Sports Direct has warned that it expects the UK retail sector to become more challenging over the next six months, but it expects to exceed profit expectations for the full year.

Group sales at Sports Direct, which is majority owned by founder Mike Ashley, were£280 million in the 11 weeks to January 13. Gross profit was£126 million during the period.

The retailer said that, despite the challenging trading conditions in the UK, it remains confident that it would exceed underlying EBITDA market expectations for the full year 2007/2008, which stood at£137.7 million at the time of its interim results on December 19.

At that time, Sports Direct reported a 16 per cent slump in pre-tax profits to£83.6 million in the six months to October 28.

Chief executive Dave Forsey said: “We expect the retail trading environment in the UK to become increasingly difficult over the next six months. However, the resilience of our business gives us the confidence to repeat the guidance on full-year performance that we gave on December 19.”

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