JD Sports Dives 21% on Lower Profit Expectations

'We are confident in our strategy and we continue to invest in our supply chain, systems and stores, supported by our strong cash generation'

Alliance News 4 January, 2024 | 9:39AM
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Decline

Sports fashion retailer JD Sports has lowered its profit expectations for its financial year 2024 amid "more cautious customer spending".

Shares in JD Sports [JD] fell 20% to 124.10p in London on Thursday morning as a result.

The Lancashire-based, FTSE 100-listed sportswear retailer said organic revenue was up 6.0% in the 22 weeks ending December 30 2023 on a constant currency basis from a year earlier, with like-for-like growth of 1.8%. This was slightly behind its expectations.

The retailer expects organic revenue growth of around 8% for the year ending February 3.

The gross margin rate for the period is in line with last year, JD Sports said, lower than its expectations due to the elevated level of promotional activity during the peak trading period. As a result, it now expects full-year gross margin rate will be slightly lower than last year.

The company now expects to report pretax profit and adjusted items of between £915 million and £935 million for the financial year. This falls short of market expectations of £1.04 billion, which back in September, JD Sports had said it expected to meet.

Chief executive officer Regis Schultz said: "our key markets have seen increased promotional activity during the peak trading season, driven by a more cautious consumer, but we continue to grow market share.

"We are confident in our strategy and we continue to invest in our supply chain, systems and stores, supported by our strong cash generation and healthy balance sheet."

Elsewhere on the stock market, mid-market fashion store Next [NXT] has witnessed a 5.3% share boost on news of a bumper Christmas sales period.

By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter

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