Mike Ashley’s Sportsdirect.com has taken an impairment charge against brands it acquired in the purchase of Heatons department stores.
It is accelerating a programme to rebrand the bulk of the venerable chain to Sports Direct outlets. The company said the impairments would apply to the some of the “lower-level, clearance brands”.
Sports Direct acquired 42 Heatons stores in the Republic in 2015. Of these, 13 were Heatons stores and 29 were co-branded Heatons and Sports Direct stores.
The strategy is to convert selected Heatons shops to new-generation Sports Direct stores over the next two to three years.
“We will be retaining the Heatons brand in a small number of selected locations,” a spokesman said.