JD Sports expects annual profits to be in line with last year’s record performance as demand for athleisure apparel and sportswear holds strong.
The company, which offers Nike, Adidas, Puma as well as in-house brands, said total sales for the five months of the year in its like-for-like businesses remain 5 per cent ahead of the same period last year.
JD Sports’ pre-tax profit came in at £654.7million for the year ending 29 January, up from £324million a year ago.
JD Sports has said it expects its annual profit to be in line with last year’s record performance as demand for athleisure apparel and sportswear continues in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic
Despite the positive news, JD Sports shares were down 1.3 per cent early Friday following the release of a GfK survey showing consumer confidence in the UK remains ‘severely depressed’.
The market research firm said British consumers’ confidence remained stuck at a record low this month in the face of surging inflation and higher interest rates.
Its consumer morale index held at -41 in July, matching June’s 48-year low and below levels that have previously preceded recessions.
In a bid to keep in line with profit predictions, JD Sports said it has started a review of its control, risk and compliance target operating model.
Last month it laid out plans to overhaul its corporate governance structure and internal controls after a review led to the ousting of long-time boss Peter Cowgill in May.
JD Sports, which will hold its annual general meeting later said, said earnings in the current year would reflect a more normalised trading pattern with about 35% to 40% of the profits generated in the first half.
The Bury-headquartered retailer, which appointed Andrew Higginson, former chair of supermarkets group Morrisons as its chairman earlier this month, said it was in the process to recruit a new CEO.
The London-listed sportswear retailer has been a subject of several investigations by the Competition and Markets Authority.
Most recently, the CMA provisionally found that the company, along with a rival, broke competition law over Rangers Football Club merchandise pricing.
In February, JD Sports was fined £4.3million by the CMA for exchanging information with Footasylum, which it had agreed to buy for £90million.
Off the back of the retailer’s last trading update, the board lifted the group’s total dividend to to 0.35p a share, up from 0.29p a share.
Rival Frasers, which owns Sports Direct, on Thursday said it expected higher profit next year, after a ‘record-breaking’ 2022 driven by store reopenings and high demand for its sportswear.
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