Findel annual profits seen 'slightly' above market expectations

(Sharecast News) - Home shopping company Findel, which recently rejected a £139.2m takeover bid from Mike Ashley's Sports Direct, said on Thursday that it expects full-year pre-tax profit to be slightly above market expectations of £27m to £28m.In an update on trading following the close of its financial year to 29 March 2019, the company said its Studio business aw good trading in the seasonally-quieter weeks of the fourth quarter, with garden ranges benefitting from the warmer weather in early February and homeware ranges trading well throughout. Meanwhile, collections and recoveries from credit receivables have been in line with plan.In the education segment, there was an acceleration of its customer recruitment in the final quarter and a further increase in online ordering levels, which Findel said was "encouraging" as we enter the new financial year. The group's core net debt at the end of March stood at around £57m, down from £73.8m at the same time last year.Sports Direct offered to buy Findel back in March after agreeing to purchase 6 million shares in the business from a single shareholder, City Financial Absolute. That took its holding in Findel to 36.8% from 29.9%, above the 30% mandatory offer threshold set by the Takeover Code.However, the offer lapsed last week after Findel failed to get the required level of support from shareholders.Findel had been vocal in its rejection of the "highly opportunistic" offer from Sports Director, which it argued "significantly" undervalued the group.At 1245 BST, the shares were up 5.1% at 184.95p.