Mike splashes the cash!

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/b...d-75000-each-in-shares-windfall-29431749.html

Staff at Mike Ashley's Sports Direct have popped open the champagne after the sportswear giant said it will hand them shares worth over £75,000 each after smashing full-year profit targets.

But the group, which has three stores in Northern Ireland, has decided not to put to shareholders a "super-stretch" bonus share scheme for Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United Football Club, and is considering other ways to reward the billionaire, who does not take a Sports Direct salary.

Despite its barnstorming performance, the retailer again refused to pay a dividend, explaining that it wants to preserve its cash pile, largely for potential acquisitions in Europe.

Sports Direct is to award 2,000 staff an average of 12,000 shares each next month, which, based on yesterday's share price of 627p, are worth £75,240 each, equal to a pot of £150m. This is in addition to the typical share award of £15,000 that Sports Direct gave employees, with an average salary of £20,000, last year.

The scheme is easily the retail sector's most lucrative for shop floor staff and puts even the much-vaunted John Lewis Partnership, the owner of the eponymous department store and grocer Waitrose, in the shade.

Sports Direct posted underlying profits up by 22% to £287.9m over the year to April 28, a bumper 12 months for sport, powering past its target of £250m set under the 2011 bonus share scheme.

The group is on track for entry into the FTSE 100 after a meteoric rise in its shares, which had fallen to as low as 32p in December 2008 after its float at 300p the previous year.

 

Fck off, Mike. Do you know how many players the Toon could buy for £150m? Sod your staff.

 

Would have been nice to have some cash for players, but I bet the store staff are happy with their bonus.

 

It's nearly 4 years pay for some, now that's a nice boost.
Would much prefer he spent cash on either our club or at least tarting up his horrible jumble sale shops.

 

Had a quick look in a SD shop yesterday, got to feel sorry for the staff, they don't do nearly as much business as they could if he'd keep his shops up to the mark.

 

Quite. Whatever we may think of Fat Mike, there'll be a lot of lowly paid young people now who all of a sudden have sums of money which would have taken them years to save up for. A deposit for a house, debts paid off, a chance to upgrade their old car. Good luck to 'em.

 

Met and spoke to a couple of youngsters working at SD on the way home recently. First job for both of them and they were pleased to have got a job in the first place but the bonus has made it that much better for them.

Good on MA.

 

Sounds just a tad over generous to me. Bonuses are one thing, but those amounts are just OTT. My guess is that there is a zig in this somewhere in Fat Mikes favour.
He has never struck me as an overly generous man for all his money.

 

Probably some corporate tax dodge. But, fair play to the staff. Happy days for them.

 

Maybe Mike is going to use some of the SD profit to buy us some players.

 

He's paying the bonuses to 2000 staff - is that half of them, all of them, the supervisors? Seems way over the top for lowly paid shop workers.

If it's all of them, good luck to them.

 

Probably management only. Slave drivers doing a good job of keeping the plebs working hard and earning him loads of money.

 

Bear in mind that SD can't exactly buy Newcastle players, can they?

The bonus was given by Sports Direct which is a completely different entity to the football club which is owned by SJP Holdings Limited which is owned by one of Ashley's holding companies. That latter company would have all of its shares held by Ashley. Ashley also has shares in Sports Direct and is one of many shareholders in that company.

Ashley never had the bonus money in his hands at any one time to be able to spend to the club. Unless, SD bought shares in NUFC and that would never happen.

 

I know, was only kidding.

 

You little kidder you!

 

I only read it once, but it looked to me that only staff who earn £20k a year would be getting the bonus.

That would most certainly rule-out anyone who works on the shop floor.

Looks like a management reward scheme to me.

 

I think you're right.
The majority of shop floor staff will be on minimum wage so unlikely to earn £20K.

I'm sure SD employ around 11,000 so it's less than 20% that will get something.
Still better than most companies though.