Sports Direct shares slump after profit warning

(Adds interview with executives, analyst's comment, shares)

By Mike Elliott

LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - Sports Direct International Plc (SPD.L), Britain's biggest sports goods retailer, said recent wet weather had hit sales and it expected little earnings growth this year, sending its shares down over 15 percent on Tuesday.

"The first three months of the current financial year have been exceptionally difficult with the unprecedented weather conditions having an immediate impact on sales," Chief Executive Dave Forsey said in a statement.

"With our summer bias ... you can imagine that we have been severely affected," Forsey told Reuters in an interview. June was the wettest month on record in Britain.

Shares in the group, which floated at 300 pence in February and netted founder Mike Ashley 929 million pounds, slid to a new low of 158 pence in early trade. By 0815 GMT, the stock was down 15.8 percent at 160p, valuing it at around 1.15 billion pounds

($2.37 billion).

Analysts were quick to downgrade the stock.

Panmure Gordon cut its target price to 150p from 170p to reflect continuing uncertainty about forward earnings.

"At some point the shares will be supported by the view that Mike Ashley (who still owns 57 percent of the group) could take it private," Panmure Gordon's Philip Dorgan said in a note.

Sports Direct, which runs the Sports World and Lillywhites chains, posted a 32 percent rise in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation before exceptional items of 191 million pounds ($393 million) for the year to April 29. The figure includes a 10 million-pound profit on a property deal.

According to Reuters Estimates the group had been expected by analysts to report EBITDA of around 179.2 million pounds.

EARNINGS FORECASTS CUT

Forsey had said in the results statement "there should be limited growth in EBITDA pre exceptions from the 191 million pounds reported today in the current financial year."

Panmure Gordon said that after stripping out "funnies" the statement points to EBITDA of some 180 million pounds this year.