JD Sports Fashion Plc (Group), the parent of the JD, Hibbett, Finish Line, DTLR, and Shoe Palace retail brands in the U.S. and JD and others worldwide, is reporting 3.4 percent organic revenue growth for the nine-week holiday selling period ended January 4, 2025. The company said a strong Christmas resulted in like-for-like (LFL, comp sales) revenue growth in December.

“In line with our proven long-term approach, we chose not to participate in what was a more promotional environment in the period than we anticipated, fully maintaining our trading discipline to deliver gross margins ahead of last year, clean inventory and strong cash management,” offered Régis Schultz, CEO, JD Sports Fashion Plc. “While I am pleased overall with our performance, market headwinds were higher than we anticipated and, therefore, our full-year profit forecast is slightly below our previous guidance. With these trading conditions expected to continue, we are taking a cautious view of the new financial year.”

The company reported like-for-like revenue across November and December as a 1.5 percent decline in a challenging and volatile market with increased promotional activity.

“We delivered a strong Christmas with December LFL revenue up 1.5 percent, said Schultz. “Footwear sales grew and outperformed apparel, and our stores outperformed our online channel. We saw a strong LFL revenue performance through the period from our Sporting Goods and Outdoor segment, and LFL revenue growth in Europe and Asia Pacific partially offset weaker LFL trading across the UK and North America.”

Hibbett reportedly performed “slightly ahead” of the wider North America business, and the recently-acquired French retailer Courir “traded well” across the weeks following the acquisition.

On a year-to-date (YTD) basis through January 4, comp sales revenue was flat, and the company said it expects full-year comp sales revenue to be at a similar level as the YTD trend.

Organic revenue growth in the holiday period was 3.4 percent, and JD expects full-year organic revenue growth to be around 5 percent.

Gross margins reportedly remain robust because of continued price and promotional discipline across stores and online. Gross margins in the period are ahead of last year, with the full-year gross margin expected to be around 48 percent of sales, which aligns with the prior year.

The Group now expects the full-year profit before tax and adjusting items to be between £915 million and £935 million. Within the updated profit before tax and adjusting items guidance, as well as the impact from the trading environment, the following changes have occurred on specific items since the Group’s Q3 trading update on November 21, 2024:

  • an additional acquisition accounting-related cost for Hibbett of £6m from IFRS 16;
  • a £2m higher impact from FX from £15m to £17m; and
  • a profit before tax contribution of £7m from the acquisition of Group Courir SAS, which closed on November 27, 2024.

“We have managed our inventory position well through the period and, due to our strong cash management during the year, we expect to end the year with a small net debt position on a pre-IFRS 16 basis,” Schultz said.

Image courtesy DTLR/JD Sports Fashion