SPORTS DIRECT has insisted it is starting to see green shoots of recovery at department store House of Fraser, which it purchased from administrators for £90m last year.

The company, controlled by retail tycoon Mike Ashley, also said a 674m euro (£561m) tax inquiry into unpaid VAT in Belgium is progressing well and bosses expect a decision on 491m euro (£409m) to be made by early next year.

The revelations come as the business, which has snapped up several under-performing high street names in recent years, saw sales jump 14 per cent in the six months to October 27 to £2bn, with pre-tax profits up 160 per cent to £193.4m.

Investors were impressed, with shares jumping more than 20 per cent, up 81.8p to 441.8p.

Mr Ashley used the results as an opportunity to attack his rivals, regulators and politicians over some of the scandals that have unravelled at businesses where Sports Direct had been a shareholder, including Debenhams and Goals Soccer Centre.

He also made a parting shot at outgoing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who focused heavily on attacking Mr Ashley and other rich businessmen throughout the election campaign.

Mr Ashley said: “Mr Corbyn attacked our business during the election campaign, but he really should have checked his facts as he really was shown to be ‘clueless’.

“He clearly has zero awareness of the fact we are one of the very few groups, and also one of the first, to have a workers’ representative as a statutory director of the group.”

The chief executive added that a planned meeting with shareholders from advisory group Pirc was scrapped due to Mr Corbyn making “it completely untenable for anyone associated in any way with the Labour Party – or any of its key supporters and supporting organisations – to be allowed access to such key and confidential meetings and the information divulged within them”.

Finally, he also demanded that restructuring advisers should be regulated, adding that the sector had “become the Wild West in terms of deceit, dishonesty and self-interest”.

In terms of sales, it was a strong period for the company, as it focused on its “elevation” strategy of improving stores and winning over big-name brands to be able to sell its most popular products.

Sales in its UK sports retail business, which includes Sports Direct, Jack Wills, Game Digital, Evans Cycles and Sofa.com, rose 6.7 per cent to £1.2bn, although this growth mainly came from takeovers.

When stripped out, sales fell 8.6 per cent, with bosses saying this was due to “the continuing elevation strategy”.

On House of Fraser, the company insisted “green shoots of recovery” are starting to emerge.

Mr Ashley added that recent sales have held up well during Christmas, but warned: “We are doing as much as we can to realistically save as many jobs and stores as possible; however, despite our best efforts, there are still a number of stores which are currently paying zero rent and that are unprofitable and thus not sustainable.”

The last six months have been relatively stable for Sports Direct, compared with previous periods.

At the company’s full-year results earlier this year, publication was delayed after management clashed with auditors over the Belgian tax bill.

But Mr Ashley insisted the matter is close to being resolved. He said tax authorities have written to him saying “they are satisfied that they have all the information they require from Sports Direct and that they are satisfied that VAT has been correctly accounted for in the information they have reviewed so far”.

An initial decision will be made by the authorities early next year, he added.

Bosses have also endured the fallout from a major accounting scandal at Goals Soccer Centres, which remains under police investigation.