JJB Sports shareholder Invesco ‘looking at turnaround plan’
TROUBLED retailer JJB Sports could be facing another round of cost cuts and store closures, according to reports.
The Sunday Times said fund manager Invesco, the biggest shareholder in the Wigan company, is considering buying out the group’s debt from Lloyd’s Banking Group and implementing its own restructuring plan having grown frustrated over JJB’s continuing troubles.
It said US-based Invesco would work with Dick’s Sporting Goods – a new significant shareholder in the business – on a turnaround plan which could see up to 80 of JJB’s 180 shops axed.
The retailer last week appointed Beverley Williams, formerly with the lingerie chain La Senza, as its interim chief executive after former Dixons executiev Keith Jones quit the business in the aftermath of a profit warning.
JJB made a loss of £101m in 2011 and last month admitted its finances were in a perilous state and that it needed another injection of cash.
American retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods took its 3% stake – and a position on the board – when it injected £30m of cash into the business in April. At the time of this deal Dick’s said it would pump another £20m into JJB next year – but this funding could be needed sooner as the company continues to struggle in the face of price competition from Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct and JD Sports at the fashion end of the sector.
Shares in JJB – a one time market-leader – have fallen nearly 70% over the past year to around 5p.
