries or financial statements
thirdly there are services that the auditors may provide as 
the work is clearly audit related and there is no potential 
threat to independence including regulatory reporting and 
acting as reporting accountants the company is satisfied 
that its policy falls within the requirements of the auditing 
practices board
every engagement of the auditors for nonaudit work is to 
be reported to the next meeting of the committee
the combined code recommends that the audit 
committee is made up of at least three nonexecutive 
directors independent in character and judgement and 
free from any relationship or circumstance which may 
could or would be likely to or appear to affect their 
judgement 
the audit committee currently consists of three 
independent nonexecutive directors and the  
nonexecutive chairman upon the resignation of  
malcolm dalgleish the company intends to appoint  
another independent nonexecutive director to the board 
 
remuneration committee
directors who served on the committee during the year 
were
dave singleton chairman 
simon bentley  
malcolm dalgleish  
keith hellawell 
the main responsibilities of the remuneration committee 
are to
• determine the company’s policy on executive 
remuneration including the design of bonus schemes 
and targets and payments made thereunder
• determine the levels of remuneration for the chairman 
and each of the executive directors
• monitor the remuneration of senior management and 
make recommendations in respect of thereof
• agree any compensation for loss of office of any 
executive director
• the committee met on five occasions during the year
during the year the committee reviewed directors and 
senior manager’s remuneration arrangements and 
considered bonus schemes in particular the bonus share 
scheme and the proposed executive bonus share scheme 
approval of which will be sought at the annual general 
meeting of the company in september 
the committee considered directors’ salaries and 
determined not to increase them the committee decided 
whether any payments were due to executive directors 
under the 200708 annual bonus scheme and decided 
not to operate an annual bonus scheme for executive 
directors for 201011 due to the participation in the bonus 
share scheme 
the committee also reviewed the p erformance share plan 
and resolved to terminate it upon approval of the executive 
bonus share scheme  a report on the remuneration of directors appears on 
pages 50 to 56 the combined code recommends that 
the remuneration committee is made up of at least three 
nonexecutive directors independent in character and 
judgement and free from any relationship or circumstance 
which may could or would be likely to or appear to 
affect their judgement the committee currently consists 
of three independent nonexecutive directors and the 
chairman and complies with the recommendations set out 
in the combined code 
upon the resignation of malcolm dalgleish the company 
intends to appoint an additional independent  
nonexecutive director to the board who will also be 
appointed a member of the remuneration committee
 
nomination committee
members of the nomination committee during the year 
were 
keith hellawell chairman 
simon bentley 
malcolm dalgleish  
dave singleton 
the committee met on three occasions during the year 
the main responsibilities of the nomination committee 
are to
• review the board’s structure
• review the composition and make up of the board 
including evaluating the balance of skills knowledge and 
experience of the members of the board
• give consideration to succession planning for directors
• prepare a description of the role and capabilities 
required for any board appointment
• make recommendations to the board concerning the 
standing for reappointment of directors
• identify potential candidates to be appointed as 
directors and make recommendations to the board as 
the need may arise
the nomination committee also determines succession 
plans for the chairman and the chief executive who will 
not be present at meetings when such matters are being 
discussed
the nomination committee will meet at least once a year 
and will also meet when appropriate
during the year the committee considered the 
appointment of the nonexecutive chairman and a further 
nonexecutive director or directors and also considered 
the standing for reappointment of directors retiring by 
rotation
dave forsey as chief executive will normally attend 
meetings of the nomination committee save where the 
nomination committee is dealing with matters relating to 
him or with the appointment of his successor
the combined code recommends that a majority of the 
nomination committee be nonexecutive directors 
independent in character and judgement and free from any 
relationship or circumstance which may could or would be 
likely to or appear to affect their judgement 
upon the retirement of malcolm dalgleish the company 
intends to appoint an additional independent  
nonexecutive director to the board who will also be 
appointed a member of the nomination committee
 
share dealing code
the company has a code of securities dealings in relation 
to its shares and other securities which is based on and 
is at least as rigorous as the model code as published in 
the listing rules the code applies to the directors and to 
other appropriate employees of the group
 
internal controls and risk 
management
the directors have overall responsibility for the group’s 
system of internal control and risk management and for 
reviewing their effectiveness the systems of internal 
control and risk management are designed to manage 
rather than eliminate the risk of failing to achieve 
business objectives 
such a system can however provide only reasonable and 
not absolute assurance against material misstatement or 
loss
members of the board have responsibility for monitoring 
the conduct and operations of individual businesses 
within the group this includes the review and approval of 
business strategies and plans the setting of key business 
performance targets and the analysis of risk 
remuneration committee continued
section 3  management and governance 
corporate governance report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p49
the executive management responsible for each business 
is accountable for the conduct and performance of their 
business within agreed strategies
business plans and budgets for each business include 
financial and strategic targets against which performance 
is monitored monitoring includes the examination of 
and changes to rolling annual and quarterly forecasts 
monthly measurement of actual achievement against key 
performance targets and plans and weekly reviews of 
performance
the group has clear procedures for the approval and 
control of expenditure strategic investment decisions 
involving both capital and revenue expenditure are subject 
to formal detailed appraisal and review according to 
approval levels set by the board operating expenditure 
is controlled within each business with approval levels 
for such expenditure being determined by the individual 
businesses
the group has a formal whistle blowing policy for 
employees who wish to raise any issues or concerns 
relating to the company’s or group’s activities on a 
confidential basis
executive management is responsible for the identification 
evaluation and management of the significant risks 
applicable to their areas of business and for the 
development of a disaster mitigation and recovery 
programme
the group operates a retail support unit which provides 
strong operational internal audit services in the retail 
division and there are procedures in place in the brands 
division to monitor and control licensees
the audit committee assists the board in fulfilling its 
oversight responsibilities reviewing the reporting of 
financial and nonfinancial information to shareholders 
and the audit process satisfying itself that appropriate 
systems of internal control and risk management are in 
place and are serving to identify and manage risk 
the auditors attend all meetings of the audit committee 
save for those parts of any meeting when the committee 
reviews the performance of the auditors and when the 
committee is having separate discussions with the group 
finance director
with the exception of heatons the group’s only material 
associate the group’s system of internal control and 
risk management and its effectiveness is monitored 
and reviewed by the board the audit committee and 
management and the board believes that the group has 
maintained throughout the year and up to the date of 
approval of the annual report and accounts an effective 
embedded system of internal control and has complied 
with the t urnbull guidance
 
social environmental and ethical 
matters
the group has for many years recognised the benefits that 
accrue from responsible employment environmental and 
community policies details of the group’s activities in this 
area are set out in the corporate responsibility report on 
pages 58 to 63 this report has been prepared in accordance with the 
requirements of regulation ii and schedule 8 of the large 
and mediumsized companies and groups accounts 
and reports regulations 2008 the regulations and of 
the combined code on corporate governance 2008 “the 
combined code” 
unaudited information
the remuneration committee
during the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 the year 
the members of the remuneration committee the 
committee were 
dave singleton chairman 
simon bentley  
malcolm dalgleish  
keith hellawell
simon bentley dave singleton and malcolm dalgleish are 
independent nonexecutive directors keith hellawell is 
nonexecutive chairman 
the main responsibilities of the committee are 
summarised in the corporate governance report on  
pages 47 and 48
 
advisers
the committee has sought the advice and services of 
freshfields llp when drafting the 2009 bonus share 
scheme in which the executives currently participate 
and charles russell llp and deloittes in relation to the 
proposed new executive bonus share scheme
dave forsey the chief executive bob mellors the group 
finance director and mike ashley the executive deputy 
chairman have also advised or materially assisted the 
committee when requested
 
remuneration policy
the committee has endorsed the provisions of section 1b 
of the combined code and has had those provisions in 
mind when determining remuneration policies for the past 
current and future years policies and practice in respect 
of remuneration inevitably evolve over time and while it is 
currently believed that the policies described in this report 
will apply in future years they will be subject to regular 
review 
the group operates in a highly competitive retail 
environment and the committee seeks to ensure that 
the level and form of remuneration is sufficient to attract 
retain and motivate directors and senior managers of the 
quality and talent required to run the group successfully 
in order to maintain the group’s historic focus on growth 
the committee has adopted a strongly performance based 
remuneration policy for executive directors under which 
a large proportion of their remuneration will be dependent 
upon the group’s performance and be paid in shares 
accordingly for executive directors other than mike 
ashley basic salaries have been set at a level below the 
lower quartile for a business of the size and complexity 
of the group during the year the performance related 
elements of the remuneration packages consisted of 
participation in the bonus share scheme and p erformance 
share plan 
executive directors do not participate in a company 
pension arrangement in respect of which the company 
makes a financial contribution and do not have the use of 
a company car or other similar benefits often available to 
executive directors
the committee has reviewed the current incentive 
arrangements and in support of the above policy is 
recommending the establishment of a new executive 
bonus share scheme the executive bonus share scheme 
has been designed to incentivise and reward executive 
directors in a way that is consistent with the group’s 
strategy of earnings growth and long term shareholder 
value 
full details of the proposed new executive bonus share 
scheme are contained in the circular to shareholders 
accompanying this report and shareholders will be invited 
to approve the new executive share bonus scheme at the 
forthcoming annual general meeting 
if the establishment of the executive bonus share scheme 
is approved then it will replace the performance share 
plan and bonus share scheme in addition a condition 
of participation in the proposed executive bonus share 
scheme will be that the bonus share scheme awards 
for executive directors for 200910 and 201011 will 
not be made and all subsisting awards held under the 
performance share plan by the executive directors will 
lapse 
if the committee were to change its policy on basic 
salaries and bonus strategy then the committee’s 
remuneration policy as set out above will not necessarily 
apply to any new appointment to the board or the existing 
board going forward
section 3  management and governance 
directors’ remuneration report sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p51
mike ashley has agreed that he will not receive a salary 
for his role as executive deputy chairman nor does 
he participate in the bonus share scheme and he will 
not participate in the executive bonus share scheme if 
approved
the committee intends to establish and thereafter 
maintain contact with major shareholders and 
representative groups where appropriate concerning 
remuneration matters
the committee is at all times mindful of the company’s 
social ethical and environmental responsibilities and is 
satisfied that current remuneration arrangements do not 
inadvertently encourage irresponsible behaviour
the committee has reviewed the salaries other 
remuneration and other employment conditions of senior 
and middle managers throughout the group and has taken 
them into account in considering directors salaries and 
the creation of new incentive schemes in order to create 
a sense of common purpose and sharing of success the 
proposed executive bonus share scheme targets mirror 
that of the bonus share scheme which applies to all 
uk permanent employees of the group in the uk retail 
brands and head office on the same basis including 
applying the same performance conditions irrespective of 
seniority 
the committee’s remuneration policy in respect of the 
nonexecutive directors is to pay annual fees which reflect 
the responsibilities and duties placed upon them whilst 
also having regard to market practice
 
basic salary
basic salaries are reviewed annually there was no 
increase in executive directors’ salaries in the review in 
2009 and in april 2010 the committee decided again not 
to alter executive directors’ salaries executive directors’ 
salaries have now been at the same level since 2002
 
annual bonus scheme
the committee has determined that no annual bonus 
scheme will be operated for executive directors while the 
bonus share scheme or proposed new executive bonus 
share scheme is being operated 
mike ashley did not participate in the annual bonus 
scheme for the year and will not participate in the bonus 
share scheme or proposed new executive bonus share 
scheme
 
bonus share scheme
the bonus share scheme was approved at the company’s 
annual general meeting in september 2009 to motivate 
and help improve the retention of employees to encourage 
employee participation in the shares of the company to 
align the interests of employees and shareholders and to 
drive underlying ebitda in line with company strategy 
all permanent uk employees in uk retail brands and 
head office with not less than one year of service at the 
beginning 200910 participated irrespective of seniority 
the bonus was structured in two stages the first bonus is 
25 of base pay in shares at a notional share price of £100 
per share the bonus target for 200910 was underlying 
ebitda of £155m net of the cost of the scheme and will 
vest after two years subject to continuous employment 
until then 
the second bonus is 75 of base pay in shares at a 
notional share price of £125 per share the second stage 
of the bonus is conditional upon the first bonus target 
being met in 200910 and the second bonus targets are 
• underlying ebitda of £195m net of the cost of the 
scheme in 20102011 and
• underlying ebitdanet debt ratio of 2 or less at the end 
of 201011
the second bonus will vest subject to continuous 
employment until then 2 years after the second bonus 
target is met 
the committee will adjust reported underlying group 
ebitda each year during which the scheme is running 
for the purpose of the scheme to ensure consistency in 
the calculation of underlying ebitda and to ensure that 
underlying ebitda is a fair comparison year by year for 
example by eliminating the impact of acquisitions where 
the cost of acquisitions is not reflected in underlying 
ebitda
underlying ebitda is as defined on page 26 and is not at 
constant foreign currency exchange rates as outlined previously the committee has determined 
that if the proposed executive bonus share scheme 
is approved at the company’s annual general meeting 
in september 2010 and implemented with effect from 
the beginning of the current financial year then this 
will replace the bonus share scheme for the executive 
directors in this case the bonus share scheme awards 
for executive directors for 200910 and 201011 will not be 
made
 
the p erformance share plan
the p erformance share plan was adopted at the time of 
the admission of the company to the official list and to 
trading on the london stock exchange in 2007 
the maximum number of shares that an executive director 
may acquire pursuant to share awards granted to him 
in any financial year may not have an aggregate market 
value as measured at the date of grant exceeding 400 of 
his annual basic salary 
there are currently three grants of awards in respect of 
the periods 2007 to 2010 2008 to 2011 and 2009 to 2012 
under the performance share plan the vesting of 50 of 
the awards is subject to a performance target based on the 
earnings per share “eps” growth of the company over a 
three year performance period the remaining 50 of the 
awards are subject to a performance target based on the 
company’s total shareholder return “tsr” over the same 
performance period when compared against a group of 
comparator companies 
the number of shares that will vest under the eps tranche 
of each award will be determined as follows
eps growth
percentage of 
shares in eps 
tranche that vest
below 19 per annum 0
19 per annum 
“threshold”
25
24 per annum “t arget” 50
29 per annum “stretch” 100
 
shares comprised in the eps tranche will vest on a 
straightline basis for performance between threshold and 
t arget and between t arget and stretch
the percentage of the shares comprised in the tsr 
tranche that vest will be determined by reference to the 
company’s tsr ranking within the comparator group at 
the end of the performance period as follows
tsr ranking
percentage of 
shares in tsr 
tranche that vest
upper quartile 100
median 25
below median 0
 
shares comprised in the tsr tranche will vest on a 
straightline basis for performance between median and 
upper quartile
the initial comparator group comprised the following 
companies
• marks  spencer plc
• kingfisher plc
• next group plc
• home retail group plc
• dsg international plc
• the carphone warehouse group plc
• signet group plc
• kesa electrical plc
• debenhams plc
• n brown group plc
• galiform plc
• carpetright plc
• halfords group plc
• w h smith plc
• jjb sports plc
• hmv group plc
• jd sports fashion plc
• blacks leisure group plc
• mothercare plc
 
mothercare plc has replaced umbro plc in the comparator 
group following its acquisition by nike and subsequent 
delisting 
subject to satisfaction of applicable performance 
conditions and continued employment awards will vest 
at the end of the performance period and vested share 
awards will be released to participants automatically as 
soon as practicable after the date the shares vest
bonus share scheme continued
section 3  management and governance 
directors’ remuneration report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p53
the committee determined that upon the vesting of 
any award a participant will receive additional shares 
representing the gross value of dividends as if they had 
been paid on those shares and reinvested during the 
performance period
in the event of a takeover scheme of arrangement other 
than a scheme to create a new holding company for the 
company having substantially the same shareholders as 
the company or voluntary windingup of the company 
share awards will vest following such an event to the 
extent the performance conditions have been met but 
on a time prorated basis share awards may also by 
agreement be exchanged for equivalent share awards or 
options over shares in the acquiring company
as outlined previously the committee has determined 
that if the proposed executive bonus share scheme is 
approved at the company’s annual general meeting in 
september 2010 and implemented with effect from the 
beginning of the current financial year then this will 
replace the performance share plan in this case all 
subsisting awards held under the performance share plan 
by the executive directors will lapse
 
pension 
executive directors are entitled to participate in a 
stakeholder pension scheme under which the company 
makes no contribution 
 
share ownership policy 
the committee believes it to be important that executive 
directors have a significant holding in the capital of the 
company 
the executive directors’ currently each own 1 million 
shares in the company in order to participate in the 
proposed executive share bonus plan the executive 
directors will be required to maintain a level of 
shareholding in the company equivalent to one year’s 
salary while they remain employed by the company
 
contracts of service
on 11 february 2007 each executive director entered 
into a new service agreement with the company the 
agreements became effective on admission 
these contracts reflect the committee’s policy on the 
duration of executive directors service contracts and on 
notice periods and termination payments
each executive director’s employment is terminable by 
either party on 12 months’ written notice the company 
may elect to terminate the employment of dave forsey 
andor bob mellors by making a payment in lieu of notice 
equal to the basic salary that the director would have 
received during the notice period or if notice has already 
been given during the remainder thereof
the company may elect to pay any payment in lieu of 
notice by monthly instalments during the outstanding 
notice periods and if the director obtains alternative 
employment or provides services pursuant to a 
consultancy agreement while such payments are being 
made the director being obliged to use his best efforts 
to obtain such employment each instalment falling due 
after the commencement of such employment or provision 
of services is reduced by one twelfth of the annual 
remuneration or fees received by the director in respect of 
that alternative employment or consultancy 
any entitlement to benefits under any share related 
incentive scheme are determined in accordance with the 
rules of that scheme
each executive director’s service contract automatically 
terminates on the date that the director reaches such age 
as is determined by the board from time to time as the 
retirement age for executive directors
the nonexecutive directors have each entered into a 
letter of appointment with the company which became 
effective in the case of simon bentley on admission and 
in the case of malcolm dalgleish dave singleton and 
keith hellawell on execution details of the letters of 
appointment are set out below
position
annual fee 
£’000
date of letter of 
appointment
keith hellawell chairman 155 24112009
simon bentley 
1
nonexecutive 
director 50 11022007
malcolm dalgleish
nonexecutive 
director 50 25102007
dave singleton
nonexecutive 
director 50 25102007
 
