JD Sports expected to report lower profits this week

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Sep 19, 2022

As JD Sports Fashion welcomes a new chief executive before the month closes, the UK-based retail giant is expected to report a slight drop in profits when it publishes half-year results on Thursday, September 22.

No doubt Régis Schultz, who joins from Dubai-based conglomerate Al-Futtaim Group imminently, will have seen the figures and knows what to expect ahead of a cooling in profits, as consumers cut back on spending in the face of the cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation.

Analysts expect the company to report pre-tax profits of £380 million for the six-month period, compared to £440 million for the same time to July 2021.

And the City and its shareholders will be keen to know what Schultz and chairman Andrew Higginson have planned to boost profitability – and its dwindling share price.

Shares in the sportswear giant have slipped by 42% over the past 12 months after the challenging period, which included the enforced cut-price sale of Footasylum at a hefty £50 million-plus loss and the departure of its long-standing boss Peter Cowgill in May.

But on the bright side, JD’s last trading update in July was upbeat saying sales were strong in the first four months of the financial year, while June had continued to see a “positive performance”.

And there is no sign the business is entering a period of consolidation. Lat month, JD Sports said it is to double the size of its important flagship store in Birmingham’s Bullring & Grand Central.