Sports Direct said it is confident of meeting analysts' revised full-year earnings forecast of £148 million.

The troubled discount sports retailer, controlled by billionaire Mike Ashley, said total sales were £317 million for the 13 weeks to 27 January, while gross profit was £142 million. The group did not offer any comparative figures for the previous year.

Fifteen new stores were opened during the quarter and 13 small stores closed.

Sports Direct said trading since 27 January had remained in line with expectations, claiming to have a resilient business model.

Earlier this month, Sport Direct announced a strategic alliance agreement with China's largest apparel retailer ITAT, which operates over 700 stores across 275 cities. Under the terms of the deal, Sports Direct invest up to £20 million in the country and will supply merchandise from a selection of its brands to the larger ITAT stores.

Sports Direct said today it is pleased that the relationship with ITAT is developing well and the planned roll out of brands to the stores is currently ahead of schedule.