Sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion reported a 2.4 per cent rise in second-quarter underlying sales, an improvement on the previous quarter, but said it was cautious on its outlook for the rest of the year with the overall market remaining volatile.

The FTSE 100-listed group, which sells Nike, Adidas, On, HOKA and other sports brands, on Thursday kept its guidance for full-year 2024/25 profit before tax and adjusting items of £955 million (€1.1 billion) to £1.035 billion (€1.22 billion), up from the £917.2 million in 2023/24.

The global sports fashion industry is seeing a slowdown this year and there is a high rate of promotional activity in the market. Nike, the world’s biggest sports brand by revenue, warned in June its sales would fall this year, though number two Adidas has fared better.

Shares in JD Sports, which operates 27 stores in the Republic, have slumped 23 per cent this year, reflecting a January profit warning and Nike’s underperformance, though the retailer has recently been subject to some vague bid speculation.

It said UK like-for-like sales fell 0.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to August 3rd, its fiscal second quarter, having been down 6.4 per cent in the first quarter.

Like-for-like sales were up 5.7 per cent in North America, up 3 per cent in Europe and up 0.1 per cent in the Asia Pacific region.

“The quarter-on-quarter trading improvement was driven primarily by the strength of our multi-brand operating model and softer comparatives with the previous year,” the group said.

The trading period included the Euro 2024 soccer championship and the start of the Paris Olympics.

“The global macro environment remains volatile and so we continue to be cautious on our outlook for the rest of the year,” JD added. – Reuters

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