1 
simon bentley received an annual fee of £144000 as 
acting chairman as from 24112009 receives £50000 as 
a nonexecutive director  nonexecutive directors do not and are not entitled to 
participate in any bonus or share scheme 
each nonexecutive director’s appointment other than 
the chairman is for an initial period that expires on 
the date of the company’s first annual general meeting 
after appointment the appointment of simon bentley 
was renewed at the agm on 9 september 2009 and will 
continue for a term of three years from then and then 
terminate unless renewed prior to the expiry of that term 
malcolm dalgleish who is scheduled to retire at the next 
agm has made it known that he does not intend to seek  
reappointment
notwithstanding renewal for a three year term the 
appointment of each of simon bentley malcolm dalgleish 
and dave singleton may be terminated at any time by 
either party on one months’ written notice 
each of the appointments of the nonexecutive directors 
may also be terminated in accordance with the articles of 
association of the company and immediately in certain 
prescribed circumstances including the bankruptcy of the 
nonexecutive director 
nonexecutive directors are subject to confidentiality 
undertakings without limitation in time nonexecutive 
directors are not entitled to receive any compensation on 
the termination of their appointment 
 
nonexecutive directorships
the board recognises that executive directors may be 
invited to become nonexecutive directors of other 
companies and that the experience and knowledge 
gained as a result of such appointments are of benefit to 
the company accordingly the board has agreed that the 
executive directors may accept one such appointment 
and retain any fees payable in respect thereof subject to 
there being no conflict of interest no executive director 
currently holds any such appointment 
 
the following graph required by the regulations 
shows the company’s total shareholder return since 
admission against that of the ftse 250 index excluding 
investment trusts the committee considered this an 
appropriate index against which to compare the company’s 
performance as it is widely accepted as a national measure 
and includes the companies that investors are likely to 
consider alternative investments
historical tsr performance
ftse 250 ex investment trusts 
sports direct
 
growth in the value of a hypothetical £100 invested in sports direct international plc 
compared with £100 invested in the ftse 250 index
 
service contracts
the executive directors’ service contracts are summarised 
in the following table
name contract date
unexpired term
notice period proper law
mike ashley 11022007 12 months england  wales
dave forsey 11022007 12 months england  wales
bob mellors 11022007 12 months england  wales
contracts of service continued performance graph
section 3  management and governance 
directors’ remuneration report
continued
£140
£120
£100
£80
£60
£40
£20
£0
27feb07 30apr07 30apr08 29apr09 26apr10
val ue of hypothetical £100 holding sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p55
the auditors are required to report on the information 
contained in the following section of this report other than 
in respect of nonexecutive directors’ shareholding 
 
directors’ remuneration 2010
the following pages set out an analysis of directors’ 
emoluments and annual bonus entitlements under 
the performance share plan bonus share plan and 
shareholdings
 
directors’ emoluments
an analysis of directors’ emoluments relating to salary 
and directors fees annual bonus and other benefits other 
than entitlements under the performance share plan 
bonus share plan and in respect of pensions for the 52 
weeks to 25 april 2010 the year is set out below
salaries 
and fees
£000
bonus
£000
other 
benefits
£000
total 2010
£000
total 2009
£000
mike ashley     
simon bentley 50   106 144
malcolm 
dalgleish 50   50 50
dave forsey 150   150 150
keith hellawell 67   67 0
bob mellors 150   150 150
dave singleton 50   50 60
t otal 487 573 554
 
the aggregate of directors’ emoluments in the year was 
£573554 200809 £554000
 
basic salary
the basic salaries of executive directors at the year end 
and at 22 july 2010 the latest practicable date before the 
printing of this report were as shown below
at 25 april 2010 at 22 july 2010
at 25 april 2010 at 22 july 2010
mike ashley  
dave forsey £150000 £150000
bob mellors £150000 £150000
 
the annual bonus scheme was not awarded to the 
executive directors during the year due to the operation of 
the bonus share scheme 
 
bonus share scheme
under the bonus share scheme the bonus target of 
underlying ebitda of £155m for 200910 was met 
date of 
bonus 
award 
1
shares 
granted 
during 
the year
shares 
vested 
during 
the 
year
shares 
lapsed 
during 
the 
year
maximum 
shares 
receivable 
at 25 april 
2010
2
market 
value 
per 
share 
on 
date of 
award
earliest 
date of 
vesting
dave 
forsey 14102009 37500 37500 100p 22072012
14102009 90000 90000 100p 22072013
total 127500 127500
bob 
mellors 14102009 37500 37500 100p 22072012
14102009 90000 90000 100p 22072013
total 127500 127500
 
1
 shares granted under the bonus share scheme were structured in two stages both 
bonus awards were subject to the achievement of ebitda performance targets and 
continuous employment the board has determined that the ebitda target in respect of 
the first bonus of 37500 shares was met during the year therefore these shares will vest 
in july 2012 subject to the continuous employment with the group
2
 the number of shares is the maximum number of shares that could be receivable by 
the director if the performance conditions outlined on page 51 are fully met
as outlined above the committee has determined that if 
the proposed executive bonus share scheme is approved 
at the company’s annual general meeting in september 
2010 and implemented with effect from the beginning 
of the current financial year the bonus share scheme 
awards for executive directors for 200910 and 201011 
will not be made
 
audited information
auditors’ report annual bonus scheme share awards under the p erformance share plan were 
made to certain of the executive directors as shown below
date of 
award
maximum 
shares 
receivable 
at 27 april 
2009 
1
shares 
awarded 
during 
the year
shares 
vested 
during 
the 
year
shares 
lapsed 
during 
the 
year 
2
maximum 
shares 
receivable 
at 25 april 
2010
market 
value 
per 
share 
on 
date of 
award
earliest 
date of 
vesting
 3
dave 
forsey 05042007 223256 223256 26875p 25042010
16072008 987654 987654 6075p 24042011
13082009 674157 674157 89p 29042012
total 1661811
bob 
mellors 05042007 223256 223256 26875p 25042010
16072008 987654 987654 6075p 24042011
13082009 674157 674157 89p 29042012
total 1661811
 
1
 the number of shares is the maximum number of shares that could be receivable by 
the director if the performance conditions outlined on page 52 are fully met
2
 the eps and tsr conditions were not met and the awards lapsed on 25 april 2010
3
 the “earliest date of vesting” is the end of the relevant performance period the 
outcome for that period and the number of awards that vest will not be known until july 
of the appropriate year
no share awards were made in 200708 as awards 
under the performance share plan were made in april 
2007 during the 42 days following admission and the 
performance period for those awards ends at the same 
time as the performance period for any awards that may 
have been made during that year
as outlined above the committee has determined that if 
the proposed executive bonus share scheme is approved 
at the company’s annual general meeting in september 
2010 and implemented with effect from the beginning 
of the current financial year then all subsisting awards 
held under the performance share plan by the executive 
directors will lapse
the beneficial interests of the directors in office on 25  
april 2010 and of their families in both cases at the  
beginning of the year or at the date of appointment if 
later and at the end of the year in the share capital of the 
company are shown below
ordinary shares 
26 april 2009
ordinary shares 
25 april 2010
mike ashley 410400000 410400000
malcolm dalgleish 80694 82092
dave forsey 1000000 1000000
keith hellawell  50000
bob mellors 1000000 1000000
dave singleton 153621 153621
simon bentley 250000 50000
 
pension contributions
the company made no contributions to directors’ money 
purchase pension schemes during the year
 
dave singleton
chairman of the remuneration committee 
22 july 2010
directors’ shareholdings performance share plan
section 3  management and governance 
directors’ remuneration report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p57
directors responsibilities
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual 
report and the company and group financial statements in 
accordance with applicable law and regulations
company law requires the directors to prepare financial 
statements for each financial year which give a true and 
fair view of the state of affairs of the company and the 
group as at the end of the financial period and of the 
profits or loss of the group for that period under that law 
the directors are required to prepare the group financial 
statements in accordance with international financial 
reporting standards as adopted by the european union 
ifrss
the directors have elected to prepare the company 
financial statements in accordance with united kingdom 
generally accepted accounting practices uk g aap 
in preparing each of the company and group financial 
statements the directors are required to 
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them 
consistently
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and 
prudent
• for the group financial statements state whether 
applicable ifrss have been followed subject to any 
material departures disclosed and explained in the 
financial statement
• for the company financial statements state whether 
applicable uk accounting standards have been followed 
subject to any material departures disclosed and 
explained in the financial statements and 
• prepare the financial statements on the going concerns 
basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the 
company and group will continue in business
the directors are responsible for keeping proper 
accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy 
the financial position of the company and the group and 
enable them to ensure that the financial statements 
comply with the companies act 2006 and article 4 of 
the ias regulation they have general responsibility for 
the system of internal control taking such steps as are 
reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the 
company and the group and to prevent and detect fraud 
and other irregularities 
under applicable law and regulations the directors 
are also responsible for preparing a directors’ report 
directors’ remuneration report and corporate 
governance report that comply with that law and those 
regulations
in so far as each of the directors are aware
• there is no relevant audit information of which the 
company’s auditors are unaware and
• the directors have taken all steps that they ought to have 
taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit 
information and to establish that the auditors are aware 
of that information
the directors are responsible for the maintenance and 
integrity of the corporate and financial information 
included on the company’s website legislation in the 
uk governing the preparation and dissemination of 
financial statements may differ from legislation in other 
jurisdictions
 
responsibility statement
t o the best of our knowledge
a the financial statements prepared in accordance with 
the applicable set of accounting standards give a true 
and fair view of the assets liabilities financial position 
and profit of the company and of the undertakings 
included in the consolidation taken as a whole 
and 
b the management report includes a fair review of the 
development and performance of the business and the 
position of the company and the undertakings included 
in the consolidation taken as a whole together with a 
description of the principal risks and uncertainties that 
they face
 
on behalf of the board
dave forsey   bob mellors 
chief executive  group finance director
22 july 2010
directors’ responsibilities
and responsibility statement the board recognises the importance of balancing the 
interests of all its key stakeholders including customers 
employees shareholders suppliers and the communities 
in which it operates a formal corporate responsibility 
policy was adopted last year and the board is committed 
to applying and developing this policy at every level of the 
business
last year we reported that the focus of our corporate 
responsibility activities were in five key areas employees 
health and safety customers the environment and the 
community and this remains the case the group has 
developed key performance indicators kpis in respect of 
these areas which are further discussed in this report and 
in the chief executive’s report and business review on 
page 8 these kpis are based solely on our uk operations
this report examines each key area in turn reviewing the 
current situation the facts figures and our successes to 
date and the opportunities for the present year and for the 
future
 
employees
the group currently employ 16017 in the uk and 1343 
elsewhere in the world as the business continues to grow 
it is the skill and enthusiasm of these employees that are 
key to its success
in the uk 94 of our employees work in our stores and in 
store management 59 of the uk workforce work at our 
shirebrook campus of which 30 work in our national 
distribution centre and 20 in the group head office 
finance buying brands retail and it departments of our 
uk workforce 58 are male and 42 female
employee retention is one of our key kpis this year 170 
of our uk employees left the business the vast majority of 
them were from our stores 
retention of employees is extremely important both 
in terms of retaining expertise and as a measure of 
employee satisfaction the board receives a monthly 
report on the turnover of employees 
the group believes in rewarding employees with fair 
salaries together with the opportunity to earn additional 
pay in the form of bonuses we monitor our rates of pay 
against national statistics on an annual basis we believe 
that performance based rewards are beneficial to the 
business and foster greater employee involvement in it 
and this policy starts at the board and flows down to all 
levels of the business 
the bonus share scheme described in the directors’ 
remuneration report on page 51 is intended to motivate 
further the group’s uk permanent employees in uk retail 
brands and head office provide them with a direct and 
substantial link between group performance and their 
remuneration and encourage employee participation in 
the shares of the group
there is continuation of the staff forum that was 
established in shirebrook comprising elected 
representatives from across departments and 
representatives of management the forum meets 
monthly and discussions cover issues ranging from pay 
holidays hours health and safety working conditions 
equipment needs and developments in and the 
performance of the business the forum encourages open 
discussion and a board member will attend at least once a 
year minutes of the forum’s meetings are posted on notice 
boards and representatives are encouraged to seek and 
reflect the views of their constituents
the group recognises the right of employees to 
membership of a trade union and has entered into an 
agreement with the trade union unite in respect of 
collective bargaining of pay hours of work and holidays of 
certain groups of employees in the national distribution 
centre
the group is committed to the equal treatment of its 
employees and has formal policies in place that are 
reviewed on a regular basis the equal opportunity and 
diversity policies ensure that employees are treated as 
individuals fairly and with respect providing fair and 
equal opportunities to employees regardless of age 
gender ethnicity social background religion disability or 
sexuality 
every effort is made to provide disabled people with 
equal opportunities for work training and promotion 
applications for employment by disabled persons are given 
full and fair consideration for all vacancies in accordance 
with their particular aptitudes where an existing employee 
becomes disabled the business makes every effort to 
provide continued employment in the same or similar 
job or by offering retraining in order that the employee’s 
employment within the group may continue
we continually review and update all our policies and 
procedures a new employee handbook that has been 
tailored for each department continues to be rolled out 
during 2010
section 3  management and governance 
corporate responsibility report sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p59
the group places great importance in the training and 
development of employees we want them to be able to 
perform their duties to the best of their abilities while 
wanting to retain these skills within the business
2010 will see the international t raining centre at 
shirebrook extended the aim of the staff t raining and 
development department is to use the t raining centre 
to provide the best state of the art facilities for our team 
to achieve their best our goal is to give every employee 
the opportunity to be inspired stimulated motivated and 
empowered to do a better job
comprehensive induction training for managers and area 
managers takes place at shirebrook covering health and 
safety environmental awareness customer service and 
the day to day running of a retail unit during 2009 172 
managers and assistant managers attended this training 
and the beginning of 2010 has seen 52 attendees
each retail unit ensures that all its employees receive 
induction training the group’s training strategy is to 
train managers who are then tasked to ensure that all 
their employees receive training that is tailored to the 
circumstances of their own business unit we monitor how 
well training is being filtered down into the workplace by 
undertaking surveys of our store employees 
the management training programme that was introduced 
in 2008 has continued the programme covers interview 
skills communication people skills and this year it has 
focused on employment law at work during the year 175 
employees attended the programme compared to 113 last 
year 
the group as reported last year has introduced refresher 
training as part of a rolling programme to ensure that all 
employees reinforce their existing skills and update their 
knowledge and practices 
the specialist training programme has continued during 
the year areas covered by our specialist training are 
footwear rackets cricket and golf since inception the 
footwear master class has seen 178 employees attend
brand training was launched in october 2009 it saw 410 
employees attend a one day product training session 
regarding nike merchandise over 13 separate days again 
in march 2010 365 employees attended training where 
particular focus was on the fifa world cup the training 
days allow our business partners to promote the features 
advantages and benefits of their product to the public 
through our employees 
all national distribution centre employees are given 
appropriate training upon joining the group on health and 
safety matters communication and relevant aspects of 
employment law english is not the first language of many 
of these employees and the group acknowledges that as 
it recruits from a diverse talent pool the needs of these 
employees must be addressed accordingly training often 
involves the use of interpreters and training materials 
policy documents and building signage are usually in 
multiple languages
the group promotes and fosters a culture of personal 
development for all the group’s policy is to always look for 
internal promotion before external recruitment
 
health and safety
the group is committed to appropriate standards of 
health and safety performance the board has ultimate 
responsibility for group health and safety performance 
and receives updates on incidents from the head of retail 
operations on these matters 
there were no environmental prosecutions or work 
related fatalities in the business during 200910 during 
the year 1428 2009 1397 accidents across the group 
were reported to head office and of these 59 200945 
were reportable to the health and safety executive 94 
of accidents were slips trips and minor lacerations that 
occurred within the stores the increase in accident figures 
has coincided with an increase in the store portfolio but 
the number of accidents per store has decreased by 5 
the continued emphasis on health and safety training 
within the business has improved awareness of reporting 
procedures and recording of incidents under health and 
safety legislation
during the year the stores have had an electronic reminder 
system introduced this ensures that amongst other things 
health and safety checks are carried out before the store 
can physically close at the end of the working day this 
will again increase the profile of health and safety while 
improving the recording of such checks and procedures
t raining is undertaken in house by a team of qualified 
and experienced health and safety officers going forward 
the health and safety team will continue to train store 
employees and monitor health and safety standards and 
the group is committed to maintaining these standards the group aims to ensure that all its customers enjoy a 
quality customer service and that they are provided with 
products that are safe and fit for purpose the business 
recognises that customers have diverse needs and works 
constantly towards meeting them
monitoring customer satisfaction and responding to 
correspondence is a continuous process customer service 
teams collate management information on service levels 
and this is circulated to the board on a monthly basis all 
written complaints are recorded including an analysis of 
the nature of the complaint so that trends can be assessed 
and appropriate action taken this year 5020 complaints 
were logged with our customer service team an increase 
of 4 on last year last year we reported that we were 
implementing an online customer contact form which 
was successfully rolled out during the year the online 
contact form reduces the time it takes for our customers 
to contact us and has increased the volume of contact from 
our customers online communication reduces the amount 
of time it takes for us to respond to their queries thereby 
increasing our service levels whilst reducing the print and 
postage costs for both the group and customers
the group is constantly working on ways to improve 
customer service at all levels within the company from  
the retail stores head office and through our website 
 
environment
as a group we are aware that our operations impact 
the environment in a number of ways and it is our 
responsibility to manage effectively the areas we have 
direct control over while attempting to influence the 
actions of other areas that are outside of our control we 
seek to reduce the negative impact the group has on the 
environment while working towards compliance with the 
government’s carbon reduction commitment building 
upon investigations last year we have identified property in 
particular energy usage in our stores transport and waste 
management at both our shirebrook facility and in stores  
as areas where we can make a difference 
during the year the group was awarded the carbon 
t rust standard in recognition of progress made in the 
management of the carbon footprint of the group
as reported last year the single most significant element 
of the carbon footprint of the group is the usage of 
electricity electricity usage contributes to approx 85 of 
the footprint 
during the year the group has made positive steps to 
ensure that the good results achieved in the previous year 
were built upon and the monitoring of the stores energy 
performance was bought in house to allow a greater level 
of management focus 
‘smart meters’ have been rolled out to almost all smaller 
stores during the year which has increased the number of 
stores being constantly and remotely monitored from 188 
to 358 
investments have been made in the majority of the least 
efficient stores to bring their performance up to the 
expected standard this has contributed to a pro rata 
saving across the largest 189 stores of 87 this saved 
the equivalent of 3607 t onnes co
2

when compared with the base year of fy08 the total 
reduction in energy usage across the largest 189 stores is 
156 
 
improvements in energy efficiency largest 189 stores
 
 
 
 
the emphasis continues to be on good housekeeping 
supported with targeted investment to ensure that high 
standards are maintained energy consumption reduction 
continues to be a key performance measurement 
customers
section 3  management and governance 
corporate responsibility report
continued
kwhsqft day
1000
950
900
850
800
750
fy08
fy09
fy10 sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p61
the second biggest contributor to our co
2
 emission is the 
fleet of vehicles that service the stores t ransport fuel 
accounts for approximately 14 of the carbon footprint 
we continue to drive down our emissions in this area by 
adjusting the frequency of resupply to shops according to 
size and seasonality monitoring vehicle load factors and 
ensuring that the fleet is regularly updated with the most 
modern fuel efficient vehicles
the business has made further progress with its recycling 
and reducing the amount of waste that is put into landfill 
during the year the group increased the quantity of 
recyclable materials collected from shops and diverted 
waste streams from the head office and central 
warehouse operations from using landfill to a local waste 
to power scheme
where possible we recycle electrical waste ink toners 
redundant it equipment and light bulbs this year we 
recycled 1539 20091148 units of electrical equipment
the group recycles waste paper cardboard metal and 
plastic during the year 33 tonnes of waste paper 5847 
tonnes of cardboard 124 tonnes of metal and 385 tonnes of 
plastic were recycled 90 of the recycled plastic had been 
back filled from stores where possible we also recycle 
the wood that we collect at our distribution centre in the 
past all wood was sold for recycling but it has now been 
determined to be cost effective to repair pallets and a 
programme of repair began in 200910
the group has always kept its transit packaging to a 
minimum by the use of metal roll cages where it is 
necessary to send transit packaging to shops eg to 
ensure cleanliness of clothing it is returned to the centre 
for reuse or recycling as appropriate
as reported last year all stores now use biodegradable 
carrier bags and provide the option of a bag for life
our aim for the coming years are to further implement 
utility smart metering improve energy efficiency across 
the stores and to continue to minimise waste
 
