Sports Direct hit with £605m tax bill by Belgian authorities but Mike Ashley vows to fight it
SPORTS Direct has revealed that Belgian authorities are demanding £605million in unpaid taxes.
Founder Mike Ashley has pledged to fight the demand, which led to delays in his company publishing its full-year financial results.
And to add to his woes, Mr Ashley said there would be more House of Fraser store closures after finding it beset by “terminal” problems. He blamed the problems, on previous management, and said they were so bad he regretted buying it out of administration last year.
The tycoon pointed to “serious under investment” and “greed and excess”.
Mr Ashley said: “It is like a broken down car and there is a bumpy road ahead. In the short term it is very bad but we are hopeful in the long term.
“But there will be a lot of closures.
“And even though we do believe there could be a bright future for House of Fraser, if we had the gift of hindsight we might have made a different decision in August 2018.”
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Sports Direct reported a six per cent fall in full-year core earnings.
It bought House of Fraser last August, with Newcastle United owner Mr Ashley hoping to turn it into the Harrods of the High Street.
He has vowed to try to revive the department store chain.
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