19/07/2013

Sports Direct Staff Cash On Company's Success

Staff at retailer Sports Direct are to share in windfall profits with six bonus payouts.

In the past year, the company's profits have grown by 40% to more than £200 million. Some 2,000 staff will now receive bonus payments worth £100,000 each.

The UK's biggest sports retailer set up its unique bonus scheme in 2009 and it applies to all full-time staff, from the stockroom to the boardroom, who have been with the company for one year, and will stay for a further four years.

Four years ago all full-time staff who had been with the company since 2008 were promised free shares if profit targets were hit in 2009. When that target was hit they were handed a 25% bonus on their base salary, paid in shares worth £1 each. Those shares soared in value, and when a first 25% tranche of free shares were awarded last year, someone earning £20,000 a year almost doubled their take-home pay with shares worth £17,500.

While impressive, that payout was a mere pittance compared with the huge windfall that follows Thursday's results. The same staff member earning £20,000 will now get 12,000 shares worth a further £75,000.

The lucky 2,000 are now free to sell the shares – and Sports Direct has even provided a free stockbroking service to help them cash in.

(MH)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

08 March 2004
Lloyds TSB profits hit £4.3bn
Hopes of a share buy back by Lloyds TSB were sunk today despite the banking giant reporting profits of almost £4.35 billion in 2003.
13 January 2014
Sports Direct Acquires Debenhams Stake
Sports Direct has acquired a stake in Debenhams. The company has acquired 56.8 million shares, representing 4.63% of the issued share capital of Debenhams. The acquisition of shares has taken place without the prior knowledge of the Debenhams' board of directors, however Sports Direct has communicated to its board.
08 July 2013
Asda Staff Reap Rewards Of Supermarket Sharesave
Payouts averaging £3,420 will be made to some 19,000 Asda staff under Wal-Mart's Sharesave scheme. The supermarket chain, which was bought by US giant Wal-Mart in 1999, offers its staff a scheme to set aside between £50 and £250 a month for three years, for which they receive a share bonus in the company.
01 June 2010
Drug Gang Share 40-Year Sentences
Jail sentences of almost 40 years have been handed down to four men for their roles in a £1m cocaine haul. The police action also resulted in the recovery of a loaded MAC-10 sub machine from a child's bedroom.
09 May 2012
Sainsbury's Reports A 'Good Year'
In what has been described as a ‘good year’ supermarket group Sainsbury's has reported an increase in sales and market share but a small dip in profits.