4th Jan 2024 08:36
(Alliance News) - JD Sports Fashion PLC on Thursday lowered its profit expectations for financial 2024 amid "more cautious customer spending".
Shares in JD Sports fell 20% to 124.10 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
The Lancashire-based, FTSE 100-listed sportswear retailer said organic revenue was up 6.0% in the 22 weeks that ended December 30 on a constant currency basis from a year earlier, with like-for-like growth of 1.8%. This was slightly behind its expectations.
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. As a result, it now expects full-year gross margin rate will be slightly lower than last year.
As a result, it expects to report pretax profit and adjusted items of between GBP915 million and GBP935 million for the financial year. This falls short of market expectations of GBP1.04 billion, which back in September, JD Sports had said it expected to meet.
Chief Executive Officer 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."
By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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