Ashley’s HOF deal fails to lift Sports Direct

Market report Perry Gourley

Mike Ashley’s deal to buy the House of Fraser chain from the administrators failed to lift shares in his Sports Direct chain.

Shares dipped 1.3p to 405.4p after the retailer completed a £90 million rescue of the ailing business. The billionaire said that Sports Direct will “do our best to keep as many stores open as possible”.

In the same breath, he said: “My ambition is to transform House of Fraser into the Harrods of the high street.”

Shares in Debenhams, which Ashley owns a near-30 per cent stake in, edged up 1 per cent to 11.64p amid speculation that he may try and bring the two chains together.

The FTSE 100 lost 74.76 points to close at 7,667.01 as investors fretted over a potential financial crisis in Turkey, the Us-china trade war and the likelihood of a “no deal” Brexit.

The pound, which has taken a Brexit hammering over the past five days, also continued its downward slide against the dollar to reach a 13-month low.

Jameel Ahmad of FXTM said: “Sterling desperately requires some positive news around Brexit negotiations, otherwise the negative investor sentiment presents a risk that pound selling could accelerate further.”

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Carnival up 92p at 4,623p, Tui up 23p at 1.565.5, WPP up 17.5p at 1,2365p and Royal Mail up 6.2p at 465.7p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 included Evraz down 50.4p at 510p, Coca-cola down 114p at 2,644p, Paddy Power Betfair down 295p at 7,449.8p and Rolls-royce down 40p at 1,044p.