Frasers Group PLC (LON:FRS ), the owner of Sports Direct, has withdrawn its profits guidance after the new lockdown measures that came into place in Southern England at the weekend.
The UK government ordered all non-essential shops to close on Sunday after a sharp rise in infections caused by a new variant of coronavirus that is believed to spread much faster.
Frasers, which is run by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and also owns Evans Cycles and House of Fraser, said that the closures came without warning and had meant virtually all its stores in London, The South East, and East of England have now shut.
In a statement, the group said: “Given this is a peak trading period, and combined with the high likelihood of further rolling lockdowns nationwide over the following months at least, such is the uncertainty of when stores can and cannot open that the Board of Frasers Group PLC can no longer commit to Frasers Group achieving its publicised guidance.”
The retailer had previously forecast a rise in underlying profits (EBITDA) of between 20%-30% in the year to end April 2021.