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JD suffers sharp downturn in sales

kevin feddy
2/12/2008

BURY-based JD Sports Fashion - one of the strongest retail performers in the current downturn - revealed a sharp reversal in like-for-like sales today.

The group, which trades from more than 400 sites, said comparable sales for the past 11 weeks were down one per cent on a year earlier, with sports-branded sites off 1.8 per cent after rising 5.4 per cent in the first 32 weeks of the financial year.

JD, led by chairman Peter Cowgill, said the deterioration was not unexpected given the retail conditions and very strong comparatives with trading a year earlier. It stressed it remained confident of meeting market forecasts for the full financial year.

JD recently reported half-year profits of £9.1m for the six months to August 2, an increase of 71 per cent on a year earlier.

Today's update means current year like-for-like sales - based on those stores trading for more than a year - are running 3.6 per cent higher for sports chains and 6.7 per cent stronger at the fashion brands Scotts and Bank.

The company has fared better than rivals such as Umbro and Sports World owner Sports Direct because of its strong own brand offering and its reduced reliance on replica football kit sales. It has also boosted its sports business over the past four years by eliminating underperforming stores and reducing excess stock levels.