The Bury based sportswear retailer, JD Sports, has downgraded its profit forecast citing market headwinds and weaker trading across the UK & USA.
After posting record sales of £5 billion back in October 2024, JD Sports has downgraded its profit forecast after weaker than expected trading in the UK & USA in the build up months before Xmas. Revenues for November 2024 fell by 1.5% with the sportswear retailer citing a challenging and volatile retail market alongside an increase spend in promotional activity for the holiday season. Shares in JD.L hit a 5 year low in early morning trading, down 10% to around 84p per share, after JD Sports advised it was downgrading its profit forecast by £40 million. Stock in the “kings of athleisure” had already taken a tumble in the later months of 2024 as investors became concerned about the Bury based retailers reliance of Nike products, which accounts for nearly half of JD Sports overall sales.
Considering the current headwinds in the market, we performed well, delivering organic revenue growth of 3.4% across the period, and a strong Christmas resulted in LFL revenue growth in December. In line with our proven long-term approach, we chose not to participate in what was a more promotional environment in the period than we anticipated, fully maintaining our trading discipline to deliver gross margins ahead of last year, clean inventory and strong cash management. While I am pleased overall with our performance, market headwinds were higher than we anticipated and therefore our full-year profit forecast is slightly below our previous guidance. With these trading conditions expected to continue, we are taking a cautious view of the new financial year.
Régis Schultz – JD Sports CEO
