Troubled retail company Sports Direct International saw its value drop by 23 per cent yesterday after it issued a profits warning.

The Sports World parent firm, which has a 29 per cent stake in the Blacks Group of outdoor shops and which recently bought 60 per cent of Field & Trek, saw its shares crash from 190p to 147p. It blames the atrocious British summer weather for its continuing poor performance.

Its value has halved since it floated five months ago. Secretive founder Mike Ashley also stands to gain up to £100m from an internal property deal with the company. The profits warning, which Sports Direct says is unlikely to improve in the near future, disappointed analysts who expected to see a better return than the declared £151m pre-tax figure.

The company was accused of bullying earlier this year when it threatened to oust the board of Blacks if it went ahead with the disposal of the Freespirit chain.