LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) -

Frasers ( SDIPF ), the British sportswear and apparel retailer that

owns the Sports Direct brand, reported a 13.1% rise in annual

profit and forecast more growth in its new financial year as it

benefits from a plan to shift the group upmarket.

FTSE 100-listed Frasers ( SDIPF ), controlled by founder

Mike Ashley, is pursuing what it calls an "elevation strategy"

with investments in flagship stores and in online operations,

and the strengthening of ties with brands such as Nike ( NKE ),

Adidas and The North Face. Its shares are up 10%

year-on-year.

The group's brands also include House of Fraser,

Flannels, USC and Jack Wills, and it holds strategic equity

stakes in a raft of other retailers including Hugo Boss

, ASOS, Boohoo, Currys ( DSITF ) and

AO World.

Frasers ( SDIPF ) made an adjusted pretax profit of 544.8 million

pounds ($708.4 million) in the year to April 28 - at the top end

of its guidance range of 500-550 million pounds and up from 478

million pounds made in 2022/23.

"Our successful Elevation Strategy is powering our strong

financial performance, with strategic brand relationships giving

us better access to product across the Frasers Group ( SDIPF )," it said.

It forecast profit of 575 million pounds to 625 million

pounds for its new financial year - a year that has the Euro

2024 soccer championship behind it and the Paris Olympics coming

up.

"We remain confident that our strategy will drive

continued strong performance, and we expect significant

synergies from both our automation programme and the integration

of acquisitions," Frasers ( SDIPF ) added.

($1 = 0.7691 pounds)