JD Sports says confident it will meet profit expectations

Sportswear retailer JD Sports said on Wednesday it was on track to deliver headline annual pre-tax profit at least equal to current consensus market expectations as it opened new stores.

The company, which recently bought US-based Finish Line and smaller rival Footasylum, said it opened 29 new stores in the period to June 29th, mainly in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Australia.

JD Sports has been riding millennials’ fondness for athleisure wear, which powered better-than-expected full-year earnings earlier this year. The company said it was confident of delivering headline annual pre-tax profit at least equal to current consensus market expectations.

It also expects to achieve “encouraging” like-for-like sales growth in its core sports fashion business, both in the UK and other global markets since reporting its annual results for the year ended February 2nd.

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“We didn’t expect such high level of sales growth to persist, but it has,” Peel Hunt analysts said, calling the like-for-like growth “highly impressive”. – Reuters