community
we recognise that consumers and stakeholders are 
becoming increasingly interested in where we source our 
products 
the group continues to procure merchandise from 
manufacturers who can show that they uphold ethical 
employment and trading practices 
the group has a code of ethics that it requires every 
supplier to adhere to amongst other matters the code 
provides for fair treatment of workers ensuring products 
are made in a safe environment and in accordance with 
all the relevant local and national laws by workers who 
are treated with respect and are paid fairly for what they 
do it ensures there is no child labour and no use of illegal 
means or materials in the production of goods
the group has worked for many years with two leading 
supply chain companies in singapore and in south korea to 
procure much of its own brand goods 
the group believes that using their local knowledge 
expertise and experience benefits the business and 
the communities in which they operate more effectively 
than would be the case if the group carried on its own 
procurement activities in those countries both companies 
have the highest social and business ethics codes which 
match our code of ethics the bsci code of conduct which 
is based upon the united nations universal declaration of 
human rights iso9001 and the social accountability 8000 
sa8000 code
the group relies on those supply chain companies to 
inspect all suppliers and manufacturers premises 
frequent inspections are carried out randomly at short 
notice to ensure that the goods meet the groups’ quality 
standards as well as assessing continued compliance 
with sa8000 and the group’s code of ethics we cease 
immediately to work with suppliers who do not meet our 
criteria 
the group complies with an internationally recognised list 
of chemicals that are banned for use in fabrics the supply 
chain companies conduct random tests on fabric which are 
then taken to a recognised laboratory for quality testing 
and to check that these banned chemicals are not being 
used
the group has forged long term relationships with 
suppliers who have demonstrated that their work practices 
are consistent with the group’s standards approximately 
40 of the group’s current suppliers have been working 
with group companies for 10 years or more
the group endeavours to promote the participation in a 
wide range of sporting activities primarily for children 
that would not normally have access to the expertise or 
equipment needed for the sport  slazenger are the exclusive cricket equipment supplier 
to the country’s most recognised grassroots cricket 
development programme ‘chance to shine’ which is 
run through the english cricket board’s charitable arm 
the cricket foundation ‘chance to shine’ is a national 
campaign delivered through individual projects throughout 
england and wales each project provides a structured 
coaching and competition programme for a group of 
schools that would not normally have the chance to 
participate in the sport the schools are supported by 
professional qualified coaches who are specifically trained 
to work in a school environment as well as providing 
equipment and training for teachers 
in 2009 ‘chance to shine’ benefitted 384105 children and 
3343 schools it provided over 109332 hours of coaching 
along with cricket equipment to the value of £130000 
supplied by slazenger to enable the programme to run 
successfully 
one million children have now been involved in ‘chance to 
shine’ since its introduction 5 years ago
in addition dunlop’s global “d squad” talent support 
programme continues to increase participation and 
performance levels of the most talented juniors in tennis 
from around the world 
over 800 children are continuing to benefit from the 
programme as a result of sporting equipment provided by 
dunlop dunlop has supported the development of its most 
talented junior players through the provision of £27000 
worth of tennis equipment in the past year
the group also continues to supply the international 
t ennis federation with tennis equipment to their junior 
development programme which promotes tournaments 
for young people aged between 1418 years old in central 
america the caribbean south america eastern europe 
africa asia and the p acific regions dunlop donated in the 
region of £5000 of equipment during the year
in the united states everlast one of the group’s specialist 
boxing brands supports numerous initiatives everlast 
assists in running the new york golden gloves the most 
prestigious amateur boxing tournament in the country by 
providing products such as gloves and personal protective 
equipment 
community continued
section 3  management and governance 
corporate responsibility report
continued
slazenger brand ambassador michael clarke during a ‘chance to shine’ 
coaching session
dunlop brand ambassador fernando verdasco with members of dunlop’s 
d squad sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p63
this is a grassroots initiative that benefits men and women 
age 1634 as they compete in amateur boxing and around 
900 boxers compete each year everlast supported this 
programme by supplying 20000 worth of equipment
everlast donated 7300 to the american red cross for 
haiti relief through its sponsorship of professional boxer 
and wbc welter weight champion andre berto who 
originates from haiti
everlast is an official breast cancer research foundation 
licensee the breast cancer research foundation bcrf 
is dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer by funding 
clinical and genetic research the foundation benefits 
women of all ages who have been affected by the disease 
as well as women who may be at risk in their lifetime 
everlast makes donations to bcrf based on the sale of 
related training gloves hand wraps and key chains each 
year everlast donates a minimum of 15000 to bcrf
usa boxing is the national governing body of amateur 
olympicstyle boxing and is the united states’ member 
organisation of the international amateur boxing 
association aiba as a national governing body 
recognised by the united states olympic committee usa 
boxing is responsible for the administration development 
and promotion of olympicstyle boxing and is a nonprofit 
organisation 
everlast assists usa boxing with a mixture of boxing 
related product anually to the value of 60000 this 
helps the mens womens and junior olympic boxing 
programmes whose primary ages are 1434 years as well 
as coaches and officials  we have audited the group financial statements of sports direct 
international plc for the 52 week period to 25 april 2010 which 
comprise the consolidated income statement the consolidated 
statement of comprehensive income the consolidated balance 
sheet the consolidated cash flow statement the consolidated 
statement of changes in equity and notes 1 to 36 the financial 
reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is 
applicable law and international financial reporting standards 
ifrss as adopted by the european union
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body 
in accordance with chapter 3 of p art i of the companies act 2006 
our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the 
company’s members those matters we are required to state to 
them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose t o the fullest 
extent permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility 
to anyone other than the company and the company’s members 
as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we 
have formed
 
respective responsibilities of 
directors and auditors
as explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities 
statement the directors are responsible for the preparation of the 
group financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a 
true and fair view our responsibility is to audit the group financial 
statements in accordance with applicable law and international 
standards on auditing uk and ireland those standards require 
us to comply with the auditing practices board’s apb’s ethical 
standards for auditors
 
scope of the audit of the financial 
statements
a description of the scope of an audit of financial statements is 
provided on the apb’s website at wwwfrcorgukapbscopeukp 
 
opinion on financial statements
in our opinion the group financial statements
• give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s affairs as at 
25 april 2010 and of its profit for the 52 week period then ended
• have been properly prepared in accordance with ifrss as 
adopted by the european union and
• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the 
companies act 2006 and article 4 of the ias regulation
 
in our opinion
• the information given in the directors’ report for the 52 week 
period to 25 april 2010 for which the financial statements are 
prepared is consistent with the financial statements and
• the information given in the corporate governance statement 
set out on pages 41 to 47 with respect to internal control and 
risk management systems in relation to financial reporting 
processes and about share capital structures is consistent with 
the financial statements
 
matters on which we are required to 
report by exception 
we have nothing to report in respect of the following
under the companies act 2006 we are required to report to you if 
in our opinion
• certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law 
are not made or
• we have not received all the information and explanations we 
require for our audit or
• a corporate governance statement has not been prepared by 
the company
under the listing rules we are required to review
• the directors’ statement in relation to going concern and
• the part of the corporate governance statement relating to 
the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2006 
combined code specified for our review
 
other matters
we have reported separately on the parent company financial 
statements of sports direct international plc for the 52 week 
period to 25 april 2010 and the information in the directors’ 
remuneration report that is described as having been audited
paul etherington
senior statutory auditor 
for and on behalf of grant thornton uk llp  
statutory auditor chartered accountants 
london
22 july 2010
opinion on other matters prescribed by 
the companies act 2006
section 4  financial statements 
report of the independent auditor
to the members of sports direct international plc sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p65
for the financial year ended
notes
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
revenue 14 1451621 1367321
cost of sales 862490 809685
gross profit 589131 557636
selling distribution and administrative expenses 524611 463297
other operating income 5 3493 4004
exceptional items 6 9986 30514
operating profit 4 7 58027 67829
t ransfer of historic losses on availableforsale financial assets 17  53156
other investment income 9 24513 1035
dividend income from investments 140 172
finance income 10 40150 15927
finance costs 11 10528 23633
share of profit of associated undertakings and joint ventures 16 7200 2482
profit before taxation 119502 10656
t axation 12 30286 26164
profitloss for the period 4 89216 15508
attributable to
equity holders of the group 89433 15838
minority interests 217 330
profitloss for the period 4 89216 15508
earnings per share from total and continuing operations attributable to the equity shareholders
pence per 
share
pence per 
share
basic earnings per share 13 1573 279
diluted earnings per share 13 1476 279
 
the consolidated income statement has been prepared on the basis that all operations are continuing 
the accompanying accounting policies and notes form part of these financial statements
consolidated income statement
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 for the financial year ended
notes
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
profitloss for the period 4 89216 15508
other comprehensive income
exchange differences on translation of foreign operations 7947 44654
exchange differences on hedged contracts 27 10942 
actuarial losses on defined benefit pension schemes 24 8184 449
fair value adjustment in respect of availableforsale financial assets 17 13704 28586
t ransfer of historic losses on availableforsale financial assets 17  53156
t axation on items taken directly to equity 25 838 6849
total comprehensive income for the period 96893 46418
attributable to
equity holders of the group 97110 46088
minority interests 217 330
96893 46418
 
the accompanying accounting policies and notes form part of these financial statements
section 4  financial statements 
consolidated statement of comprehensive income
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p67
for the financial year ended
notes
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
assets
noncurrent assets
property plant and equipment 14 270918 295795
intangible assets 15 216944 221958
investments in associated undertakings and joint ventures 16 38742 32379
availableforsale financial assets 17 51566 5467
deferred tax assets 25 10101 15468
588271 571067
current assets
inventories 18 218803 262263
t rade and other receivables 19 114533 111932
derivative financial assets 27 13648 
cash and cash equivalents 20 25121 32358
372105 406553
total assets 960376 977620
equity and liabilities
share capital 21 64050 64045
share premium 874300 874300
t reasury shares reserve 85088 85088
permanent contribution to capital 50 50
capital redemption reserve 8005 8005
foreign currency translation reserve 40633 48580
reverse combination reserve 987312 987312
own share reserve 6094 6094
retained earnings 349788 233964
258332 150450
minority interests 1383 3232
total equity 259715 153682
noncurrent liabilities
other payables 2345 2656
borrowings 23 3352 4713
retirement benefit obligations 24 19739 12324
deferred tax liabilities 25 35946 33490
provisions 26 45598 36419
106980 89602
current liabilities
derivative financial liabilities 27  34993
t rade and other payables 28 240664 209739
borrowings 23 333659 458899
current tax liabilities 19358 30705
593681 734336
total liabilities 700661 823938
total equity and liabilities 960376 977620
 
 
the accompanying accounting policies and notes form part of these financial statements the financial statements were approved by the 
board on 22 july 2010 and were signed on its behalf by
bob mellors 
director
consolidated balance sheet
as at 25 april 2010 for the financial year ended
notes
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
cash inflow from operating activities 29 199476 117470
income taxes paid 34838 25305
net cash inflow from operating activities 164638 92165
cash flow from investing activities
proceeds on disposal of property plant and equipment 624 3002
proceeds on disposal of listed investments 8040 13807
derecognition of listed investments  20298
purchase of subsidiaries net of cash acquired 3330 6608
purchase of intangible assets 2586 3958
purchase of property plant and equipment 16792 33872
purchase of listed investments 16301 4887
investment income received 1723 2088
net cash outflow from investing activities 28622 10130
cash flow from financing activities
finance income received 806 1161
finance costs paid 10528 23633
repayments ofincrease in borrowings 14303 1745
proceeds from share issues 5 
equity dividend paid 6935 25580
net cash outflow from financing activities 30955 46307
net increase in cash and cash equivalents including overdrafts 105061 35728
cash and cash equivalents including overdrafts at beginning of period 410325 446053
cash and cash equivalents including overdrafts at the period end 20 305264 410325
 
the accompanying accounting policies and notes form part of these financial statements
section 4  financial statements 
consolidated cash flow statement
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p69
treasury 
shares 
£’000
foreign 
currency 
translation
£’000
own 
share 
reserve 
£’000
retained 
earnings 
£’000
other 
reserves 
£’000
sub total 
£’000
minority 
interests 
£’000
total 
£’000
at 27 april 2008 201 483 3926  363636 40912 125167 3242 128409
dividends    20805  20805  20805
t reasury shares cancelled 105759   105759    
market value of shares transferred to ebt 6094  6094     
difference between original cost and market 
value of shares transferred to ebt 4542   4542    
minority interests  acquisitions       340 340
transactions with owners 116395  6094 131106  20805 340 21145
loss for the financial period    15838  15838 330 15508
other comprehensive income 
t ranslation differences  group  41293    41293  41293
t ranslation differences  associates  3361    3361  3361
income recognised directly in equity    17272  17272  17272
total comprehensive income for the period  44654  1434  46088 330 46418
at 26 april 2009 85088 48580 6094 233964 40912 150450 3232 153682
issue of ordinary shares     5 5  5
sharebased payments    10767  10767  10767
minority interests  acquisitions       1632 1632
transactions with owners    10767 5 10772 1632 9140
profit for the financial period    89433  89433 217 89216
other comprehensive income
income recognised directly in equity    15624  15624  15624
t ranslation differences  group  7860    7860  7860
t ranslation differences  associates  87    87  87
total comprehensive income for the period  7947  105057  97110 217 96893
at 25 april 2010 85088 40633 6094 349788 40907 258332 1383 259715
 
the company holds 64000000 ordinary shares in t reasury 
the foreign currency translation reserve is used to record exchange differences arising from the translation of the financial statements 
of foreign subsidiaries and associates
the final dividend for 2008 of £13870000 244p was paid on 31 october 2008 and the interim dividend for 2009 of £6935000 122p 
was paid on 30 april 2009
the accompanying accounting policies and notes form part of these financial statements
consolidated statement of changes in equity
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 the consolidated financial statements of sports direct international plc the “company” and its subsidiaries together the “group” have 
been prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards as adopted by the european union “ifrs”
the group has adopted ias1 revised 2007 and ifrs 8 during the year the adoption of ias 1 revised 2007 does not affect the financial 
position or profits of the group but does give rise to additional disclosures the measurement and recognition of the group’s income and 
expenditure is unchanged a third balance sheet has not been presented on the adoption of ias 1 revised 2007 because the information 
is unchanged from previously published financial statements ifrs 8 has been adopted and segments are identified based on the 
internal management reports used by the board 
no other ifrss international reporting interpretations committee ifric interpretations and amendments have been adopted in the 
financial statements
basis of preparation  
the consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with ifrs as adopted for use in the european union including 
international accounting standards “ias” and international financial reporting interpretations committee “ifric” interpretations 
and with those parts of the companies act 2006 applicable to companies reporting under ifrs as adopted for use in the european union 
the consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modified to include fair valuation of 
financial assets and derivative financial instruments 
 
consolidation
the consolidated financial statements consolidate the revenues costs assets liabilities and cash flows of the company and its 
subsidiaries being those entities in relation to which the company has the power to govern the financial and operating policies 
generally achieved by a share of more than 50 of the voting rights
on acquisition the assets and liabilities and contingent liabilities of a subsidiary are measured at their fair values at the date of 
acquisition any excess of the cost of acquisition over the fair values of the identifiable net assets acquired is recognised as goodwill any 
deficiency of the cost of acquisition below the fair values of the identifiable net assets acquired is credited to the consolidated income 
statement in the period of acquisition the interest of minority shareholders is stated at the minority’s proportion of the fair values of the 
assets and liabilities and contingent liabilities recognised 
the results of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of during the year are included in the consolidated income statement from the effective 
date of acquisition or up to the effective date of disposal as appropriate
intercompany transactions balances and unrealised gains and losses on transactions between group companies are eliminated 
 
associates and joint ventures 
associates are entities over which the group has significant influence but not control generally accompanied by a share of between 20 
and 50 of the voting rights 
a joint venture is an entity in which the group holds an interest on a long term basis and which is jointly controlled by the group and one 
or more other ventures under a contractual agreement
the group’s share of the results of associates and joint ventures is included in the group’s consolidated income statement using the 
equity method of accounting investments in associates and joint ventures are carried in the group’s consolidated balance sheet at cost 
plus post acquisition changes in the group’s share of the net assets of the associates less any impairment in value the carrying values 
of investments in associates and joint ventures include acquired goodwill
if the group’s share of losses in an associate or joint venture equals or exceeds its investment in the associate or joint venture the 
group does not recognise further losses unless it has incurred obligations to do so or made payments on behalf of the associate or joint 
venture
unrealised gains arising from transactions with associates and joint ventures are eliminated to the extent of the group’s interest in the 
entity
 
investments 
availableforsale investments are initially recognised at fair value where fair value is different to cost this is recognised in the income 
statement on initial recognition subsequent gains and losses arising from changes in fair value are recognised directly in equity through 
the statement of comprehensive income until the security is disposed or derecognised at which time the cumulative gain or loss 
previously recognised in equity is included in the consolidated income statement for the period 
1 accounting policies
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p71
if an availableforsale investment is determined to be impaired the cumulative loss previously recognised in equity is included in the 
income statement for the period
contracts for difference are a type of financial instrument and therefore gains and losses arising from changes in fair value of these 
investments are recognised directly in the income statement
 
good will 
goodwill arising on consolidation is recognised as an asset and reviewed for impairment at least annually or when a change in 
circumstances or situation indicates that the goodwill has suffered an impairment loss any impairment is recognised immediately in the 
income statement gains and losses on the disposal of a business include the amount of goodwill relating to that business 
when the minority interests of an existing subsidiary are acquired the carrying value of the minority interests in the balance sheet is 
eliminated the excess of consideration over the carrying value of the minority interests is recognised in the balance sheet as goodwill 
and is not amortised
 
other intangible assets  
brands trade marks and licences that are internally generated are not recorded on the balance sheet acquired brands trade marks 
and licences are initially carried on the balance sheet at cost the fair value of brands trade marks and licences that are acquired by 
virtue of a business combination is determined at the date of acquisition and is subsequently assessed as being the deemed cost to the 
group
no amortisation is charged on brands trade marks or perpetualrenewable licences with an indefinite life as the group believes that 
the value of these brands and trade marks can be maintained indefinitely the group carries out an impairment review of indefinite 
life intangibles at least annually or when a change in circumstances or situation indicates that those intangibles have suffered an 
impairment loss impairment is measured by comparing the carrying amount of the intangible asset as part of the cash generating unit 
cgu with the recoverable amount of the cgu that is the higher of its fair value less costs to sell and its value in use value in use is 
calculated by discounting the expected future cash flows using a discount rate based on an estimate of the rate that the market would 
expect on an investment of comparable risk 
amortisation is provided on brands trade marks and licences with a definite life over their useful economic lives of 10 to 15 years and is 
accounted for within the selling distribution and administrative expenses category within the income statement 
 
property plant and equipment  
property plant and equipment are stated at historical cost less depreciation less any recognised impairment losses cost includes 
expenditure that is directly attributable to the acquisition or construction of these items subsequent costs are included in the asset’s 
carrying amount only when it is probable that future economic benefits associated with the item will flow to the group and the costs can 
be measured reliably all other costs including repairs and maintenance costs are charged to the income statement in the period in 
which they are incurred 
depreciation is provided on all property plant and equipment other than freehold land and is calculated on a reducing balance basis or 
straightline basis whichever is deemed by the directors to be more appropriate to allocate cost less assessed residual value other 
than assets in the course of construction over the estimated useful lives as follows 
freehold buildings 2 per annum
leasehold property over the term of the lease
plant and equipment between 5 and 33 per annum
the assets’ useful lives and residual values are reviewed and if appropriate adjusted at each balance sheet date 
the gain or loss arising on disposal or scrapping of an asset is determined as the difference between the sales proceeds net of selling 
costs and the carrying amount of the asset and is recognised in the income statement  impairment of assets other than good will and intangible assets with an indefinite life  
at each balance sheet date the directors review the carrying amounts of the group’s tangible and intangible assets other than goodwill 
and intangible assets with an indefinite life to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment 
loss if any such indication exists the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment 
loss if any where the asset does not generate cash flows that are independent from other assets the group estimates the recoverable 
amount of the cashgenerating unit to which the asset belongs 
recoverable amount is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use in assessing value in use the estimated future cash 
flows are discounted to their present value using a pretax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of 
money and the risks specific to the asset for which the estimates of future cash flows have not been adjusted 
if the recoverable amount of an asset or cashgenerating unit is estimated to be less than its carrying amount the carrying amount 
of the asset cashgenerating unit is reduced to its recoverable amount an impairment loss is recognised as an expense immediately 
unless the relevant asset is carried at a revalued amount in which case the impairment loss is treated as a revaluation decrease 
impairment losses recognised for cashgenerating units to which goodwill has been allocated are credited initially to the carrying 
amount of goodwill any remaining impairment loss is charged pro rata to the other assets in the cashgenerating unit 
where an impairment loss subsequently reverses the carrying amount of the asset cashgenerating unit is increased to the revised 
estimate of its recoverable amount but so that the increased carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have 
been determined had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset cashgenerating unit in prior periods a reversal of an 
impairment loss is recognised in the income statement immediately 
 
revenue recognition  
revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts receivable for goods and 
services provided in the normal course of business net of discounts and sales related taxes 
 in the case of goods sold through retail stores revenue is recognised when goods are sold to the customer less provision for returns 
accumulated experience is used to estimate and provide for such returns at the time of the sale retail sales are usually in cash by debit 
card or by credit card 
in the case of income generated from trade marks and licences revenue is recognised on an accruals basis in accordance with the 
relevant agreements or on a transactional basis when revenue is linked to sale or purchase volumes 
revenue from property related transactions is recognised when the relevant service is provided
 
exceptional items 
the group presents as exceptional items on the face of the income statement those significant items of income and expense which 
because of their size nature and infrequency of the events giving rise to them merit separate presentation to allow shareholders to 
understand better the elements of financial performance in the year so as to facilitate comparison with prior periods to assess trends in 
financial performance more readily
 
interest income 
interest income is accrued on a time basis by reference to the principal outstanding and at the effective interest rate applicable which is 
the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts through the expected life of the financial asset to that asset’s net carrying 
amount 
 
