Mr Knight has staked the group’s future on its health clubs which it sites

Mr Knight has staked the group’s future on its health clubs, which it sites “for free” over an out-of-town JJB superstore. He hopes to continue opening 12 a year, but concedes this will need cash.. The art dealership backed by the former Tory arts minister, David Mellor, last night looked set for victory in its battle for Partridge Fine Arts after the only other prospective bidder pulled out. There was no word back from the Office of Fair Trading on its appeal against a fine for price-fixing replica football kits. The brightest light for the company’s founder and biggest shareholder, David Whelan, shone outside JJB when his Wigan Athletic was promoted to the Premier League To free-up more time to devote to his passion. and limit the speculation on whether he would sell his stake to fund football-related spending sprees, Mr Whelan stepped down as JJB chairman in the summer.Amid intense competition in the clothing and footwear markets, JJB was forced to play its promotional hand very early, cutting its prices from last October. This boosted sales in the second half but at a “materially lower” gross margin.Meanwhile, at its health clubs arm, revenue was “entirely satisfactory”.

Across the group, which includes 31 health clubs, underlying sales slipped 0.4 per cent during the period, while gross margins fell by 320 basis points.Mr Knight said: “We sent out a message [to Mr Ashley] that we are not going to be bullied.” He predicted the clothing market had “bottomed out” but admitted the prospects for footwear in the year ahead was”unknown”.He remained upbeat about the group’s predicted sales for fitness equipment and replica shirts, which comprise one-third of JJB’s business, especially coming into a World Cup year.For JJB, 2005 was a catalogue of disasters that kicked off with a profits warning. I am not giving any reassurances,” he said.Analysts, most of whom had already downgraded their profit numbers, took a further knife to their forecasts after the company said profits would come in below expectations at between £32m and £36m. Up to one-quarter was sliced off this year’s profits and the same again off 2006’s by Matthew McEachran, at Investec Securities. Shares in the group fell 0.5p to 169.5p.JJB, the country’s biggest sports retailer, said its footwear sales fell 2.3 per cent during the 22 weeks to 1 January, despite its decision to throw cash at the problem. The result was a 2 per cent rise in like-for-like sales over the six weeks to 1 January, but at the cost of 400-basis points of margin at its stores.
Tom Knight, the chief executive, gave a strong hint that he would rather pour the group’s cash into expanding its successful health club and sports store concept than funding its dividend “The dividend is something that is up for grabs.

JJB Sports sparked fears yesterday it was poised to slash its dividend after issuing its habitual post-Christmas profits warning. A price war with Mike Ashley’s Sport & Soccer chain forced JJB to massacre its profits margin in a desperate attempt to avoid haemorrhaging its market share. However, the directors firmly believe that the prospects for the business remain very good.”Despite the slump in sales, the group said its margins had eroded only slightly – from 70.5 to 69.1 per cent – adding that it had also achieved a significant reduction in its overheads, from £42.2m to £39m. The group opened 17 stores during the year, taking its tally to 336.Mr Kirby added: “We remain confident that we will re-establish our sales growth by continuing to open new stores and by ensuring that our in-store activity of introductory gaming, painting lessons and other structured hobby events is well delivered.”.

“We can now see that our full-year sales, and therefore profits, are likely to fall short of current market expectations. This is why we have brought forward the timing of our interim results announcement this year…. The release of the sequels over the two subsequent Christmases helped sustain the boom. More than two years on since the final instalment of the trilogy, the positive effect on the company has begun to wear off.Tom Kirby, the chairman and chief executive, said in spite of the poor performance, the prospects for the company remained strong.”Our sales for the five weeks to 1 January 2006 show a year-on-year decline of 17 per cent,” he said. The stock is now worth almost two-thirds less than it was just 12 months ago, with yesterday’s fall taking its market value back below £100m.
The profits warning came as the company published its results for the six months to 27 November – an announcement which was not originally due until the end of the month.

Over the period, total revenues fell 20 per cent to £57.1m, while operating profits almost disappeared, down from £7.9m in the same period last year, to just £0.5m.Games Workshop saw the beginning of a boom in its sales four years ago, after the release of the first of the Lord of the Rings films. There are a lot of things to resolve before anything else can happen.”Global has previously taken complaints about Savoy to the Takeover Panel, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Financial Services Authority. Among their grievances is the allegation that Savoy placed shares behind the investor’s back – a charge denied by the company, which has said the Kuwaitis were given the chance of taking part in the placing.. Games Workshop, the model toy retailer, shocked the market with its second profits warning in nine months yesterday, claiming it was still suffering from the decline in interest in the Lord of the Rings phenomenon – which helped boost sales between 2001 and 2004

Shares in the company fell 15 per cent to 319p. Savoy shares ended at 190p last night.Savoy has about £1.1bn assets under management, mainly catering for wealthy individuals.