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Sports Direct, Mike Ashley's budget sports shops group, today said trading continued to be better than last year.
The company, which competes ferociously with troubled JJB Sports, revealed that it was in line to make underlying profits before interest, tax and depreciation charges of at least £150 million this year.
Ashley reiterated that he was confident he could get the company's debt to below £400 million.
Shares in the group edged up a penny to 103p on the reassuring update which came five weeks after its last trading statement.
The shares peaked at 130p last month before plunging back down again.
Sports Direct is seen as having benefited from JJB's woes as suppliers were wary of dealing with it given the group's precarious financial position prior to the recent refinancing.