government grants and similar income 
income from government grants and similar income such as landlord contributions and inducements that compensate the group for 
the cost of an asset are recognised in the balance sheet as a deduction in arriving at the carrying amount of the related asset this 
is considered to reflect the true cost of the asset to the group the amount is recognised in the consolidated income statement over 
the life of the depreciable asset by way of a reduced depreciation charge t o date the group has not received government grants in 
compensation for expenses charged in the consolidated income statement
1 accounting policies continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p73
foreign currencies  
the presentational currency of the group is sterling foreign currency transactions are translated into sterling using the exchange 
rates prevailing on the dates of the transactions exchange differences arising on the settlement of monetary items and on the 
retranslation of monetary items are included in the income statement for the period exchange differences arising on the retranslation 
of nonmonetary items carried at fair value are included in the income statement for the period except for differences arising on the 
retranslation of nonmonetary items in respect of which gains and losses are recognised directly in equity for such nonmonetary 
items any exchange component of that gain or loss is also recognised directly in equity monetary assets and liabilities denominated 
in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date all differences are taken to the income 
statement 
on consolidation the assets and liabilities of foreign operations which have a functional currency other than sterling are translated 
into sterling at foreign exchange rates ruling at the balance sheet date the revenues and expenses of these subsidiary undertakings 
are translated at average rates applicable in the period all resulting exchange differences are recognised as a separate component of 
equity 
when a foreign operation is sold combined exchange differences that have been recognised as a separate component of equity are 
recognised in the income statement as part of the gain or loss on disposal
in order to mitigate its exposure to certain foreign exchange risks the group enters into forward contracts see chief executive’s report 
and cash flow hedging accounting policy on page 18
 
inventories 
inventories are valued at lower of cost and net realisable value cost includes the purchase price of the manufactured products 
materials direct labour transport costs and a proportion of applicable overheads cost is calculated using fif o first in first out net 
realisable value is based on the estimated selling price less all estimated selling costs 
 
l oans and receiv ables  
loans and receivables are recognised initially at fair value plus transaction costs and subsequently measured at amortised cost under 
the effective interest method less provision for impairment provision for impairment is established when there is objective evidence 
that the group will not be able to collect amounts due according to the original terms of the receivable the amount of the impairment is 
the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the present value of the estimated future cash flows discounted at the original 
effective interest rate
 
c ash and cash equiv alents  
cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand and deposits held on call together with other short term highly liquid investments 
 
trade and other pa yables  
t rade and other payables are initially measured at fair value and are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective 
interest method 
 
deferred taxation  
deferred taxation is calculated using the liability method on temporary differences arising between the tax bases of assets and 
liabilities and their carrying amounts in the consolidated financial statements however if the deferred tax arises from the initial 
recognition of goodwill or initial recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction other than a business combination that at the time 
of the transaction affects neither accounting nor taxable profit or loss it is not accounted for deferred tax on temporary differences 
associated with shares in subsidiaries and joint ventures is not provided if reversal of these temporary differences can be controlled by 
the group and it is probable that reversal will not occur in the foreseeable future in addition tax losses available to be carried forward 
as well as other income tax credits to the group are assessed for recognition as deferred tax assets deferred tax is determined using 
tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantially enacted by the balance sheet date and are expected to apply when the 
related deferred tax asset is realised or the deferred tax liability is settled 
deferred tax liabilities are provided in full 
deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will be available against which the 
temporary differences can be utilised  changes in deferred tax assets or liabilities are recognised as a component of tax expense in the income statement except where they 
relate to items that are charged or credited directly to equity in which case the related deferred tax is also charged or credited directly to 
equity 
 
pensions 
the group operates pension plans for the benefit of certain employees including both defined contribution and defined benefit plans 
in relation to its defined contribution plans the group makes contributions to independently administered plans the contributions being 
recognised as an expense when they fall due the group has no legal or constructive obligation to make any further payments to the 
plans other than the contributions due 
in relation to its defined benefit schemes the group recognises in its balance sheet the present value of its defined benefit obligations 
less the fair value of plan assets the current service cost is charged against operating profit interest on the scheme liabilities is 
included in finance costs and the expected return on scheme assets is included in finance income 
the defined benefit obligation is calculated at each period end by independent actuaries using the projected unit credit method the 
present value of the obligation is determined by discounting the estimated future cash outflows using interest rates of high quality 
corporate bonds that are denominated in the currency in which the benefits will be paid and which have terms to maturity approximating 
the terms of the related pension liabilities actuarial gains and losses arising from experience adjustments and changes in actuarial 
assumptions are reflected in the statement of recognised income and expense in the period in which they arise 
 
borro wings and borro wing costs  
borrowings are recognised initially at fair value net of transaction costs incurred and subsequently at amortised cost any difference 
between the proceeds net of transaction costs and the redemption value is recognised in the income statement over the period of the 
borrowings using the effective interest method 
borrowings are classified as current liabilities unless the group has an unconditional right to defer settlement of the liability for at least 
12 months from the balance sheet date 
borrowing costs being interest and other costs incurred in connection with the servicing of borrowings are recognised as an expense 
when incurred 
 
pro visions 
a provision is recognised when the group has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event it is probable that an 
outflow of resources will be required to settle the obligation and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation 
the group provides for dilapidations costs following advice from chartered surveyors and previous experience of exit costs the 
estimated cost of fulfilling the leasehold dilapidations obligations is discounted to present value and analysed between noncapital 
and capital components the capital element is recognised as a decommissioning cost and depreciated over the life of the asset the 
noncapital element is taken to the income statement in the first year of the lease where the cost it represents is of no lasting benefit 
to the group or its landlord ‘wear and tear’ costs are expensed to the income statement provisions for onerous lease contracts are 
recognised when the group believes the unavoidable costs of meeting the lease obligations exceed the economic benefits expected to be 
received under the lease 
 
leases 
leases of property plant and equipment where the group has substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership are classified as 
finance leases finance leases are capitalised at the lease’s inception at the lower of the fair value of the leased asset and the present 
value of the minimum lease payments each lease payment is allocated between the liability and finance charges so as to achieve a 
constant rate on the finance balance outstanding the asset subject to the finance lease is depreciated over the shorter of its useful life 
and the lease term the corresponding rental obligations net of finance charges are included as a liability 
leases of property plant and equipment where the group does not have substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership are 
classified as operating leases payments made under operating leases are charged to the income statement on a straightline basis over 
the lease term incentives provided by the lessor are credited to the income statement on a straightline basis over the minimum lease 
term 
1 accounting policies continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p75
rental income from operating leases where the group acts as a lessor is recognised on a straightline basis over the term of the 
relevant lease 
benefits received and receivable as an incentive to enter into an operating lease are also spread on a straightline basis over the lease 
term
 
deriv ative financial instruments and hedge accounting 
the most significant exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations relates to purchases made in foreign currencies principally the us 
dollar the group’s policy is to reduce substantially the risk associated with purchases denominated in foreign currencies by using 
forward fixed rate currency purchase contracts taking into account any foreign currency cash flows 
derivative financial instruments are measured at fair value where derivatives do not qualify for hedge accounting any gains or losses 
on remeasurement are immediately recognised in the group income statement where derivatives qualify for hedge accounting 
recognition of any resultant gain or loss depends on the nature of the hedge relationship and the item being hedged
in order to qualify for hedge accounting the group is required to document from inception the relationship between the item being 
hedged and the hedging instrument the group is also required to document and demonstrate an assessment of the relationship 
between the hedged item and the hedging instrument which shows that the hedge will be highly effective on an ongoing basis this 
effectiveness testing is performed at each period end to ensure that the hedge remains highly effective
 
c ash flo w hedging  
derivative financial instruments are classified as cash flow hedges when they hedge the group’s exposure to variability in cash flows  
that are either attributable to a particular risk associated with a recognised asset or liability or highly probable forecast purchases
the effective element of any gain or loss from remeasuring the derivative instrument is recognised directly in equity
the associated cumulative gain or loss is removed from equity and recognised in the group income statement in the same period 
or periods during which the hedged transaction affects the group income statement the classification of the effective portion 
when recognised in the group income statement is the same as the classification of the hedged transaction any element of the 
remeasurement of the derivative instrument which does not meet the criteria for an effective hedge is recognised immediately in the 
group income statement within finance income or costs 
hedge accounting is discontinued when the hedging instrument expires or is sold terminated or exercised or no longer qualifies 
for hedge accounting at that point in time any cumulative gain or loss on the hedging instrument recognised in equity is retained in 
equity until the forecasted transaction occurs if a hedged transaction is no longer expected to occur the net cumulative gain or loss 
recognised in equity is transferred to the group income statement
 
treasury shares 
the purchase price of the group’s own shares that it acquires is recognised as ‘t reasury shares’ within equity the difference between 
the market value and the average purchase price of shares sold out of t reasury is transferred to retained earnings
 
emplo yee benefit trust 
the cost of shares acquired by the sports direct employee benefit t rust is recognised within ‘own share reserve’ in equity 
 
share based pa yments  
the group issues equitysettled sharebased payments to certain directors and employees these are measured at fair value at the date 
of grant which is expensed to the consolidated income statement on a straightline basis over the vesting period with the corresponding 
credit going to equity
fair value is based on the market share price on the grant date the likelihood of meeting the vesting targets and the expected number 
of staff who will leave the company prior to the vesting date the expected staff numbers used in the model has been adjusted based on 
management’s best estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise restrictions and behavioural considerations a share based 
payment charge of £10767000 was recognised in selling distribution and administrative expenses for the 52 weeks ended 25  
april 2010
  equity instruments  
an equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the group after deducting all of its liabilities 
equity instruments issued by the group are recorded at the proceeds received net of any direct issue costs 
 
dividends 
dividends are recognised as a liability in the group’s financial statements and as a deduction from equity in the period in which the 
dividends are declared where such dividends are proposed subject to the approval of shareholders the dividends are regarded as 
declared once shareholder approval has been obtained 
 
international financial reporting standards “standards” in issue but not yet effective  
at the date of authorisation of these consolidated financial statements the international accounting standards board “iasb” and 
international financial reporting interpretations committee “ifric” have issued the following standards and interpretations which 
are effective for annual accounting periods beginning on or after the stated effective date these standards and interpretations are not 
effective for and have not been applied in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements
• ifrs 9 financial instruments effective 1 january 2013
• ias 24 revised 2009 related p arty disclosures effective 1 january 2011
• ias 27 consolidated and separate financial statements revised 2008 effective 1 july 2009
• amendment to ias 39 financial instruments recognition and measurement  eligible hedged items effective 1 july 2009
• group cashsettled sharebased p ayment t ransactions  amendment to ifrs 2 effective 1 january 2010
• improvements to ifrss 2009 various effective dates earliest of which is 1 july 2009 but mostly 2010
• ifrs 3 business combinations revised 2008 effective 1 july 2009
• ifric 17 distributions of noncash assets to owners effective 1 july 2009
• ifric 18 t ransfers of assets from customers effective prospectively for transfers on or after 1 july 2009
• ifric 19 extinguishing financial liabilities with equity instruments effective 1 july 2010
• prepayments of a minimum funding requirement  amendments to ifric 14 effective 1 january 2011
• amendment to ifrs 1 additional exemptions for firsttime adopters effective 1 january 2010
• amendment to ias 32 classification of rights issues effective 1 february 2010
• improvements to ifrs issued may 2010 some changes effective 1 july 2010 others effective 1 january 2011
the directors anticipate that the adoption of these standard and interpretations in future periods will have no material impact on the 
financial statements of the group except for the treatment of the acquisition of subsidiaries in future accounting periods
1 accounting policies continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p77
the critical accounting estimates and judgements made by the group regarding the future or other key sources of estimation 
uncertainty and judgement that may have a significant risk of giving rise to a material adjustment to the carrying values of assets and 
liabilities within the next financial year are 
impairment of good will  
the calculation for considering the impairment of the carrying amount of goodwill requires a comparison of the present value of the 
cashgenerating units to which the goodwill has been allocated to the value of goodwill and associated assets in the balance sheet the 
calculation of present values requires an estimation of the future cash flows expected to arise from the cashgenerating units and the 
selection of a suitable discount rate the key assumptions made in relation to the impairment review of goodwill are set out in note 15
 
impairment of other intangible assets  
the calculation for considering the impairment of the carrying amount of other intangible assets with an indefinite life specifically 
brands trade marks and licences requires a comparison of the present value of the related cash flows to the value of the other 
intangible assets in the balance sheet the calculation of present value requires an estimation of the future cash flows expected to arise 
from the other intangible assets and the selection of a suitable discount rate the key assumptions made in relation to the impairment 
review of other intangible assets are set out in note 15
 
useful economic life of intangible assets  
for intangible assets which have a finite life the directors revisit their estimate of useful economic life at each period end and revise 
accordingly licences and trade marks typically have a life of between 10 and 12 years 
 
identification and v aluation of acquired intangible assets  
on acquisition each material separable intangible asset is identified and valued by the directors with assistance from a professional 
third party any such calculation is judgmental in nature as it is based on a valuation methodology 
brand valuations are typically valued using the relief from royalty valuation methodology 
the nature and carrying amounts of these assets are set out in note 15
 
pro vision f or obsolete slo w moving or defective inventories  
the directors have applied their knowledge and experience of the sports retail industry in determining the level and rates of provisioning 
required in calculating the appropriate inventory carrying values the nature and carrying amounts are set out in note 18
 
financial position of retirement benefit plans  
the net defined benefit pension plan assets or liabilities are recognised in the group’s balance sheet the determination of the financial 
position requires assumptions to be made regarding inter alia future salary increases mortality discount rates and inflation the key 
assumptions made in relation to the pension plan are set out in note 23 
 
pro vision f or dilapidations and onerous lease contracts  
the basis of the estimation of the provisioning for dilapidations and onerous lease contracts is detailed in the provision accounting policy 
and note 25 
estimates and judgments are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience external advice and other factors including 
expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances 
 
pro vision f or costs relating to regulatory enquiries 
provision has been made for legal costs incurred in the period relating to ongoing regulatory enquiries
 
leg al dispute surrounding a vailablef orsale financial assets 
no provision has been made against the recoverable of £147m which is detailed in note 17
2 critical accounting estimates and judgements the group’s current activities result in the following financial risks and set out below are management’s responses to those risks in 
order to minimise any resulting adverse effects on the group’s financial performance 
foreign exchange risk  
the group is exposed to foreign exchange risk principally via
a t ransactional exposure from the cost of future purchases of goods for resale where those purchases are denominated in a currency 
other than the functional currency of the purchasing company t ransactional exposures that could significantly impact the income 
statement are hedged these exposures are hedged via forward foreign currency contracts which are designated as cash flow 
hedges the notional and fair value of these contracts is shown in note 27
b net investment exposure from the fair value of net investments outside the uk we hedge our investments in our international via 
foreign currency transactions and borrowings in matching currencies
c loans to nonuk subsidiaries these are hedged via foreign currency transactions and borrowings in matching currencies which 
are not formally designated as hedges as gains and losses on hedges and hedged loans will naturally offset
 
interest rate risk  
the group has net borrowings which are principally at floating interest rates linked to bank base rates or libor the group does not 
use interest rate financial instruments to hedge its exposure to interest rate movements the group regularly monitors and reacts 
accordingly to any exposure to fluctuations in interest rates and the impact on its monetary assets and liabilities 
 
credit risk  
the directors have a credit policy in place and the exposure to credit risk is monitored on an ongoing basis credit evaluations are 
performed on all customers requiring credit over a certain amount the group does not require collateral in respect of financial assets 
at each balance sheet date there were no significant concentrations of credit risk the maximum exposure to credit risk is represented 
by the carrying amount of each financial asset in the balance sheet 
investments of cash surpluses borrowings and derivative instruments are made through banks and companies which must fulfil credit 
rating and investment criteria approved by the board
 
liquidity risk  
the availability of adequate cash resources is managed by the group through utilisation of its revolving bank and other facilities together 
with equity and retained profits thereby achieving continuity of funding and shortterm flexibility
 
c apital mana gement 
a description of the group’s objectives policies and processes for managing capital are included in the financial review on page 18 of 
this report
 
3 financial risk management 
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p79
operating segments 
for management purposes the group is organised into and reports its performance between two business segments retail and 
brands the retail business segment comprises the retail network of stores and the brands business segment comprises the 
identification acquisition development and trading of a portfolio of internationally recognised sports and leisure brands 
segment information about the business segments is presented below 
segmental information for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
retail brands eliminations total
uk retail 
£’000
uk 
wholesale 
and other 
£’000
uk total 
£’000
international 
retail 
£’000
total
£’000
wholesale
£’000
licensing
£’000
total
£’000
 
£’000 £’000
sales to external customers 1117674 23519 1141193 119918 1261111 167292 23218 190510  1451621
sales to other segments  2274 2274 136 2410 3673  3673 6083 
revenue 1117674 25793 1143467 120054 1263521 170965 23218 194183 6083 1451621
gross profit 462365 52716 515081 74050  589131
operating profit before foreign 
exchange and exceptional items 88998 3535 92533 15227  107760
operating profit 41722 3472 45194 12833 58027
other investment income       24513
dividend income from investments       140
finance income       40150
finance costs       10528
share of profits of associated undertakings and joint ventures 7200
profit before taxation       119502
t axation       30286
profit for the period       89216
 
sales to other segments are priced at cost plus a 10 markup
other segment items included in the income statement for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010
retail
£’000
brands
£’000
total
£’000
depreciation 45208 2240 47448
amortisation 434 2463 2897
 
4 segmental analysis information regarding segment assets and liabilities as at 25 april 2010 and capital expenditure for the 52 weeks then ended 
retail
£’000
brands
£’000
eliminations
£’000
total
£’000
investments in associated undertakings and joint ventures 31445 7297  38742
other assets 784056 245392 107814 921634
t otal assets 815501 252689 107814 960376
t otal liabilities 604785 203690 107814 700661
t angible asset additions 16572 220  16792
intangible asset additions 837 1749  2586
t otal capital expenditure 17409 1969  19378
 
segmental information for the 52 weeks ended 26 april 2009 
retail brands eliminations total
uk retail 
£’000
uk 
wholesale 
and other 
£’000
uk total 
£’000
international 
retail 
£’000
total
£’000
wholesale
£’000
licensing
£’000
total
£’000
 
£’000 £’000
sales to external customers 1006462 28019 1034481 102329 1136810 203566 26945 230511  1367321
sales to other segments  2274 2274 361 2635 18248  18248 20883 
revenue 1006462 30293 1036755 102690 1139445 221814 26945 248759 20883 1367321
gross profit 424677 44625 469302 88334  557636
operating profit before foreign 
exchange and exceptional items 69810 2098 71908 12194  84102
operating profit 58186 2521 60707 7122  67829
other investment income 1035
t ransfer of historic losses on availableforsale financial assets 53156
dividend income from investments       172
finance income 15927
finance costs       23633
share of profits of associated undertakings and joint ventures 2482
profit before taxation       10656
t axation       26164
loss for the period       15508
 
sales to other segments are priced at cost plus a 10 markup
4 segmental analysis continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p81
other segment items included in the income statement for the 52 weeks ended 26 april 2009
retail
£’000
brands
£’000
total
£’000
depreciation 43230 2312 45542
amortisation 388 2556 2944
impairment 21262 9252 30514
 
information regarding segment assets and liabilities as at 26 april 2009 and capital expenditure for the 52 weeks then ended 
retail
£’000
brands
£’000
eliminations
£’000
total
£’000
investments in associated undertakings and joint ventures 24970 7409  32379
other assets 780938 481001 316698 945241
t otal assets 805908 488410 316698 977620
t otal liabilities 734906 405730 316698 823938
t angible asset additions 33343 529  33872
intangible asset additions 2837 1121  3958
t otal capital expenditure 36180 1650  37830
geographic segments 
the group operates in two geographic segments uk and nonuk these geographic segments are presented below 
segmental information for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010
uk
£’000
nonuk
£’000
eliminations
£’000
total
£’000
segmental revenue from external customers 1182650 268971  1451621
t otal capital expenditure 15156 4222  19378
segmental assets 823204 244986 107814 960376
 
segmental information for the 52 weeks ended 26 april 2009 
uk
£’000
nonuk
£’000
eliminations
£’000
total
£’000
segmental revenue from external customers 1101960 265361  1367321
t otal capital expenditure 29263 8567  37830
segmental assets 1011497 282821 316698 977620
  for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
rent receivable 2242 3157
other 1251 847
3493 4004
 
6 exceptional items
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
impairment of intangible assets note 15  14832
impairment of intangible assets note 14  15682
provision for costs relating to regulatory enquiries 7800 
provision for cost of legal dispute 2186 
9986 30514
 
provision has been made for legal costs incurred in the period relating to ongoing regulatory enquiries 
 
7 operating profit
operating profit for the period is stated after chargingcrediting
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
foreign exchange lossesgains 39747 14241
depreciation of property plant and equipment
 owned assets 47448 45533
 assets held on financial leases  9
amortisation of intangible assets 2897 2944
operating lease rentals
 land and buildings 95756 97954
 other 730 679
 
