JD Sports reveals strong outlook

JD Sports Fashion Plc said in a statement that despite the temporary closure of stores in a number of countries at various times in the year, total revenue for the group increased by approximately 1 percent in the year to 6,167.3 million pounds. Total gross margin in the year of 48 percent was slightly ahead of the prior year, while pre-tax profit decreased slightly to 421.3 million pounds compared to 438.8 million pounds in 2020.

Commenting on the results, Peter Cowgill, the company’s executive chairman, said: “Whilst we must recognise the substantial level of temporary store closures to date and ongoing, we remain confident that we are well placed to benefit from the opportunities that prevail and, at this early stage, our current best estimate is that the group headline profit before tax for the full year to January 29, 2022 will be in the range of 475 million pounds to 500 million pounds.”

Highlights of JD Sports’ full year results

The total sales include revenues of 1,760.4 million pounds from combined businesses in the United States. The company added that of these combined businesses, Shoe Palace, which was only part of the group for approximately six weeks following its acquisition on December 14, 2020, contributed 56.1 million pounds.

The company further said that its current best estimate is that the group headline profit before tax for the full year to January 29, 2022 will be in the range of 475 million pounds to 500 million pounds.

The company’s board has proposed paying a final dividend of 1.44p per ordinary share, which is at the same level as the final dividend made after the year to February 2, 2019.