MIKE ASHLEY, the reclusive billionaire founder of Sports Direct, hit back at City critics this weekend, branding unsupportive investors a bunch of cry babies.

The sports retailer, which owns brands such as Slazenger and Dunlop, lost almost a quarter of its value in a single day last week after a profit warning following the wettest June on record.

In his first major interview, Ashley, who still owns a 57% stake in the company that floated five months ago, told The Sunday Times: “I’ve got balls of steel. Some investors have been great and have been very supportive. But some of these City people act like a bunch of cry babies.

“You meet a lot of incredibly smart people in the City who seem to be obsessively focused on a share price at that minute,” said Ashley.

He said that in the long term he would rebuild the share price and create value for loyal investors. He hopes to turn Sports Direct into a £4 billion business over the long term.

The share-price collapse has caused fury in the City. Investors are enraged by the company’s failure to communicate properly with them and fear they have been sold a pup.

“We didn’t hide anything. We don’t think the share price is a reflection of the company’s prospects,” said Ashley, who took £929m out of the company when it floated. But he has vowed to improve communications because “that is the right thing to do”.

The maverick billionaire was unprepared for the scale of the investor anger given that Sports Direct delivered full-year results for the year to April 2007 in line with expectations.

“I thought the City would be a lot more positive about last year’s numbers,” he said. “Most of my days start badly and get worse at the moment.”

Sports Direct set itself on a further collision course with the City last week by spending £48m on a stake in Adidas, just weeks after Ashley sold a personal stake in the German sportswear giant.

Sports Direct said the purchase was consistent with a policy of “pursuing strategic investment opportunities” where it could “gain strategic or commercial advantage”.

But analysts were staggered by the move, which came two days after the profit warning. Jonathan Pritchard, an analyst at Oriel Securities said: “The City will not be impressed by Sports Direct doing this, and I doubt Adidas will be either.”

The stake purchase forms part of a string of initiatives by Ashley to grow the company. He wants Sports Direct to expand its retail operations in mainland Europe and grow in America. He is also planning to buy more brands and stakes in big sportswear and fashion leisure groups.

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