5 other operating income
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p83
services provided by the group’s auditor
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 the remuneration of the auditors grant thornton uk llp and associated firms was as detailed 
below 
 
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
audit of the company’s and the consolidated financial statements 150 140
audit of subsidiary companies’ financial statements 476 710
other services relating to taxation 200 228
all other services 35 32
 
8 employee costs
the average monthly number of employees including executive directors employed by the group during the period was 
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
number
26 april 2009
number
retail stores 8415 7791
distribution administration and other 2504 2609
10919 10400
 
the aggregate payroll costs of the employees including executive directors were as follows
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
wages and salaries 147463 144317
social security costs 11085 10874
pension costs 386 531
158934 155722
 
aggregate emoluments of the directors of the company are summarised below
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
aggregate emoluments 573 554
 
further details of directors’ remuneration are given in the directors remuneration report on page 55
details of certain key management remuneration are given in note 33 for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
fair value gain on financial assets note 17 16858 
fair value of additional claim in administration of ksf note 17 6300 
profit on disposal of availableforsale financial assets note 17 1355 1035
24513 1035
 
10 finance income
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
bank interest receivable 502 1161
other interest receivable 304 
expected return on pension plan assets note 24 1645 2121
fair value adjustment to forward foreign exchange contracts 
1
37699 12645
40150 15927
1
 the fair value adjustment to forward foreign exchange contracts relates to differences between the fair value of forward foreign currency contracts from one period end to the next
 
11 finance costs
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
interest on bank loans and overdrafts 8056 19980
interest on other loans and finance leases 169 1147
interest on retirement benefit obligations note 24 2303 2506
10528 23633
for the financial year ended
9 other investment income
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p85
25 april 2010 
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
current tax 26758 31280
adjustment in respect of prior periods 3267 6844
23491 24436
deferred tax note 25 6795 1728
30286 26164
t ax reconciliation
profit before taxation 119502 10656
t axation at the standard rate of tax in the uk of 28 2009 28 33461 2983
t ax effects of
expenses not deductible for tax purposes 4390 8156
impact of tax losses and other shortterm temporary differences not recognised in deferred tax 651 1050
deferred tax recognised in respect of unremitted earnings from an associate 3070 
unrelieved foreign tax 183 536
profit onderecognition of listed investments 6484 14884
other tax adjustments 675 267
adjustments in respect of prior periods  current tax 3267 6844
adjustments in respect of prior periods  deferred tax 3747 5132
30286 26164
 
13 earnings per share from total and continuing operations attributable to 
the equity shareholders
basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of 
ordinary shares outstanding during the year 
for diluted earnings per share the weighted average number of shares 568455000 2009 568452000 is adjusted to assume 
conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares under the group’s bonus share schemes being 37348000 2009nil to give the 
diluted weighted average number of shares of 605803000 2009568452000
basic and diluted earnings per share
for the financial year ended
 
25 april 2010
basic £’000
25 april 2010 
diluted £’000
26 april 2009
basic £’000
26 april 2009 
diluted £’000
profitloss for the period 89433 89433 15838 15838
number in thousands number in thousands
weighted average number of shares 568455 605803 568452 568452
pence per share pence per share
earnings per share 1573 1476 279 279
 
12 t axation underlying earnings per share
the underlying earnings per share reflects the underlying performance of the business compared with the prior year and is calculated 
by dividing underlying earnings by the weighted average number of shares for the period underlying earnings is used by management 
as a measure of profitability within the group underlying earnings is defined as profit for the period attributable to equity holders of the 
parent for each financial period but excluding the post tax effect of certain exceptional items
the directors believe that the underlying earnings before exceptional items and underlying earnings per share measures provide 
additional useful information for shareholders on the underlying performance of the business and are consistent with how business 
performance is measured internally underlying earnings is not a recognised profit measure under ifrs and may not be directly 
comparable with “adjusted” profit measures used by other companies 
for the financial year ended
 
25 april 2010
basic £’000
25 april 2010 
diluted £’000
26 april 2009
basic £’000
26 april 2009 
diluted £’000
profitloss for the period 89433 89433 15838 15838
post tax adjustments to profit for the period for the following exceptional items
realised lossgain on forward exchange contracts 28618 28618 9556 9556
fair value adjustment to forward foreign exchange contracts 27143 27143 8485 8485
other investment income 24133 24133 1035 1035
provision for costs incurred relating to regulatory enquiries 5616 5616  
excess of fair value of assets acquired over consideration 2774 2774  
provision for legal disputes 1574 1574  
derecognition of listen investments not tax deductible   53156 53156
impairment of freehold property not tax deductible   15682 15682
impairment of intangible assets   9952 9952
fair value adjustments within associated undertakings 769 769 1194 1194
underlying profit for the period 70422 70422 45070 45070
number in thousands number in thousands
weighted average number of shares 568455 605803 568452 568452
pence per share pence per share
earnings per share 1239 1162 793 793
13 earnings per share from total and continuing operations attributable to 
the equity shareholders continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p87
 
freehold land 
and buildings
£’000
long leasehold
property
£’000
short leasehold
property
£’000
plant and 
equipment
£’000
total
£’000
cost
at 27 april 2008 117235 10940 100970 271574 500719
exchange differences 157 95 1803 3685 5740
additions 6675 27 7687 19483 33872
eliminated on disposals 470 2 2239 2519 5230
at 26 april 2009 123597 11060 108221 292223 535101
exchange differences 230 65 24 6787 7106
additions 541 203 1237 14811 16792
eliminated on disposals   583 599 1182
at 25 april 2010 124368 11328 108899 313222 557817
accumulated depreciation and impairment
at 27 april 2008 8014 3641 33617 132655 177927
exchange differences 56  374 1953 2383
charge for the period 2994 309 8577 33662 45542
eliminated on disposals 35  2193  2228
impairment charge 15682    15682
at 26 april 2009 26711 3950 40375 168270 239306
exchange differences 40 14 197 874 703
charge for the period 2682 596 11491 32679 47448
eliminated on disposals   558  558
at 25 april 2010 29433 4532 51111 201823 286899
net book amount
at 25 april 2010 94935 6796 57788 111399 270918
at 26 april 2009 96886 7110 67846 123953 295795
 
assets held under finance leases have a net book amount of nil 2009nil
capital grants received from the east midlands development agency of £1363000 2009 £1488000 have been deducted from the cost 
of freehold land and buildings as at 25 april 2010 the group is subject to the following principal conditions of the grant being met for a 
period which is at the discretion of the east midlands development agency of five years after the first grant instalment was made on 26 
april 2006 or 18 months after the last grant instalment was made on 29 april 2007 “conditional period”
• the group remains solvent
• the group does not cease to own or for a period of at least three months does not cease to use the relevant premises for which the 
grant was provided or its related assets
• the group employs at least 507 permanent fulltime employees or equivalent at the relevant premises
• the group employs in total at least 1171 employees at the relevant premises
if the group fails to adhere to any of the above conditions during the conditional period the east midlands development agency may 
demand full repayment of the grant
14 property plant and equipment   goodwill
£’000
trademarks 
and licences
£’000
brands
£’000
total
£’000
cost
at 27 april 2008 104099 21934 66946 192979
arising on business combinations 11908   11908
additions through business combinations   440 440
other additions  3404 554 3958
disposals 5410 2892  8302
exchange adjustment 17620 1024 20006 38650
at 26 april 2009 128217 23470 87946 239633
arising on business combinations 344   344
additions through business combinations 521   521
other additions  2586  2586
disposals  769  769
exchange adjustment 2874 5353 7410 4931
at 25 april 2010 126208 30640 80536 237384
amortisation and impairment
at 27 april 2008 1394 5175 1400 7969
amortisation charge  2944  2944
impairment charge 13932  900 14832
disposals 5409 2697  8106
exchange adjustment  36  36
at 26 april 2009 9917 5458 2300 17675
amortisation charge  2897  2897
disposals  585  585
exchange adjustment  453  453
at 25 april 2010 9917 8223 2300 20440
net book amount
at 25 april 2010 116291 22417 78236 216944
at 26 april 2009 118300 18012 85646 221958
 
amortisation is charged to selling distribution and administrative expenses in the consolidated income statement in the prior year the 
impairment charge was recognised in exceptional items in the consolidated income statement
the carrying value of goodwill and brands that are considered to have an indefinite life are allocated to cashgenerating units as follows
goodwill
£’000
brands
£’000
retail 14330 855
brands 101961 77381
116291 78236
 
15 intangible assets
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p89
the group tests the carrying amount of goodwill and assets with an indefinite life annually for impairment or more frequently if there are 
indications that their carrying value might be impaired the carrying amounts of other intangible assets are reviewed for impairment if 
there is an indication of impairment 
impairment is calculated by comparing the carrying amounts to the value in use derived from discounted cash flow projections for the 
cash generating units cgu to which the intangible assets are allocated  
value in use calculations are based on 5 year management forecasts with a terminal growth rate applied thereafter representing 
management’s estimate of the long term growth rate of the sector served by the cgu’s
the key assumptions which are equally applicable to each cgu in the cash flow projections used to support the carrying amount of 
goodwill and intangibles with indefinite lives as at 25 april 2010 were as follows
retail and brands 
• annual sales growth for the first five years of between 0 and 7 depending on the constituent elements of the cgu followed by 
terminal sales growth of 24
• gross margin of between 30 and 47 depending on the constituent elements of the cgu
• annual maintenance expenditure of between £nil and £10m per annum depending on the individual entity’s circumstances
• discount rates are estimated at a risk adjusted pretax weighted average cost of capital of between 126 and 173
the key assumptions are based on management’s historical experience and future plans for each cgu 
a reasonably possible change in any key assumption would not cause the carrying value of any cgu to exceed its recoverable amount 
the intangible assets that have an indefinite life are brands and trading names and are considered to have an indefinite life on the 
grounds of the proven longevity of the brands and trading names and the group’s commitment to maintaining those brands
in 2009 an impairment charge £14832000 was recognised mainly due to an increase in discount rates to reflect specific risk factors and 
a decrease in forecast sales growth as a result of the tough economic climate no impairment charge was recognised in 2010
 
16 investments in associated undertakings and joint ventures
the group uses the equity method of accounting for associates and joint ventures the following table shows the aggregate movement in 
the group’s investment in associates and joint ventures  
 
associates 
£’000
joint ventures 
£’000
total 
£’000
at 27 april 2008 21233 7219 28452
exchange differences 3361  3361
share of profit 2235 247 2482
dividend paid 1666 250 1916
at 26 april 2009 25163 7216 32379
exchange differences 87  87
additions 833  833
excess of fair value over consideration 3853  3853
fair value adjustments to financial instruments 1068  1068
share of profitloss 2391 112 2279
dividend paid 1583  1583
at 25 april 2010 31638 7104 38742
       associates
on 16 april 2010 the group acquired a further 75 of warrnambool a private unlimited company incorporated in the republic of 
ireland which is the ultimate parent undertaking of heatons a private unlimited company the excess of fair value acquired over 
consideration paid has been credited to the income statement as shown above
this takes the group’s interest in warrnambool to 50 the business activity of heatons is that of household sporting and leisure goods 
retail heatons operates in the republic of ireland and northern ireland the directors do not consider that they have control over the 
financial and operating policies of warrnambool and so will continue to account for the company as an associate
the group’s share of associates’ assets liabilities and income statement which is included in the consolidated financial statements is 
as follows
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
share of noncurrent assets 50491 44555
share of current assets 18036 18686
share of noncurrent liabilities 25105 13954
share of current liabilities 11784 24124
31638 25163
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
income 81137 77610
expenses 78124 74553
profit before tax 3013 3057
t axation 622 822
profit for the period 2391 2235
 
heatons has a coterminous year end with the group there are no significant restrictions on the ability of associated undertakings to 
transfer funds to the parent other than those imposed by legal requirements
 
joint ventures 
the group’s joint ventures are
 name
country of 
incorporation
percentage of 
issued share 
capital held nature of business
no fear international limited england 50 brand licensing
pbf international limited england 50 brand licensing
held by an immediate subsidiary
all joint venture undertakings operate in their country of incorporation
16 investments in associated undertakings and joint ventures continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p91
the group’s share of its joint ventures’ assets liabilities and income statement which is included in the consolidated financial 
statements is as follows
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
share of noncurrent assets 5916 5860
share of current assets 2622 3048
share of noncurrent liabilities  
share of current liabilities 1434 1692
7104 7216
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
income 3695 3290
expenses 3800 3141
lossprofit before taxation 105 149
t axation 7 98
lossprofit for the period 112 247
 
17 availableforsale financial assets
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
availableforsale financial assets 51566 5467
 
the fair value of the availableforsale investments is based on bid quoted market prices at the balance sheet date
the following table shows the aggregate movement in the group’s financial assets during the year
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
at beginning of period 5467 65714
additions 22222 4887
disposals 6685 12772
derecognition of investments held with ksf  26219
revaluation through the income statement 16858 2443
revaluation through equity 13704 28586
at end of period 51566 5467
 
we have previously reported that some of our strategic stakes were held by kaupthing singer  friedlander ksf and partly financed 
by them on 8 october 2008 ksf went into administration and we ware in dispute with the administrators concerning the ownership 
of the shares they held in the 2009 the financial statements we concluded that we may not directly “control” the shares for accounting 
purposes and therefore treated them as having been derecognised this derecognition resulted in the trasfer of historic losses 
previously recognised in the statement of recognised income and expense of £53156000 into the income statement in the year ended 
26 april 2009 on 21 february 2010 the company entered into an agreement with administrator of ksf to acquire any rights which may be determined 
that they hold
on 13 may 2010 the judgement of the court proceedings which commenced on 26 april 2010 was handed down the court determined 
that the group had acquired beneficial interest in 12153071 ordinary shares in blacks leisure and 5775255 in jd sports on 8 october 
2008 this acquisition is reflected in these financial statements the judgement also resulted in the group regaining control of the 
shares
the administrator of ksf has now appealed the decision sdi’s ownership of the shares is no longer in dispute but were ksf to be 
successful in an appeal then sdi would be required to pay an amount of c£147m which is currently held in escrow and included in other 
debtors this amount represents the difference in value of the shares between 8 october 2008 and 21 february 2010
the group has also submitted a claim to the administrators for the shares that are claimed to be owned by the group in amer sports 
blacks leisure group plc and jd sports and fashion plc but were not in ksf possession the group is also claiming for the dividends 
on the these shares and group funds held ksf this amounts to approximately £91m in total and the latest information from the 
administrator suggests a pay out of around 70 accordinly a receivable of £63m has been recognised
the financial assets at 25 april 2010 relate to strategic investments held of between 120 and 285 in share capital the directors do 
not consider that they have significant influence over the financial and operating policies of the investees as they have no representation 
on the board of directors have no participation in policymaking processes including participation in decisions about dividends or other 
distributions have no material transactions with the investees and do not interchange any managerial personnel 
on 25 april 2010 the group had one investment in excess of 20 of share capital that being 285 2009 299 of the ordinary share 
capital of blacks leisure group plc a company incorporated in england and wales the aggregate of its share capital and reserves and 
loss for the years ended 27 february 2010 and 28 february 2009 are as follows
27 february 2010
£’000
28 february 2009
£’000
aggregate share capital and reserves 20435 68971
loss after taxation 49432 14761
 
on 24 may 2010 blacks leisure group plc issued 39281011 new ordinary shares which reduced the group’s interest in blacks share 
capital to 145
 
18 inventories 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
raw materials 3773 4238
work in progress 1129 828
goods for resale 213901 257197
218803 262263
 
the following inventory costs have been recognised in cost of sales
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
cost of inventories recognised as an expense 857724 805589
 
 
17 availableforsale financial assets continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p93
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
t rade receivables 45359 60985
amounts owed by related undertakings 2481 534
other debtors 36782 17958
prepayments and accrued income 29911 32455
114533 111932
 
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates to their fair value the maximum exposure 
to credit risk at the reporting date is the carrying value of each class of asset above
ageing of trade receivables
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
current 30120 47875
030 days past due 8606 4569
3060 days past due 1785 1805
6090 days past due 383 1084
over 90 days past due 4465 5652
45359 60985
 
the movement in the bad debt provision can be analysed as follows
for the financial year ended
 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
opening position 7295 4483
amounts charged to the income statement 2386 3071
amounts written off as uncollectible 3923 245
amounts recovered during the year 2122 14
closing position 3636 7295
 
the group has no significant concentration of credit risk with exposure spread over a large number of customers these bad debt 
provisionscharges have been determined by reference to past default experience and knowledge of the individual circumstances of 
certain receivables 
the other classes within trade and other receivables do not include impaired assets
19 t rade and other receivables 25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
cash in bank and in hand  sterling 5579 12287
cash in bank and in hand  us dollars 7599 10812
cash in bank and in hand  euros 8506 9040
cash in bank and in hand  other 3437 219
25121 32358
bank overdraft note 23 330385 442683
cash and cash equivalents including overdrafts at period end 305264 410325
 
21 share capital
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
authorised
999500010 ordinary shares of 10p each 99950 99950
499990 redeemable preference shares of 10p each 50 50
100000 100000
allotted called up and fully paid
640502369 2009 640452369 ordinary shares of 10p each 64050 64045
share capital
at 26 april 2009 64045 64045
issue of shares 5 
at 25 april 2010 64050 64045
 
contingent share awards
the bonus share scheme 
under the terms of the bonus share scheme which was approved by the shareholders on 9 september 2009 the board may make share 
awards in respect of the ordinary shares in the company to employees based on a percentage of salary and subject to performance 
conditions the extent to which the awards vest is based on the whether the group meets underlying ebitda targets for the 2010 and 
2011 financial years further details are set out in the remuneration report on page 51
the first awards of 34898000 shares were granted on 14 october 2009 at an average price of 9950p these shares will only vest if the 
performance conditions are met over the next three years
a sharebased payment charge of £9484000 was recognised in respect of these share awards for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
based on the directors’ best estimate of the number of shares that will vest
 
the perf ormance share plan 
under the terms of the p erformance share plan which was approved by the shareholders on 11 february 2007 the board may make 
share awards in respect of the ordinary shares in the company to executive directors based on a percentage of salary and subject to 
performance conditions the extent to which the awards vest is based on earnings per share growth and total shareholders return over a 
period of three financial years further details are set out in the remuneration report on page 50 
the first awards of 446512 shares were granted on 5 april 2007 at an average price of 26875p 
the second awards of 1975308 shares were granted on 16 july 2008 at an average price of 6075p
the third awards of 2696628 shares were granted on 13 august 2009 at an average price of 8900p
20 cash and cash equivalents
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p95
a sharebased payment charge of £1283000 was recognised in respect of these share awards for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
based on the directors’ best estimate of the number of shares that will vest
 
22 other reserves
share 
capital
£’000
share 
premium
£’000
permanent 
contribution 
to capital
£’000
capital 
redemption 
reserve
£’000
reserve 
combination 
reserve
£’000
other
reserves
£’000
at 27 april 2008 26 april 2009 and 25 april 2010 64045 874300 50 8005 987312 40912
 
the share premium account is used to record the excess proceeds over nominal value on the issue of shares
mjw ashley made a £50000 cash payment to the company as a permanent contribution to capital on 8 february 2007 under a deed of 
capital contribution
the capital redemption reserve arose on the redemption of the company’s redeemable preference shares of 10p each at par on 2 march 
2007
between 5 october 2007 and 11 march 2008 the group cancelled 79547631 of shares acquired as part of the share buy back 
programme
the reverse combination reserve exists as a result of the adoption of the principles of reserve acquisition accounting in accounting for 
the group restructuring which occurred on 2 march 2007 and 29 march 2007 between the company and sports world international 
limited brands holdings limited international brand management limited and cds holdings sa with sports world international 
limited as the acquirer
 
