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JD Sports Fashion PLC on Thursday announced a rise in interim revenue but a drop in profit, though it said the results were ahead of expectations.
In the six months to July 30, pretax profit dropped to £298.3 million from £364.6 million.
The Lancashire-based Sportswear retailer explained the fall in profit was due to the previous year experiencing a one-off benefit in the US from government stimulus.
Revenue, meanwhile, rose to £4.42 billion from £3.89 billion a year previous.
The firm noted a ‘robust’ performance in the UK and Republic of Ireland, but nonetheless posted a decline in pretax profit for the sports fashion retail business. Profit fell to £153.0 million, down from £174.2 million the previous year.
In Europe, that business swung to a profit of £57.1 million from a loss of £7.2 million.
In North America, profit fell to £130.4 million from £245.5 million. The firm cited ‘non-comparability’ of trading conditions due to a lack of US government stimulus it received a year ago for the fall.
Cost of sales also ticked up to £2.28 billion from £2.00 billion.
Chair Andrew Higginson said the results were at the ‘top end’ of the company's expectations, touting the firm's ‘strength’ of consumer engagement.
Looking ahead, the company expects its pretax profit for the year as a whole to be in line with the record performance for the year that ended this past January 29.
‘With a UK facility of £700 million available up to November 6, 2026 and a US facility of approximately $300 million available up until September 24, 2026, the directors believe that the group is well placed to manage its business risks successfully despite the current uncertain economic outlook,’ the company explained.
Chair Higginson added: ‘Given the widespread macro-economic uncertainty, inflationary pressures and the potential for further disruption to the supply chain with industrial action a continuing risk in many markets, it is inevitable that we remain cautious about trading through the remainder of the second half.’
JD Sports reinstated an interim dividend of 0.13 pence per share.
JD Sports shares were 4.3% lower at 118.50 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
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