JD Sports Fashion Plc provided an update on the impact of COVID-19 on its business along with the measures it is taking to actively manage the risks to its customers, colleagues and operations.
As of now, essentially all of the company’s stores are closed in the UK, the United States and Europe. In a typical week, at this time of the year, JD Sports said it expects the stores, which are closed, to contribute substantially all of the group’s physical store sales.
The company said that while its “websites continue to accept and fulfill orders and, while we have seen a resilient performance to date in most territories, this represents comparatively small mitigation in terms of overall profit contribution.”
“As would be expected, we are pursuing a number of measures to preserve capital across all aspects of our business and thereby limit the level of cash burn,” the company continued. “In this regard, the board welcomes the various public sector initiatives which have been announced to date in the territories where it operates.”
JD Sports also “does not believe it’s appropriate to provide financial guidance for the current financial year ending 30 January 2021.” The company is also delaying the release of its next earnings period ended February 1, originally scheduled to post April 15.
“The board is satisfied that the combination of a strong balance sheet, net cash resources and the substantial working capital facilities available to the Group in its various territories are more than adequate to meet the cash deficiencies which may reasonably be anticipated during the closure periods in our various territories,” it said.
Peter Cowgill, executive chairman, said: “Along with everyone else, the Group is experiencing major disruption to our business operations as we seek to protect our colleagues and customers from the effects of COVID-19. Their safety remains our number one priority and we continue to take all appropriate action in line with government advice in our various territories.
“JD continues to offer a market-leading, multichannel proposition in Sports Fashion Retail and we are confident that we will emerge from the current challenges in a strong position to resume our previous positive momentum.”
Photo courtesy JDPlc