23 borrowings
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
noncurrent  
bank and other loans 2789 4090
obligations under finance leases 563 623
 3352 4713
current
bank overdrafts 330385 442683
bank and other loans 3274 16216
 333659 458899
t otal borrowings
bank overdrafts 330385 442683
bank and other loans 6063 20306
obligations under finance leases 563 623
 337011 463612
  the maturity of the group’s total borrowings other than bank overdrafts is as follows  
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
borrowings are repayable as follows  
within one year 3274 19629
between one and two years 2976 354
between two and five years 188 613
after five years 188 333
 6626 20929
borrowings — sterling 1890 2580
borrowings — other 4736 18349
 6626 20929
 
loans are all on commercial variable rates of interest ranging between 06 and 15 over the base rate of the country within which the 
borrowing entity resides 
on 25 october 2007 sports direct international plc and certain subsidiaries the “borrowers” entered into a committed working 
capital facility agreement with the governor and company of the bank of scotland the “working capital facility” the working capital 
facility is available to any of the borrowers and may be drawn to an aggregate limit of £500 million it is capable of being utilised by 
way of cash advances letters of credit guarantees bonds andor currency borrowings the working capital facility is available until 30 
april 2011 the group is required to observe certain covenants including undertakings relating to delivery of financial statements and 
certain negative covenants including in relation to creation of security and disposal of assets the working capital facility is secured 
by a debenture from each of the borrowers and a composite guarantee from each of the nondormant subsidiaries of sportsdirectcom 
retail limited 
on 27 april 2010 the aggregate limit of the working capital facility was reduced to £400 million at the request of the group
the group continues to operate comfortably within it’s banking facilities and covenants our facilities are in place until april 2011 and we 
will continue discussions with our banks during the 201011 financial year
the group has a £50m working capital facility with mike ashley which can be drawn down on request
the carrying amounts and fair value of the borrowings are not materially different 
net debt at 25 april 2010 was £3119m
 
23 borrowings continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p97
the group’s defined benefit pension obligations relate to dunlop slazenger group holdings limited “dsghl ” which was acquired on 
28 january 2004 dsghl operates a number of plans worldwide the largest of which is of the funded defined benefit type the scheme 
is closed to new members 
the amounts for the current and previous four periods following the acquisition of dsghl are as follows
25 april 2010
£’000 
26 april 2009
£’000 
27 april 2008
£’000
29 april 2007
£’000
30 april 2006
£’000
t otal fair value of plan assets 33149 27440 32706 36419 32829
present value of plan liabilities 52888 39764 44411 50451 48008
net plan obligations 19739 12324 11705 14032 15179
experience adjustments on plan liabilities 12645 5887 4652 1620 1354
experience adjustments on plan assets 4461 6336 2969 1164 257
 
the cumulative amount of actuarial gains and losses recognised in the statement of comprehensive income as at 25 april 2010 was an 
actuarial loss of £7277000 2009 actuarial gain of £907000 
there were no unrecognised actuarial gains or losses or past service costs as at 26 april 2009 or 25 april 2010 
amounts recognised in the income statement are as follows 
for the financial year ended
 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
current service cost 12 19
interest on retirement benefit obligations 2303 2506
expected return on plan assets 1645 2121
 670 404
 
the current service cost is included within cost of sales the interest on retirement benefit obligations and the expected return on plan 
assets are included within finance costs and finance income respectively 
amounts recognised in the statement of comprehensive income and is as follows 
for the financial year ended
 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
actual less expected return on assets 4461 6336
actuarial lossesgains relating to plan liabilities 12645 5887
 8184 449
 
the actual return on plan assets for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 was a gain of £6106000 2009 loss of £4215000
24 retirement benefit obligations the movements in the fair value of plan assets are as follows 
for the financial year ended
 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
at the start of the period 27440 32706
expected return on plan assets 1645 2121
actuarial gainlosses 4461 6336
employer contributions 1216 1382
employee contributions 15  118 
benefits paid out 1628 2551
at the end of the period 33149 27440
     
the group expects to contribute £1210000 to its defined benefit pension plans for the 52 weeks ended 24 april 2011
the assumptions used to determine the expected return on assets reflects the underlying asset allocation at each period end the plan 
asset mix and the expected returns on the assets are as follows
 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
equities 19760 14974
bonds 13210 12249
cash and other 179 217
 33149 27440
equities 73 78
bonds 51 48
cash and other 40 50
 
the overall expected rate of return on the scheme’s assets has been derived by considering the expected rate of return on each major 
asset class of investments at the start of the year and weighting these rates of return by the proportion of the total investments that the 
class represents at the start of the year
the principal assumptions underlying the actuarial assessments of the present value of the plan liabilities are 
25 april 2010

26 april 2009

inflation rate 36 29
future salary increases na na
future pension increases 34 28
discount rate 55 69
 
mortality assumptions
25 april 2010 26 april 2009
life expectancy at 65 at period end
future pensioners – male 874 872
future pensioners – female 902 900
current pensioners – male 864 864
current pensioners – female 892 894
24 retirement benefit obligations continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p99
the movements in the present value of the plan liabilities are as follows
for the financial year ended
 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
at the start of the period 39764 44411
current service cost 12 19
interest cost 2303 2506
actuarial lossgain 12645 5887
employee contributions 15 118
benefits paid out 1628 2551
exchange gainloss 223 1148
at the end of the period 52888 39764
the net movements in the net present value of the plan liabilities were as follows
for the financial year ended
 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
net liability at the start of the period  12324  11705
movement in fair value of plan assets 5709   5266
movements in the present value of the plan liabilities 13124 4647
net liability at the end of the period 19739  12324
 
in addition to the amounts recognised in relation to the defined benefit retirement plans amounts of £121000 have been recognised in 
the income statement in the periods ended 26 april 2009 and 25 april 2010 in relation to defined contribution retirement benefit plans 
 
25 deferred tax asset and liabilities
accounts
depreciation
exceeding tax
depreciation
£’000 
tax losses
recoverable
£’000 
pension plan
liabilities
£’000 
unremitted 
earnings from 
an associate
£’000
other temporary 
differences
£’000
total
£’000
at 27 april 2008 5646 1602 4209 3279 5802 2688
creditedcharged to the income statement 1364 127 108  3073 1728
credited to the statement of comprehensive 
income     6849 6849
foreign exchange adjustments     5731 5731
acquisitions     6402 6402
at 26 april 2009 4282 1475 4317 3279 16253 18022
chargedcredited to the income statement 1922  1016 3279 7136 6795
chargedcredited to the statement of 
comprehensive income   2226  3064 838
foreign exchange adjustments     190 190
at 25 april 2010 6204 1475 5527  26643 25845
              25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
deferred tax assets 10101 15468
deferred tax liabilities 35946 33490
net deferred tax balance 25845 18022
 
deferred tax assets are recognised for tax losses recoverable and pension plan liabilities to the extent that realisation of the related tax 
benefit is probable on the basis of the group’s current expectations of future taxable profits 
 
26 provisions
dilapidations
£’000
onerous contracts
£’000
total
£’000
at 26 april 2009 21867 14552 36419
amounts provided 2726 11559 14285
amounts utilised  5106 5106
at 25 april 2010 24593 21005 45598
 
the dilapidations provision is the best estimate of the present value of expenditure expected to be incurred by the group in order to 
restore its leasehold premises to the condition required under the lease agreements at the end of the lease discounted at 7 per 
annum the provision is expected to be utilised over the period to the end of each specific lease 
the provision in respect of onerous lease contracts represents the net cost of fulfilling the group’s obligations over the terms of these 
contracts discounted at 7 per annum the provision is expected to be utilised over the period to the end of each specific lease a 
number of leases previously assigned to third party tenants have reverted to the group this year as the tough economic conditions have 
led to those third party tenants being unable to meet their commitments
the unwinding of the discount on provision passes through the income statement
 
25 deferred tax asset and liabilities continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p101
a financial assets and liabilities by category 
the carrying values of financial assets and liabilities which are principally denominated in sterling or us dollars were as follows 
loans and 
receivables
£’000
assets at fair value 
through profit and 
loss
£’000
available for sale 
financial assets
£’000
nonfinancial 
assets
£’000
total
£’000
assets – 2010
property plant and equipment    270918 270918
intangible assets    216944 216944
investments in associated undertakings and joint 
ventures    38742 38742
availableforsale financial assets   51566  51566
deferred tax assets    10101 10101
inventories    218803 218803
derivative financial assets  13648   13648
t rade and other receivables 45359   69174 114533
cash and cash equivalents 25121    25121
 70480 13648 51566 824682 960376
assets  2009
property plant and equipment    295795 295795
intangible assets    221958 221958
investments in associated undertakings and joint 
ventures    32379 32379
availableforsale financial assets   5467  5467
deferred tax assets    15468 15468
inventories    262263 262263
t rade and other receivables 60985   50947 111932
cash and cash equivalents 32358    32358
93343  5467 878810 977620
    
27 financial instruments loans and payables
£’000
liabilities at fair 
value through profit 
and loss
£’000
nonfinancial 
liabilities
£’000
total
£’000
liabilities – 2010
other payables 2345   2345
noncurrent borrowings 3352   3352
retirement benefit obligations   19739 19739
deferred tax liabilities   35946 35946
provisions   45598 45598
t rade and other payables 133451  107213 240664
current borrowings 333659   333659
current tax liabilities   19358 19358
 472807  227854 700661
liabilities  2009
other payables 2656   2656
noncurrent borrowings 4713   4713
retirement benefit obligations   12324 12324
deferred tax liabilities   33490 33490
provisions   36419 36419
derivative financial liabilities current  34993  34993
t rade and other payables 106962  102777 209739
current borrowings 458899   458899
current tax liabilities   30705 30705
573230 34993 215715 823938
 
carrying values do not materially differ from fair value
fair value hierarchy 
the group uses the following hierarchy for determining and disclosing the fair value of financial instruments by valuation technique
• level 1 quoted unadjusted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities
• level 2 other techniques for which all inputs which have a significant effect on the recorded fair value are observable either directly 
or indirectly and
• level 3 techniques which use inputs which have a significant effect on the recorded fair value that are not based on observable 
market data unlisted equity investments are included in level 3 the fair value of the embedded derivative is determined using the 
present value of the estimated future cash flows based on financial forecasts
as at 25 april 2010 the only financial instruments measured at fair value were derivative financial assets and a vailableforsale 
financial assets and these are classified as level 1
 
b deriv atives f oreign currenc y forw ard purchase contracts  
the most significant exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations relates to purchases made in foreign currencies principally the us 
dollar the group’s policy is to reduce substantionally the risk associated with purchases denominated in foreign currencies by using 
forward fixed rate currency purchase contracts taking into account any foreign currency cash flows the group does not hold or issue 
derivative financial instruments for trading purposes however if derivatives do not qualify for hedge accounting they are accounted for 
as such and accordingly any gain or loss is recognised immediately in the income statement
27 financial instruments continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p103
the carrying values of forward foreign currency purchase contracts were as follows 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
fair value of derivative financial instruments  assetsliabilities 13648 34993
 
the sterling principal amounts of forward foreign currency purchase contracts and contracted forward rates were as follows
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
us dollar purchases 210000 350000
contracted rates 153168 146188
us dollar sales 50000 250000
contracted rates 154 192194
euro sales 36319 202179
contracted rates 109114 108140
euro purchases  223662
contracted rates  112112
 
at 25 april 2010 £210m of forward us dollar purchase contracts qualified for hedge accounting and the gain on fair valuation of these 
contracts of £10942000 has therefore been taken straight to equity through the statement of comprehensive income
forward foreign currency purchase and sale contracts generally have a maturity at inception of approximately 12 months at 25 april 
2010 no purchase contracts and no sale contracts had a maturity at inception of greater than 12 months 2009 £nil million of purchase 
contracts 
 
c sensitivity anal ysis 
 
foreign currency sensitivity analysis
the group’s principal foreign currency exposures are to us dollars and the euro the table below illustrates the hypothetical sensitivity 
of the group’s reported profit and equity to a 5 increase and decrease in the us dollarsterling and eurosterling exchange rates at 
the year end date assuming all other variables remain unchanged the figures have been calculated by comparing the fair values of 
outstanding foreign currency contracts at the current exchange rate to those if exchange rates moved as illustrated
positive figures represent an increase in profit or equity
income statement equity
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
sterling strengthens by 5
us dollar 3137 11044 3137 11044
euro 1401 1335 1401 1335
sterling weakens by 5
us dollar 3294 11596 3294 11596
euro 1471 1402 1471 1402
  interest rate sensitivity analysis
the table below illustrates the hypothetical sensitivity of the group’s reported profit and equity to a 05 increase or decrease in interest 
rates assuming all other variables were unchanged 
the analysis has been prepared using the following assumptions
• for floating rate assets and liabilities the amount of asset or liability outstanding at the balance sheet date is assumed to have been 
outstanding for the whole year
• fixed rate financial instruments that are carried at amortised cost are not subject to interest rate risk for the purpose of this analysis
positive figures represent an increase in profit or equity 
income statement equity
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
interest rate increase of 05 1798 2420 1798 2240
interest rate decrease of 05 1798 2420 1798 2240
 
d liquidity risk 
the table below shows the maturity analysis of the undiscounted remaining contractual cash flows of the group’s financial liabilities
less than 1 year 1 to 2 years 2 to 5 years over 5 years total
2010
bank loans and overdrafts 331471 5126   336597
obligations under finance leases  193 194 194 581
t rade and other payables 133451    133451
derivative financial liabilities
cash inflows 140526    140526
cash outflows 127992    127992
452388 5319 194 194 458095
2009
bank loans and overdrafts 462312 151 417 129 463009
obligations under finance leases  207 214 214 635
t rade and other payables 106962    106962
derivative financial liabilities
cash inflows 86460    86460
cash outflows 121482    121482
604296 358 631 343 605628
 
27 financial instruments continued
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p105
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
t rade payables 133451 106962
amounts owed to related undertakings 4044 3029
other taxes including social security costs 7241 5055
other payables 30454 39640
accruals and deferred income 65474 55053
 240664 209739
 
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other payables approximates to their fair value 
 
29 cash inflow from operating activities
for the financial year ended
 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
profit before taxation 119502 10656
net finance costs 29622 7706
derecognition of availableforsale financial assets  53156
other investment income 24513 1035
dividend income from investments 140 172
share of profit of associated undertakings and joint ventures 7200 2482
operating profit 58027 67829
depreciation 47448 45542
amortisation charge 2897 2944
impairment charge  30514
loss on disposal of intangibles 184 195
loss on disposal of subsidiary undertakings  1
defined benefit pension plan current service cost 670 395
defined benefit pension plan employer contributions 1216 1225
share based payments 10767 
operating cash inflow before changes in working capital 118777 146195
increase in receivables 2222 9788
decreaseincrease in inventories 43460 43500
increase in payables 39461 24563
cash inflows from operating activities 199476 117470
 
28 t rade and other payables as at 25 april 2010 the group had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under noncancellable operating 
leases which fall due as follows  
  
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
land and buildings  
within one year 77870 74997
in the second to fifth years inclusive 267060 271461
after five years 312487 364245
 657417 710703
 
the group sublets certain standalone retail stores which are no longer operated by the group the property rental income earned 
during the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 was £2242000 2009 £3157000  
as at 25 april 2010 the group had contracts with subtenants for the following future minimum lease rentals
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
land and buildings  
within one year 5166 6307
in the second to fifth years inclusive 17298 17991
after five years 21011 24240
 43475 48538
 
31 capital commitments
the group had no capital commitments as at 25 april 2010 2009 £nil
 
32 contingent assets and liabilities 
as a matter of course the group undertakes action in numerous parts of the world to protect its trade mark registrations and in 
connection with the group’s licensees such actions are usually resolved in the ordinary course of business the group is however party 
to a dispute and since 2007 has provided for an amount representing the financial estimation of the potential loss if the outcome was not 
to be in its favour the group believes that to provide further information would be seriously prejudicial to the case
 
30 operating lease arrangements
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p107
the group entered into the following material transactions with related parties 
the group has taken advantage of the exemptions contained within ias 24  related p arty disclosures from the requirement to disclose 
transactions between group companies as these have been eliminated on consolidation 
52 weeks ended 26 april 2009
related party relationship
sales
£’000
purchases
£’000
trade and other 
receivables
£’000
trade and other 
payables
£’000
pan world brands limited
common 
control   3 17
heatons associate 15829  1942 
no fear international limited joint venture   316 1468
pbf international limited joint venture 189 465 910 
mike ashley director    590
sopotnik t rade doo associate 23  83 
 
mike ashley leases certain properties to various companies in the group which are operated as retail and distribution premises a 
commercial rent is charged in respect of these leases 
during the period mike ashley loaned the group £50million on arm’s length commercial terms and this amount was repaid in full on 17 
april 2009
compensation paid to key management of the group was £939505 including pension contributions of £9085
52 weeks ended 25 april 2010
related party relationship
sales
£’000
purchases
£’000
trade and other 
receivables
£’000
trade and other 
payables
£’000
heatons associate 22901  3411 
no fear international limited joint venture    1775
pbf international limited joint venture   2279 
mike ashley director    653
 
mike ashley leases certain properties to various companies in the group which are operated as retail and distribution premises a 
commercial rent is charged in respect of these leases 
during the period mike ashley loaned the group £40million on arm’s length commercial terms and this amount was repaid in full on 14 
october 2009
compensation paid to key management of the group was £821584 including pension contributions of £7973
 
33 related party transactions  the principal subsidiary undertakings of the company at 25 april 2010 were as follows 
name
country of 
incorporation
percentage of 
issued share 
capital held nature of business
antigua enterprises inc usa 100 sporting and leisure goods wholesale and brand licensing
brands  fashion nv belgium 100 brand management and licensing
brands inc limited england 100 brand management and licensing
brands holdings limited england 100 brand management and licensing
cds holdings sa belgium 100 sporting and leisure goods retail
donnay international sa belgium 100 sporting and leisure goods wholesale and brand licensing
dunlop slazenger group limited england 100 sporting and leisure goods wholesale and brand licensing
everlast worldwide inc usa 100 sporting and leisure goods wholesale and brand licensing
field and t rek uk limited england 100 sporting and leisure goods retail
international brand management limited england 100 brand management
kangol holdings limited england 100 fashion and leisure goods wholesale and brand licensing
karrimor limited england 100 fashion and leisure goods wholesale and brand licensing
lillywhites limited england 100 sporting and leisure goods retail
lonsdale boxing limited england 100 fashion and leisure goods wholesale and brand licensing
lonsdale sports limited england 100 sporting and leisure goods wholesale and brand licensing
smith and brooks holdings limited england 100 sporting and leisure goods wholesale and brand licensing
sports essentials limited england 100 sporting and leisure goods wholesale and brand licensing
sportsdirectcom retail limited england 100 sporting and leisure goods retail
sports 2000 sportne t rogovine slovenia 100 sporting and leisure goods retail
the t rademark licensing company 
limited england 100 brand licensing
universal cycles limited england 86 bicycle wholesaler
 
 held by an intermediate subsidiary 
all subsidiaries have coterminous year ends all principal subsidiary undertakings operate in their country of incorporation
a full list of the group’s operating subsidiary undertakings will be annexed to the next annual return filed at companies house
there are no significant restrictions on the ability of the subsidiary undertakings to transfer funds to the parent other than those 
imposed by the legal requirements
on 18 february 2010 the group announced a takeover bid for all of the outstanding common shares of antigua enterprises inc antigua 
not already owned the purchase of these shares was completed on 23 april 2010 and antigua was delisted from the tsx exchange on 
30 april 2010
 
35 ultimate controlling party 
the group is controlled by mike ashley through his 100 shareholding in mash holdings limited which has a 71 shareholding in the 
company
 
36 post balance sheet events 
no material post balance sheet events occurred after 25 april 2010 to the date of this annual report 
34 principal subsidiary undertakings 
section 4  financial statements 
notes to the financial statements
for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p109
we have audited the parent company financial statements of sports direct international plc for the 52 week period to 25 april 2010 which 
comprise the balance sheet and related notes the financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable 
law and united kingdom accounting standards united kingdom generally accepted accounting practice
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with chapter 3 of p art i of the companies act 2006 our 
audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in 
an auditor’s report and for no other purpose t o the fullest extent permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone 
other than the company and the company’s members as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
 
