Sports Direct reports 8.4 pct drop in underlying profit before tax

(Corrects to show underlying profit before tax fell, reported pretax rose)

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - British retailer Sports Direct reported an 8.4 percent drop in annual underlying profit before tax on Thursday, blaming tough conditions on the high street and negative publicity about its working practices.

The company, which is not paying a dividend, said current political uncertainty after Britain voted to leave the European Union last month was likely to act as a continuing drag on consumer confidence.

"When combined with the structural difficulties for UK retailers, including high street footfall, and our exposure to the weakness of the pound against the U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . dollar, these factors make the current outlook for FY17 somewhat uncertain and therefore hard to predict," the company said in a statement.

Sports Direct reported underlying profit before tax for the year to April 24 of 275.2 million pounds ($358 million) on revenue up 2.5 percent at 2.9 billion pounds. Reported pretax profit rose 15.4 percent to 361.8 million pounds.

Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation slipped 0.5 percent to 381.4 million pounds, just within its guidance of 380-420 million given in January.

($1 = 0.7684 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Susan Fenton)