Mike Ashley has revealed his regret at buying House of Fraser as his Sports Direct company issued its much-delayed annual results.
In a wide-ranging and outspoken report attached to the company's results, Mr Ashley revealed deep-seated problems at House of Fraser, his anger of the loss of the company's stake in Debenhams, and accused MPs of "failing this country economically".
Sports Direct, which had been due to put out its accounts last week, had said on Wednesday that it would be publishing its financial information on Friday.
But in a day of many delays, the accounts were not made public until after 5pm, by which time the Stock Exchange had closed and many analysts had been highly critical of the company over its delays.
The accounts showed Sports Direct's revenue for the year ending April 28 rose 10% to £3.7bn. The group's Ebitda, excluding its House of Fraser purchase, rose 10.9%, but including the department store chain meant the figure fell by 6% to £289m.
Sports Direct bought House of Fraser out of administration for £90m last year but Mr Ashley said that "as we have continued to look under the bonnet as we integrate the business, we have found that the problems are nothing short of terminal in nature".
After criticism of previous chairman Frank Slevin, Mr Ashley said that he expected store closures in the next year as some sites were unprofitable.
He added: "On a scale out of five, with one being very bad and five being very good, House of Fraser is a one, albeit we are trying very hard to turn the business around this will not be quick and it will not be easy.
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"Even though we do believe there could be a bright future for House of Fraser, and indeed have publicised our Frasers vision which we are very excited about, if we had the gift of hindsight we might have made a different decision in August 2018."
Mr Ashley said that the 海角视频 High Street was "is in dire straits and without substantial support from the Government in particular it is in a terminal state".
But he said nothing had been done since he appeared before a Commons Select Committee to discuss the state of the High Street last December, and accused MPs of "failing this country economically" and being distracted by Brexit.
Mr Ashley was also highly critical of Debenhams after his much-publicised row with the firm as it was taken over by its lenders.
Sports Direct made a number of offers to rescue the firm when it was in financial troubles earlier this year but all were rebuffed by the company's leadership.
Elsewhere in the report, Mr Ashley revealed Sports Direct had paid Newcastle United £2m for advertising rights, which he considered "value for its shareholders".
The company also revealed that Belgian authorities are demanding 674 million euros (£605m) in unpaid taxes.