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors 
as explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities statement the directors are responsible for the preparation of the parent 
company financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view our responsibility is to audit the parent company 
financial statements in accordance with applicable law and international standards on auditing uk and ireland those standards 
require us to comply with the auditing practices board’s apb’s ethical standards for auditors
 
scope of the audit of the financial statements 
a description of the scope of an audit of financial statements is provided on the apb’s website at wwwfrcorgukapbscopeukp 
 
opinion on financial statements 
in our opinion the parent company financial statements
• give a true and fair view of the state of the company’s affairs as at 25 april 2010
• have been properly prepared in accordance with united kingdom generally accepted accounting practice and
• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the companies act 2006
 
opinion on other matters prescribed by the companies a ct 2006 
in our opinion
• the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the companies act 2006 
and
• the information given in the directors’ report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with 
the parent company financial statements
 
matters on which we are required to report by exception 
we have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the companies act 2006 requires us to report to you if in our 
opinion
• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent company or returns adequate for our audit have not been received 
from branches not visited by us or
• the parent company financial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited are not in agreement with 
the accounting records and returns or
• certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made or
• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit
report of the independent auditor
to the members of sports direct international plc other matters 
we have reported separately on the group financial statements of sports direct international plc for the 52 week period to 25 april 2010
 
paul etherington 
senior statutory auditor 
for and on behalf of grant thornton uk llp  
statutory auditor chartered accountants 
london
22 july 2010
section 4  financial statements 
report of the independent auditor
to the members of sports direct international plc 
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p111
company balance sheet
as at 25 april 2010
notes
2010 
£’000
2009
£’000
fixed assets
investments 2 1000811 996808
current assets
debtors 3 3610 1871
3610 1871
creditors amounts falling due within one year 4 28266 22932
net current liabilities 24656 21061
net assets 976155 975747
capital and reserves
called up share capital 5 64050 64045
share premium 6 874300 874300
t reasury shares reserve 6 85088 85088
permanent contribution to capital 6 50 50
capital redemption reserve 6 8005 8005
own share reserve 6 6094 6094
profit and loss account 6 120932 120529
shareholders’ funds 7 976155 975747
 
the accompanying accounting policies and notes form part of these financial statements
the financial statements were approved by the board on 22 july 2010 and were signed on its behalf by
 
bob mellors 
director  notes to the company financial statements
these accounts have been prepared in accordance with applicable united kingdom accounting standards a summary of the more 
important accounting policies adopted are described below
 
basis of accounting 
the accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention
as permitted by section 408 of the companies act 2006 a profit and loss account of the company is not presented the company’s loss 
after taxation for the 52 week period 25 april 2010 was £10364000 2009 £27694000 profit
 
investments 
fixed asset investments are stated at cost less any provision for impairment
cost represents cash consideration or the amount of ordinary shares issued by the company at nominal value after taking account of 
merger relief available under s612 of the companies act 2006 plus related acquisition costs capitalised at fair value
 
deferred taxation 
deferred tax is provided for on a full provision basis on all timing differences which have arisen but not reversed at the balance 
sheet date no timing differences are recognised in respect of gains on sale of assets where those gains have been rolled over into 
replacement assets a deferred tax asset is not recognised to the extent that the transfer of economic benefit in future is uncertain
deferred tax is calculated on a nondiscounted basis at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the periods in which timing differences 
reverse based on tax rates and laws enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date
 
foreign currencies 
items arising from transactions denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange ruling at the date of the 
transaction at the balance sheet date all monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the closing 
rate or at the rate of exchange at which the transaction is contracted to be settled in the future all exchange differences are dealt with 
in the profit and loss account
 
dividends
dividends on the company’s ordinary shares are recognised as a liability in the company’s financial statements and as a deduction from 
equity in the period in which the dividends are declared where such dividends are proposed subject to the approval of the company’s 
shareholders the dividends are only declared once shareholder approval has been obtained
 
equity instruments 
an equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities 
equity instruments issued by the company with the exception of those accounted for via merger relief available under s612 of the 
companies act 2006 are recorded at the proceeds received net of any direct issue costs
 
income from group undertakings 
income from group undertakings is recognised when qualifying consideration is received from the group undertaking
 
related party transactions 
the company has taken advantage of the exemption contained in frs 8 and has therefore not disclosed transactions or balances with 
wholly owned subsidiaries which form part of the group
 
share based pa yments  
the company has applied the requirements of frs 20 “share based p ayment” the company issues equitysettled share based 
payments to certain directors and employees of the company and its subsidiaries these are measured at fair value at the date of grant 
which is expensed to the consolidated income statement on a straightline basis over the vesting period based on the group’s estimate 
of shares that will eventually vest
1 accounting policies
section 4  financial statements  sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p113
fair value is measured by use of a monte carlo method the expected life used in the model has been adjusted based on management’s 
best estimate for the effects of nontransferability exercise restrictions and behavioural considerations a share based payment charge 
of £10767000 was recognised for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 based on the directors’ best estimate of the number of shares that 
will vest £10446000 of this share based payment was recharged to subsidiary undertakings of the company
 
2 investments
2010
£’000
shares in group undertakings
as at 26 april 2009 996808
additions 4003
as at 25 april 2010 1000811
 
none of the company’s investments are listed
the company is the principal holding company of the group the principal subsidiary undertakings of the company are set out in note 34 
to the group financial statements
 
3 debtors
2010
£’000
2009
£’000
amounts owed by group undertakings 1560 598
other debtors 473 1273
prepayments 1577 
3610 1871
 
4 creditors amounts falling due within one year
2010
£’000
2009
£’000
bank overdraft 2182 164
t rade creditors 431 519
amounts owed to group undertakings 21631 14429
accurals 4022 155
other creditors  7665
28266 22932 5 called up share capital
2010
£’000
2009
£’000
authorised 
999500010 ordinary shares of 10p each 99950 99950
499990 redeemable preference shares of 10p each 50 50
100000 100000
called up and fully paid
640502369 2009 640452369 ordinary shares of 10p each 64050 64045
2010
£’000
2009
£’000
share capital  
at 26 april 2009 64045 64045
issue of shares 5 
at 25 april 2010 64050 64045
 
6 reserves
share premium 
account
£’000
treasury share 
reserve
£’000
permanent 
contribution to 
capital
£’000
capital redemption 
reserve
£’000
own share reserve
£’000
profit and loss 
account
£’000
at 26 april 2009 874300 85088 50 8005 6094 120529
loss for the financial period      10364
share based payments      10767
at 25 april 2010 874300 85088 50 8005 6094 120932
 
the company holds 64000000 ordinary shares in t reasury 
the final dividend for 2008 of £13870000 244p was paid on 31 october 2009 and the interim dividend for 2009 of £6935000 122p 
was paid on 30 april 2009
 
7 reconciliation of movement on shareholders’ funds
2010
£’000
opening shareholders’ funds 975747
issue of shares 5
loss for the financial period 10364
share based payments 10767
closing shareholders’ funds 976155
 
notes to the company financial statements
continued
section 4  financial statements  sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p115
8 post balance sheet events
no material post balance sheet events occured after 25 april 2010 to the date of this annual report ifrs ifrs ifrs ifrs ifrs
for the financial year ended
 
25 april 2010
£’000
26 april 2009
£’000
27 april 2008
£’000
29 april 2007
£’000
30 april 2006
£’000
continuing operations
revenue 1451621 1367321 1259510 1347144 1194736
cost of sales 862490 809685 709809 751003 738057
    
gross profit 589131 557636 549701 596141 456679
selling distribution and administrative expenses 524611 463297 444109 445198 351622
other operating income 3493 4004 4023 1783 3044
costs of admission to the london stock exchange    586 
past performance bonuses    56400 
profit on disposal of certain retail concessions    4160 
leofelis legal claim    6000 
reorganisation costs     3368
regulatory enquiries 7800    
legal dispute 2186    
impairment of intangible fixed assets  14832   
impairment of freehold property  15682   
exceptional items 9986 30514  58826 3368
operating profit 58027 67829 109615 93900 104733
investment income 24653 51949 43874 1790 2624
finance income 40150 15927 5370 3449 3387
finance costs 10528 23633 45006 42081 17832
share of profit of associated undertakings and joint 
ventures 7200 2482 5020 3422 3406
profit before taxation 119502 10656 118873 60480 96318
t axation 30286 26164 41126 23360 31448
profit for the period 89216 15508 77747 37120 64870
equity holders of the group 89433 15838 78182 37671 62886
minority interests 217 330 435 551 1984
profit for the period 89216 15508 77747 37120 64870
 
notes to the consolidated income statement five year record
1 information for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 the 52 weeks ended 26 april 2009 52 weeks ended 27 april 2008 and the 52 weeks 
ended 29 april 2007 and the 53 weeks ended 30 april 2006 is presented under ifrs 
2 the five year record has been prepared on the same basis as the financial statements for the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 as set out 
in note 1 basis of preparation of the consolidated financial statements 
consolidated five year record
unaudited income statement
section 4  financial statements  sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p117
registrar and transfer office
capita registrars 
northern house 
woodsome park 
fenay bridge 
huddersfield 
hd8 0la 
t elephone 0870 664 0300
 
company secretary and registered office
bob mellors 
sports direct international plc 
unit a brook p ark east 
shirebrook 
ng20 8ry 
t elephone 0870 333 9400
sports direct international plc is registered in england and wales 
no 6035106
 
solicitors
freshfields bruckhaus derringer 
65 fleet street 
london 
ec4y 1hs
 
brokers
singer capital markets ltd 
one hanover street 
london 
w1s 1ax 
merrill l ynch international 
merrill l ynch financial centre 
2 king edward street 
london  
ec1a 1hq
 
principal bankers
bank of scotland 
corporate banking  
po box no 39900 
bishopsgate exchange 
london  
ec2m 3yb
auditors
grant thornton uk llp 
grant thornton house 
melton street 
euston square 
london 
nw1 2ep
 
annual general meeting
the annual general meeting of the company will be held 
at 300pm on t uesday 7 september 2010 at sports direct 
international plc the auditorium unit d brook p ark east 
shirebrook ng20 8ry each shareholder is entitled to attend and 
vote at the meeting the arrangements for which are described in 
a separate notice
 
results
for the year to 24 april 2011
interim management statement 7 september 2010 
half year results announced 16 december 2010 
interim management statement 15 february 2011 
preliminary announcement of full year results july 2011 
annual report circulated julyaugust 2011
 
shareholder helpline
the sports direct shareholder register is maintained by capita 
registrars who are responsible for making dividend payments 
and updating the register including details of changes to 
shareholders’ addresses if you have a query about your 
shareholding in sports direct you should contact capita on
t elephone 0871 664 0300 calls cost 10p a minute plus network 
extra’s
address northern house woodsome p ark fenay bridge 
huddersfield hd8 0la
website wwwcapitaregistrarscom
 
website
the sports direct website at wwwsportsdirectcom provides 
news and details of the company’s activities plus information 
for shareholders the investor section of the website contains 
real time share price data as well as the latest results and 
announcements
shareholder information
additional information unsolicited mail
the company is obliged by law to make its share register publicly 
available and as a consequence some shareholders may receive 
unsolicited mail including from unauthorised investment firms 
for more information on unauthorised investment firms targeting 
uk investors visit the website of the financial services authority 
at wwwmoneymadeclearfsagovuka
if you wish to limit the amount of unsolicited mail you receive 
contact
the mailing preference service
dma house 
70 margaret street 
london 
w1w 8ss
t elephone 020 7291 3310  
fax 020 7323 4226 
email mpsdmaorguk or register online at wwwmpsonlineorg
uk
section 5  additional information  sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p119
notes 


Summary:
 chief executive’s report
it is good to be able to report on another year of strong 
growth for sports direct achieved by delivering what 
we said we would the resilience of our business model 
continues to add significant value to our operations by 
providing customers with an unrivalled depth and breadth 
of product choice at the best available prices across all 
categories and in all stores for serious sportsmen  
and women 
with a number of new stores opened during the year in 
the uk and europe we are taking our offer to an ever 
increasing customer base which is responding positively 
to stronger instore marketing and promotional initiatives 
we are proud of our reputation for quality and remain as 
determined as ever to strengthen our position as the clear 
market leader in the uk sports retail sector 
i am especially pleased that our people will benefit from 
their contribution to group success through our meeting 
the first year’s target for the employee bonus share 
scheme introduced last year 
 
group 
in the 52 weeks ended 25 april 2010 the year we 
increased group revenue 62 to a record £1452m 
compared with revenue of £1367m for the 52 weeks 
ended 26 april 2009 the increase was due to a strong 
performance in the retail division where revenues rose 
109 to £1261m 2009 £1137m the brand division 
revenues decreased as planned174 to £1905m  
2009 £2305m
group gross margin in the year fell by 20 basis points 
from 408 to 406 retail division margin fell by 50 
basis points to 408 2009 413 while brands division 
margin increased 60 basis points to 389 2009 383
group operating costs increased 14 to £4310m 2009 
£4250m retail division operating costs were well 
controlled and increased by only 33 in the year despite 
an increase in floor space of 52 and a rise in sales of just 
under 11 
brands division operating costs were down 234 to 
£542m 2009 £708m due to a combination of the 
reduction in costs in line with turnover and operational 
efficiencies also included within group operating costs 
is a £108m 2009 nil charge in respect of the employee 
bonus share scheme and p erformance share plan this 
charge has been taken centrally and except in note 4 
to the accounts is not reflected in divisional retail and 
brands numbers in this report 
we grew group underlying ebitda for the year by 173 to 
£1604m 2009 £1368m within this underlying ebitda 
the retail division increased 272 to £1514m 2009 
£1190m and the brands division increased 112 to 
£198m 2009 £178m
group underlying profit before tax increased 498 to 
£1021m 2009 £682m as a result of the £236m increase 
in ebitda together with a £128m reduction in interest 
payable and a £18m increase in depreciation
underlying eps for the year increased by 562 to 1239p 
2009 793p
debt reduction remains a priority for the group in 
december 2009 we announced a target to reduce net debt 
levels to below £400m by april 2010 in fact we actually 
reduced net debt to £3119m 2009 £4313m this was 
achieved by
• growing underlying ebitda from £1368m to £1604m 
• reducing inventory levels through the year from £2623m 
to £2188m
• reducing levels of capital expenditure by approximately 
50 to £194m as targeted last year
• reducing financing costs by £128m as a result of 
ongoing low interest rates and lower level of debt from 
£225m to £97m 
• saving the cost of the 2009 final and 2010 dividends
in the current financial year and beyond we will target to 
reduce levels of debt further to a range between one and 
15 times underlying ebitda by april 2011
 
section 2  the business review
overview of financial performance
group revenue
£1452m 
62
retail 
brands
2010 2009 2008 2007
£1452m
£1367m
£1260m
£1347m sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p7
2010 marks everlast’s 100th anniversary for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’m
26 april 2009 
£’m
change

retail revenue
uk retail 11177 10065 110
uk wholesale and other 235 280 161
international retail 1199 1023 172
t otal retail revenue 12611 11368 109
cost of sales 7461 6675 118
gross margin 5150 4693 97
gross margin percentage 408 413
 
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 
£’m
26 april 2009 
£’m
change

brands revenue
wholesale 1673 2036 178
licensing 232 269 138
t otal brands revenue 1905 2305 174
cost of sales 1164 1422 181
gross margin 741 884 162
gross margin percentage 389 383
 
 
 
in spite of a difficult trading environment our strategy of 
focusing on our core strengths increasing efficiencies and 
controlling costs delivered another strong performance
 
uk retail
uk retail revenues growth was primarily driven by our 
retail and logistics skills – providing the best products at 
the best prices with universal availability
uk retail sales were up 110 to £1118m 2009 £1007m 
there were no major acquisitions or disposals within uk 
retail during the year sales in the second half of the year 
were up 72 to £5317m 2009 £4962m against strong 
comparatives the sales increase in the second half of the 
year was better than expected but was at the expense of a 
lower than anticipated margin 
online revenue continues to grow strongly and we will 
look at opportunities to develop this revenue stream 
further order fulfilment and stateoftheart information 
technology solutions are developed inhouse with full 
backup support from our national distribution centre 
resources in shirebrook derbyshire the website has 
benefited from the increased recognition of the online 
brand with approximately 90 of core store fascias now 
branded sportsdirect com online sales represented 
45 of total uk retail sales 200915 between march 
and june 2010 we ran our first television advertising 
campaign we saw a subsequent increase in both product
specific and new customer web traffic a second campaign 
is likely to be launched in the autumn
overall uk retail gross margin for the year fell by 120 
basis points to 413 2009 425 margin for the second 
half of the year was 409 2009 396 impacted by 
comprehensive promotions and clearance of stock in 
advance of the fifa 2010 world cup “world cup”
at the time of the group’s interim results in december 
2009 we expected sales in the second half to be lower than 
for the same period in 2009 with margin for the year as a 
whole to be at a similar level to 2009 the actual margin for 
the second half was lower than expected as noted above 
but this was more than compensated for by higher than 
expected sales partly arising from the sales generated 
ahead of the world cup
uk retail likeforlike gross contribution increased by 
34 over the 12 month period
operating costs increased 19 to £3235m 2009 
£3176m in spite of the uk minimum wage increase an 
increase in floor space and a rise in sales of just over 11 
review by business segment
brands revenue
£1905m 
174
wholesale 
licensing
2010 2009 2008 2007
£1905m
£2305m
£1926m
£1719m
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued
retail revenue
£12611m 
109
uk retail 
international 
retail 
wholesale
2010 2009 2008 2007
£12611m
£11368m
£10669m
£11752m sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p9
the boot room  sportsdirectcom store shirebrook underlying ebitda for uk retail was £1387m 2009 
£1070m this increase was driven by a £377m increase 
in gross margin including wholesale offset by a £59m 
increase in operating costs
during the year the office of fair t rading oft 
investigated our acquisition of stores from jjb sports plc 
“jjb” and concluded that in five locations they raised 
some concerns the oft subsequently referred the matter 
to the competition commission on 18 march 2010 the 
competition commission cleared the acquisition of the 31 
stores from jjb and ruled that there was not a substantial 
lessening of competition as a result of those acquisitions 
nor any adverse effects on customers we are still dealing 
with the oft  serious fraud office sf o enquiries while 
we have heard nothing from the oft we have provided the 
sfo with all the information they have required to date 
and we have reason to hope that the investigation may be 
concluded in the autumn of this year
the group’s retail businesses performed strongly in a very 
difficult economic environment our retail model offering 
outstanding value to our customers proved as resilient as 
we expected it to be both in the uk and internationally
throughout the year we continued to focus on our 
fundamental approach of offering the customer the most 
comprehensive product range and the best availability 
while reducing our costs wherever possible as ever store 
portfolio was constantly under review the performance 
of each store and ways of maximising performance being 
closely examined we continued to develop our store layout 
and to incentivise our store staff in ways that encourage 
better customer service and performance our industry 
leading national distribution centre at shirebrook 
continued to deliver efficiencies by way of example of 
cost control in our corporate responsibility report we 
describe some of the steps successfully taken to reduce 
our energy consumption at a time when energy costs were 
increasing significantly
during spring 2010 we started construction work on an 
extension to our national t raining facility at shirebrook 
which is located within the onsite store this exciting 
project involved a complete reorganisation of the store 
layout with new attractive specialist areas being refitted 
net sales area space increased from 18000 sq ft to 
25000 sq ft the store is now the blueprint for a roll
out programme of updating our core stores across the 
uk capital expenditure for this rollout is included 
in the expected group capital expenditure for fy11 of 
approximately £350m 2010 £194m 
we continued to work well with our major third party  
brand suppliers nike umbro adidas reebok and puma 
all have their own offices in our shirebrook head office 
which enables us to work very closely with them on a day 
to day basis 
we were delighted to achieve a notable first with the 
creation of a purposebuilt nike t raining academy at the 
shirebrook site this is the first time nike has entered 
into such a partnership with a retail partner anywhere in 
the world we are proud to host such a magnificent facility 
which will have its first open day on 21 july 2010 for up to 
300 of our national retail team 
the academy demonstrates our commitment to develop 
our training of staff in close partnership with our key 
third party brands we plan to have all permanent sales 
staff attend a training session in the academy within 12 
months of its opening as part of their ongoing training and 
personal development our goal is to have the best trained 
and most knowledgeable staff in uk sports retail
we continued to build on our storeinstore concept for 
certain key categories where we want to develop our role 
as the destination of choice for serious sportsmen and 
women our approach to the running category typifies how 
we are doing this constantly seeking to develop our retail 
offer since october 2007 we have owned a 25 share in 
brasher leisure ltd trading as “sweatshop” one of the 
leading specialist running retailers in the uk the strategy 
for the running category within sports direct is to develop 
with sweatshop an attractive new sales area branded 
as “she runs he runs” catering to the growing “main 
stream” runner these areas deliver on range availability 
price clear merchandising and self help if preferred and 
will be further enhanced by the training initiatives being 
driven from our national t raining centre
installation progress has been swift with 50 of our 300 
core stores already having “she runs he runs” sections 
the rollout programme to other stores continues 
additionally 75 of stores now feature our specialist 
football “boot room” display area
the strategy outlined on developing our running category 
will also be applied to certain other sporting areas many 
of which are in different stages of development these 
include golf outdoor and cycling
on 17 march 2010 the group made an indicative non 
binding offer for the entire issued and to be issued share 
capital of blacks leisure group plc “blacks” with a view 
to seeking that company’s recommendation we were 
disappointed that this was not forthcoming 
uk retail continued
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p11
october 2009  dunlop brand ambassador lee westwood 
celebrates winning the portugal masters on 29 march 2010 sports direct announced that it had 
approached the board of blacks to advise that it was 
seriously considering a material increase in the level 
of its indicative offer however the group also advised 
that it had become aware of indications that some 
key blacks suppliers would not supply the company if 
the sports direct offer was successful sports direct 
requested confirmation of and the details underlying 
any such supplier indications to blacks in the event this 
information was neither provided nor denied accordingly 
sports direct determined that it would not be in its 
shareholders’ interests formally to submit an offer 
blacks subsequently raised additional capital from its 
shareholders 
we did not participate in this fundraising believing it not to 
be the best use of the group’s funds
as of 25 april 2010 we operated 387 stores in the uk 
excluding northern ireland a total retail sales space of 
circa 37m sq ft 2009 circa 35m sq ft
during the course of the year we opened 34 stores 
including nine core stores and closed six one of which 
was core we have taken advantage of the weaker property 
market during the year by taking 19 of the 25 new noncore 
stores on initial temporary leaselicence arrangements 
this has enabled us to work very closely with landlords 
to exploit opportunities with a view to converting initial 
temporary stores into long term lease agreements where 
appropriate 
we currently operate 306 sportsdirect com fascias 
19 field  t rek three lillywhites and 59 other stores 
gilesports hargreaves etc
retail stores
2010 
2009
in the 12 months to 25 april 2010 53 rent reviews have 
been agreed on stores the average increase in rent was 
99 191 annual equivalent there are currently 80 
rent reviews outstanding with a further 50 falling due in 
201011 
for a number of years our uk retail division has occupied 
32 stores which are owned by mike ashley the group’s 
major shareholder under the terms of a five year lease 
dated march 2007 the management intend to discuss with 
shareholders and mr ashley the possibility of obtaining 
a year’s extension to the current term together with an 
option to purchase these properties during the extension 
period at a price no more than original cost the option 
would require nonrelated party shareholder approval and 
would contain terms whereby it would be exercised only if 
it were demonstrably in the group’s interest to do so
in the current financial year we are targeting to open 
between six and ten new core stores in the uk excluding 
northern ireland 
we will continue to open temporary noncore stores as 
suitable opportunities arise and convert as many of these 
as is justified to long term deals 
 
