Sports Direct chief executive Mike Ashley has made plenty of poor investment decisions, but his call on JD Sports takes some beating.
“JD is crap,” he told a room of analysts in 2011. “I’ll finish off JJB [Sports] first, then I’ll move on to JD.”
JD’s share price has since sprinted from 48p to £6.20, while Ashley’s shareholders have had to put up with a less meteoric rise of 24%. Last year JD churned out pre-tax profits of £340m — up 15%.
Peter Cowgill, executive chairman, achieved this remarkable feat by convincing Nike, Adidas and the other powerhouse sports brands that his shops were a more salubrious showroom for their top-of-the-range gear than Sports Direct, whose shabby stores were more akin to a jumble sale.