There is a well-known YouTube clip, originally captured by the Match of the Day cameras, that shows the Newcastle United owner and Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley effortlessly downing a pint of lager while watching his team play.
It is the type of personal attention that Ashley is supposed to hate, though this footage conveniently enhanced his man-of-the-people image. But the big man is in line for more of the sort of scrutiny that tends to irritate him this week: Sports Direct is set to unveil its trading statement just at the time when others are training their lenses on the billionaire and his company.
Sports Direct and administrators of the collapsed fashion retailer USC are facing an investigation by the Insolvency Service for the controversial restructuring of the chain – which saw a Sports Direct-controlled division of USC go into administration, offload some staff and then quickly get resold to, er, another bit of Sports Direct. Ashley has been called before a Scottish parliamentary committee to explain it all, and the group is also dealing with the knock-on legal claim by laid-off USC staff. Then there’s another legal challenge, this time from nearly 300 part-time Sports Direct workers who claim they were unfairly excluded from a bonus scheme. If you’re a man who hates the limelight, it’s enough to turn you to drink.
Out of the ordinary
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word “extraordinary” thus: “Out of the usual or regular course or order; often in expressed opposition to ordinary.”
Aside from the gems on this page, that’s almost certainly the most ordinary piece of information you’ve been given all year, but occasionally it seems worth checking these points when you deal with Russian floated companies, some of which appear to have a curious attachment to the word.
Take Sistema – a London-listed Russian holding company with investments in telecoms, oil and utilities – which has convened an extraordinary general meeting this week. That comes after holding three extraordinary meetings in 2009, two in 2010, one in 2011 and another brace in 2012. The extraordinary thing about 2013 and 2014 is that there were no extraordinary meetings.
That oversight will be corrected on Tuesday with an extraordinary meeting to ask for approval on new terms of reference for Sistema directors. You’ll have heard of one of them, as its boardroom is graced by Lord Mandelson – the political and corporate mover extraordinaire.
Room for expansion at IHG
Here’s a quick quiz question for you: InterContinental Hotels Group runs more than 4,700 establishments, including those operating under brands such as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and InterContinental. But how many hotels does it actually own?
The answer, you may be surprised to learn, is nine – which sounds more like the way to win a game of Monopoly than run an international hotel group. Still, after flogging off pretty well all of its buildings, IHG shares have outperformed its peers, as the company has returned about $7bn (£4.5bn) to investors.
This story might get a bit of an airing this week when the company reports its final results at a pretty positive time for hotel investors. Occupancy levels are at record highs in the US, UK and Europe, while the growth in the supply of rooms is subdued – meaning the market expects growing revenues.
But the chocolate on the pillow for the City is that it appears to have convinced the hotel sector that it’s time to consolidate (aka pay bankers large fees), so IHG could snap up more smaller rivals, while it is also being suggested that the company – which has activist investor Marcato Capital as a 4% shareholder – might consider selling itself. While flogging off the odd remaining hotel, that is.