international retail
international retail sales were up 172 to £1199m  
2009 £1023m on a currency neutral basis the increase 
was 110
international retail grew gross margin by 40 basis points 
due to improved stock control
operating costs within international retail increased by 
161 to £425m 2009 £366m the increase was less 
than the £81m increase in gross margin and together with 
a £15m decrease in income from associates resulted in 
an increase in underlying ebitda of 58 to £127m 
2009 £120m
internationally as at 25 april 2010 we operated 44 stores 
in belgium 12 in slovenia four in holland three in cyprus 
one in france and one in luxembourg all of these stores 
are operated by companies wholly owned by the group 
we opened seven new stores in europe including two 
relocations in the period including our first store in france 
we closed four smaller stores during the year as at 25 
april 2010 international retail operated from a total retail 
sales space of c650000 sq ft 2009 c620000 sq ft 
uk retail continued
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued
core stores
noncore stores
t otal uk stores
300
87
387
292
67
359
0 400 sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p13
european golf  sportsdirectcom store shirebrook the group increased its shareholding in the heatons chain 
to 50 up from 425 there are 11 sports direct stores  
in northern ireland and 23 sports stores in the republic  
of ireland
we continue with our strategy to identify partners in new 
territories while continuing to expand our operations in the 
countries where we currently trade 
 
brands 
brands total revenue reduced 174 to £1905m 2009 
£2305m driven by our deliberate strategy to change the 
mix of sales from predominantly wholesale to licensing
wholesale revenues were down 178 to £1673m 2009 
£2036m in line with this strategy to focus on contribution 
rather than revenue this strategy is well illustrated by our 
north america market move from wholesale to licensing in 
dunlop golf
the market for our wholesale businesses in the uk 
europe and the us remain challenging and the customer 
base has been restructured to eliminate unprofitable 
business 
licensing revenues were down 138 to £232m 2009 
£269m which was in line with our expectations and in 
light of our decision to cancel one significant everlast 
licence with the attendant costs
t ough market conditions particularly in north america 
resulted in decreased licensing income during the year 
with key licensees leading to a fall in the level of income in 
excess of the licence minimums we continue however to 
lay the foundations for future growth during the year we 
signed new licence agreements with 71 licensees covering 
multiple brands and product categories with minimum 
contracted values of 87m over the terms of  
the agreements  
longer term we regard licensing as the key driver for the 
brands division profitability and growth of the business 
our resources have been adjusted in order to focus on this 
objective the main growth areas are expected to be asia 
pacific and the americas
brands gross margin improved to 389 2009 383 
reflecting the improved mix of sales and a slight 
improvement in wholesale gross margin to 304 2009 
302 
operating costs decreased by 234 to £542m 2009 
£708m partly as a result of the lower revenue the 
consolidation of the brands division management into 
shirebrook continued and costs were tightly controlled as 
systems and working practices were standardised payroll 
costs in the division reduced significantly
our continued aim is to limit costs in the 2011 financial 
year such that the wholesale contribution covers operating 
costs and all licensing income is retained as profit
underlying ebitda increased 112 to £198m 2009 
£178m as the decrease in costs of £166m was greater 
than the decrease in gross profit of £143m
cash flow in the division was strong with tight working 
capital management resulting in a reduction in stock and 
debtors of £151m and £196m respectively
the business continues to sponsor and receive 
endorsements from leading players and tournaments 
including slazenger’s 107th year as the official ball 
supplier for the wimbledon championships we believe 
this to be one of the longest continuous sponsorship 
arrangements anywhere in the world slazenger continues 
to sponsor matt prior and p aul collingwood and we 
congratulate paul as england’s captain at the recent icc 
world t wenty20 cricket competition where england  
scored a notable victory over australia to win the 
tournament who were also captained by slazenger 
endorsee michael clarke
dunlop has recently signed nikolay davydenko and 
fernando verdasco both ranked in the world’s top 10 
tennis players lee westwood number 3 in the world 
rankings continues to shine in the world’s top golf 
tournaments under the sponsorship of dunlop apparel
international retail continued
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p15
may 2010  slazenger brand ambassador  england captain paul 
collingwood reacts after scoring the winning runs in the men’s icc 
world twenty20 final match between australia and england the board monitors the performance of the group by 
reference to a number of key performance indicators 
kpi’s which are discussed fully in this chief executive’s 
report and also in the financial review and in the 
corporate responsibility report on pages 26 to 35 and 58 
to 61 respectively the most important of these kpi’s are
for the financial year ended
25 april 2010 26 april 2009
financial kpi’s
group revenue £1452m £1367m
underlying ebitda 
1
£1604m £1368m
uk retail gross margin 413 425
uk retail likeforlike stores gross 
contribution 
2
34 25
underlying earnings per share 
3
1239p 793p
financial kpi’s
no of core stores 
4
300 292
customer complaints  change 40 75
employee turnover 170 290
cardboard recycling 5847 tonnes 6007 tonnes
 
1
 the way in which underlying ebitda is calculated is set out in the financial review
2
 likeforlike gross contribution for uk retail is the percentage change in successive 
12 month periods likeforlike gross contribution is adjusted to eliminate the impact 
of foreign currency movements a likeforlike store is one that has been trading for the 
full 12 months in both periods and has not been affected by a significant change such as 
a refit store gross contribution is the excess of sales revenue net of vat over the cost 
of goods sold this kpi excludes online sales revenue the gross contribution would only 
be adjusted if a significant promotion affected the comparison
3
 the way in which underlying earnings per share is calculated is set out in the 
financial review
4
 a core store is a store acquired and fitted out by the group or otherwise so designated
 
contracts essential to the  
business of the group
the group has long established relationships with nike 
and adidas the major suppliers of third party branded 
sporting goods particularly footwear and considers that 
continued supplies from these companies is critical to the 
business of the group 
 
the group’s retail businesses will undoubtedly be affected 
by the economic climate and changes therein movements 
in interest rates and exchange rates affect the businesses 
directly and consumer confidence and spending is affected 
by a wide range of factors including employment tax and 
interest rates house prices and the general ‘feel good 
factor’ factors beyond the group’s influence we are 
relieved that the government has given plenty of warning 
that the vat increase to 20 will not take place until 4 
january 2011
all of the above apply equally to our brands businesses 
both wholesale and licensing reduction in customer 
demand is reflected in the wholesaling and licensing 
business as orders and royalties are affected moreover in 
difficult economic times suppliers come under increasing 
pressure to reduce their prices to their customers and all 
suppliers run the risk of their customers ceasing to trade 
reducing demand for their products difficult economic 
conditions can also make it difficult for suppliers to obtain 
credit insurance in respect of some customers leaving 
the supplier with a difficult question of whether or not to 
supply and if they do with the attendant risk of bad debts
later in this report we comment on risks and 
uncertainties that relate to the group’s businesses and 
while we manage to reduce risks where possible the 
likelihood of their occurring and their impact if they do 
they are factors that could influence the group or part of it
the group is now applying hedge accounting which is in 
line with other major retailers this will reduce an element 
of potential volatility in reported profit
 
environmental matters 
a review of the assessment of the group’s impact on the 
environment is included in the corporate responsibility 
report on page 58 
 
employees 
in no small measure the progress we continue to make 
is down to the dedication and expertise of over 17000 
staff throughout the business i am delighted to take 
this opportunity to thank everyone in the team for their 
outstanding contribution and i look forward to working with 
them towards our further growth and success 
key performance indicators
main trends and factors likely to 
affect the future development and 
performance of the group’s businesses
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p17
nike football  sportsdirectcom store belgium we intend to incentivise staff further by enabling them to 
share in the group’s success through a new bonus share 
scheme for which we will seek approval at the a gm the 
bonus share scheme is focused on underlying ebitda it 
is designed to motivate colleagues help improve retention 
of key employees and to align the interests of employees 
and shareholders the share scheme is also aligned with 
the group’s business plan
all permanent uk employees in uk retail brands and 
head office with at least one year’s service participated in 
the 200910 bonus share scheme 
the bonus is in two stages the first bonus is 25 of base 
pay in shares of £100 per share the first bonus target was 
underlying ebitda of £155m in 200910 and was achieved  
in the year the first bonus will vest in two years’ time and 
is subject to continuous employment until then the bonus 
targets are stretch targets and are net of scheme costs
the second bonus is 75 of base pay in shares of £125 per 
share the second stage of the bonus is conditional upon 
the first bonus target being met in 200910 which has 
already been achieved and the second bonus targets are 
underlying ebitda of £195m in 20102011 and underlying 
ebitdanet debt ratio of two or less at the end of 201011 
the shares vest subject to continuous employment until 
then two years after the second bonus targets are met 
proposals will be put forward to shareholders at the 
forthcoming agm to extend and revise the bonus share 
scheme for subsequent periods
 
shirebrook campus
the group continues to invest in infrastructure and the 
process of consolidating the brands business including 
acquired businesses at shirebrook continues
 
risks are an inherent part of the business world the 
group has identified the following factors as potential risks 
to and uncertainties concerning the successful operation 
of its business
suppl y chain 
any disruption or other adverse event affecting the 
group’s relationship with any of its major manufacturers 
or suppliers or a failure to replace any of its major 
manufacturers or suppliers on commercially reasonable 
terms could have an adverse effect on the group’s 
business operating profit or overall financial condition
foreign exchange risk 
the group operates internationally and is exposed to 
foreign exchange risk arising from various currency 
exposures primarily with respect to the us dollar and 
euro
foreign exchange risk arises when future commercial 
transactions or recognised assets or liabilities are 
denominated in a currency that is not the entity’s 
functional currency as exchange rates move 
as explained previously in the group’s case the majority 
of foreign exchange contracts relating to the sourcing 
of group branded goods are denominated in us dollars 
and a strengthening of the dollar or a weakening of the 
pound sterling makes those goods more expensive 
these expenses are hedged via forward foreign currency 
contracts which are designated as cash flow hedges
the group also holds assets overseas in local currency 
and these assets are revalued in accordance with currency 
movements this currency risk is not hedged
interest rate risk 
the group has net borrowings which are principally at 
floating interest rates linked to bank base rates or libor 
credit risk 
the group primarily through its brands division could 
have a credit risk if credit evaluations were not performed 
on all customers requiring credit over a certain amount 
the group does not require collateral in respect of 
financial assets 
funding and liquidity risk 
funding and liquidity for the group’s operations are 
provided through bank loans overdrafts and shareholders 
funds the object is to maintain sufficient funding and 
liquidity for the group’s requirements but the availability 
of adequate cash resources from bank facilities and 
achieving continuity of funding in the current financial 
climate could be a risk to the group in future years
employees continued
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued
risks and uncertainties relating  
to the group’s business sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p19
karrimor sponsored climber dave pickford investment risk 
the group also holds shares in publicly listed companies 
and fluctuations in their share prices will have a financial 
impact on the business results
reliance on non uk manuf acturers 
the group is reliant on manufacturers in developing 
countries as the majority of the group’s products are 
sourced from outside the uk the group is therefore 
subject to the risks associated with international trade and 
transport as well as those relating to exposure to different 
legal and other standards
pensions
some subsidiaries in the group make contributions to 
certain occupational defined benefits pension schemes 
an increase in the scheme’s funding needs or changes 
to obligations in respect of the schemes could have an 
adverse impact on its business
market f orces 
the sports retail industry is highly competitive and the 
group currently competes at national and local levels with 
a wide variety of retailers of varying sizes who may have 
competitive advantages and new competitors may enter 
the market such competition continues to place pressure 
on the group’s pricing strategy margins and profitability
operational
any significant disruption to the operations of the group 
divisional head offices and the national distribution centre 
at shirebrook or interruption to the smooth running of 
the group’s fleet of vehicles might significantly impact its 
ability to manage its operations distribute products to its 
stores and maintain its supply chain
any long term interruption of the group’s it systems 
would have a significant impact on the group’s operation 
particularly in the retail division
business continuity and acts of terrorism 
the majority of the group’s revenue is derived from the 
uk and accordingly any terrorist attacks armed conflicts 
or government actions within the uk could result in a 
significant reduction in consumer confidence which would 
in turn have an adverse affect on sales in stores 
leg al
the group’s trade marks patents designs and other 
intellectual property rights are central to the value of 
the group brands third parties may try to challenge the 
ownership or counterfeit the group’s intellectual property 
the group may need to resort to litigation in the future to 
enforce its intellectual property rights and any litigation 
could result in substantial costs and a diversion of 
resources 
the group believes that its licensees suppliers agents 
and distributors are in material compliance with 
employment environmental and other laws the violation 
or allegations of a violation of such laws or regulations 
by any of the group’s licensees suppliers agents or 
distributors could lead to adverse publicity and a decline 
in public demand for the group’s products or require 
the group to incur expenditure or make changes to its 
supply chain and other business arrangements to ensure 
compliance
sales
the group’s retail businesses are subject to seasonal 
peaks the incidence and participation in major sporting 
events will have a particular impact on the uk retail 
business prolonged unseasonal weather conditions or 
temporary severe weather during peak trading seasons 
could also have a material adverse effect on the group’s 
businesses
consumers
the group’s success and sales are dependent in part on 
the strength and reputation of the brands it sells and are 
subject to consumers’ perceptions of the group and of its 
products which can fall out of favour adverse publicity 
concerning any of the group brands or manufacturers 
or suppliers could lead to substantial erosion in the 
reputation of or value associated with the group
environmental 
environmental disasters such as the recent volcanic ash 
cloud have highlighted how it is impossible to predict how 
an environmental occurrence will affect businesses
the group constantly updates systems to mitigate any 
delay or loss of goods in transit or the absence of any 
employee or large numbers of employees that they may or 
may not be altered by acts of nature 
 
research and development
the group’s success depends on the strength of the group 
brands and to a lesser extent the licensedin brands the 
group’s efforts to continually develop or obtain brands in a 
timely manner or at all may be unsuccessful
 
 
risks and uncertainties relating to 
the group’s business continued
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p21
nike shoe wall  sportsdirectcom store liverpool the identification and management of risk is a continuous 
process and the group’s system of internal controls and 
the group’s business continuity programmes are key 
elements of that the group maintains a system of controls 
to manage the business and to protect its assets we 
continue to invest in people systems and in it to manage 
the group’s operations and its finances effectively and 
efficiently
the group has a credit policy in place and the exposure to 
risk is monitored on an ongoing basis credit evaluations 
are performed on all customers requiring credit over 
a certain amount and concentration of credit risk is 
managed investment of cash surplus borrowings and 
derivative investments are made through banks and 
companies which have credit ratings and investment 
criteria approved by the board
the group’s follows policies of forging long term 
relationships with suppliers and of utilising two leading 
supply chain companies to procure much of the group’s 
own branded goods is described on page 61 in the 
corporate responsibility report 
many risks relating to the supply chain reliance on nonuk 
suppliers and to the reputation of the group’s brands are 
managed and mitigated by the implementation of those 
policies
close monitoring of the market competitors the economy 
consumer confidence participation in major sporting 
events the weather companies in which the group 
holds strategic stakes the behaviour of licensees and 
of possible infringement of intellectual property and the 
development of contingency plans and rapid response 
to changing circumstances manages and does much to 
mitigate the risks caused by these factors
the group maintains close contact with its bank and made 
contact with other banks so as to begin to address the 
renewal of its facilities during 201011 the group is cash 
generative and taken steps to reduce the level of debt 
and has no reason to believe that refinancing will not be 
available on acceptable terms
the business continuity programme addresses the risk 
of disruption to the shirebrook campus accordingly the 
board is confident that as far as is practical the risks and 
uncertainties that face the group are being monitored and 
managed and that where required appropriate action is 
being taken
we are confident that the group is well placed to deliver 
significant further growth in the future our focus remains 
strongly on growing the core uk retail business by 
continuing to drive efficiencies and deliver the unrivalled 
value for money which our growing customer base has 
come to expect while developing our offering in specialist 
sports categories we have established an excellent 
platform for growth which we will build on with our 
proposed ebitda related share bonus scheme 
outside the uk our brands business will focus on 
licensing opportunities and will continue to restructure 
the wholesale businesses we will continue to invest in our 
brands through advertising and promotion 
we believe that acquisitions and strategic investments in 
other related businesses are beneficial to the group and 
we will continue to evaluate opportunities as they arise 
while for the time being remaining mindful of the priority 
to reduce debt
 
current tradingfifa world cup 2010
 
the build up to the world cup started during spring 2010 
with the launch of the umbro “away” red shirt on 3 march 
t rade in this period was as strong as expected culminating 
in the strongest trading day that the company has ever 
experienced on the day of the usa match we continue to 
offer the most comprehensive range of england branded 
products including special edition shirts as well as name 
and number personalisation also this was the first fifa 
world cup for the online store and both traffic and sales 
have grown significantly
unfortunately the period during the tournament was less 
successful and sales correlated with the poor performance 
of the england team and the negative mood this created 
amongst fans and consumers 
our buying team had followed the seedings and we were 
confident of at least a “last eight” outcome for england 
so exiting the tournament before that meant in effect that 
we were one game short although this was exacerbated 
by the disappointing performance in the four games 
therefore the negative impact of clearing the excess stock 
will offset some of the positive pretournament trade 
nevertheless current uk retail trading remains well 
ahead of the same period last year 
 
 
management and mitigation of risk
section 2  the business review 
chief executive’s report
continued
our strategy for growth  sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p23
april 2010  lonsdale brand ambassador 
carl froch knocks down mikkel kessler of 
denmark during their super six wbc  
super middleweight title fight looking ahead although we shall have to manage the 
impact of the announced increase in vat in january 2011 
we are confident that initiatives we are taking across 
all areas of the group including improved staff training 
and new specialist instore merchandising areas put 
us in a strong position for the next phase of our growth 
we believe we are operationally stronger than ever 
accordingly and assuming no significant deterioration 
in economic conditions we are targeting fy11 group 
underlying ebitda of around £195m
 
dave forsey 
chief executive
22 july 2010
outlook
chief executive’s report
continued
section 2  the business review  sports direct international plc  annual report 2010  p25
puma shoe wall  sportsdirectcom store shirebrook