Group operating profit (before exceptional items) for the year was up 19% to £79.9 million (2010: £67.3 million) and comprises a Sports Fascias profit of £73.3 million (2010: £64.1 million), a Fashion Fascias profit of £6.4 million (2010: £3.3 million) and a Distribution segment profit of £0.2 million (2010: loss of £0.1 million).
The year end net cash position has risen to £86.1 million (2010: £60.5 million). The Group has recently negotiated terms on new committed rolling credit and working capital facilities totalling £75 million. These new facilities expire in October 2015 and when combined with our cash resources give the Group the funding capability to continue to develop operationally and by acquisition both in the United Kingdom and overseas. Confidence arising from the sustained period of results improvement and the strength of our balance sheet has enabled the Board to propose another significant increase in the level of dividends with a final proposed dividend increase of 31% to 19.2p (2010: 14.7p) bringing the total dividends payable for the year to 23.0p (2010: 18.0p), an increase of 28% following on from the rises of 50% and 41% in the last two years.
Acquisitions
The Sports and Fashion retail offers continue to provide consumers with a unique mix of sports and fashion brands in both apparel and footwear including a substantial range of exclusive products as well as exclusive licensed and own brands such as McKenzie and Carbrini. We have continued to invest in increasing the own brand offers through the acquisition of the Sonneti, Chilli Pepper, and Nanny State brands for a total consideration of £2.1 million. Since the year end we have continued this strategy by acquiring the Fenchurch brand for £1.1 million.
The strength of the JD offering gives potential for further replication internationally, albeit in Europe initially. We see this as a key opportunity wherever brands recognise our strength in developing brands and maintaining their prestige. We started to exploit this opportunity when we acquired the French retailer Chausport in May 2009. The first full year since the acquisition contributed £36.4 million of revenue and £0.5 million of operating profit. Like for like sales grew by 12.5% in the year and gross margin improved by 2.7% but overheads increased to support the opening of three JD stores in France which opened late in the year. These latter stores are performing to expectations so far.
We are looking at potential acquisitions and joint ventures in other territories on a regular basis and we have no doubt that the Chausport acquisition has enhanced our visibility and credibility as an overseas investor. Since the year end we have acquired a further Sports Fascia chain in the Republic of Ireland, Champion Sports (Holdings) ('Champion'), for a nominal amount and have also advanced €17.1 million to allow it to settle all of its indebtedness save for €2.5 million ofleasing finance. This has added 22 stores to the 8 already operated in the Republic of Ireland and gives us a significant market position throughout the whole of Ireland. It also gives us more local knowledge and a strong management team on the ground.
After the year end we also acquired 80% of Kukri Sports Limited which provides a bespoke teamwear offering across a wide range of sports in a number of countries.
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
