From Morningstar:

Sports fashion retailer JD Sports has lowered its profit expectations amid “more cautious customer spending.” As a result, shares in JD Sports fell 20% to 124.10p in London.

In the 22 weeks ending December 30, 2023, JD Sports reported 6.0% organic revenue growth, slightly behind its expectations. Like-for-like growth was 1.8%. 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. Its 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.

JD Sports CEO 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.”



Read more: JD Sports Dives 21% on Lower Profit Expectations