Business
JD SPORTS FASHION PLC Q225 TRADING UPDATE
JD SPORTS FASHION PLC Q225 TRADING UPDATE.
About this update from Jd Sports Fashion Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n22 August 2024\nJD SPORTS FASHION PLC\nQ225 TRADING UPDATE\n \nStrong, agile multi-brand model delivers 8.3% organic sales growth and 2.4% like-for-like sales growth in Q2\n \nJD Sports Fashion Plc (the 'Group'), the leading retailer of sports, fashion and outdoor brands, today announces its second quarter trading update for the 13 weeks to 3 August 2024 (the 'period').\nRégis Schultz, CEO of JD Sports Fashion Plc, said: \"I am pleased to report like-for-like sales growth of 2.4% and organic sales growth of 8.3% in the second quarter, demonstrating the strength and agility of our multi-brand model. In particular, we saw double-digit organic sales growth in North America and Europe, supported by the continued success of our JD store rollout programme. We completed the acquisition of Hibbett, Inc. just before the period end and we look forward to its contribution to the growth and development of our US business in the coming years. Based on our first-half trading, we remain on track to deliver profit within our full-year guidance.\"\nTrading for the Group in the period, on a constant currency basis, was in line with our expectations. Like-for-like ('LFL') sales were up 2.4% and organic sales were up 8.3%. As a consequence, first half LFL sales were up 0.7% and organic sales were up 6.4%. The quarter-on-quarter ('QOQ') trading improvement was driven primarily by the strength of our multi-brand operating model and softer comparatives with the previous year.\nRegionally, LFL growth was strongest in North America (+5.7%) and Europe (+3.0%), while the UK improved materially QOQ. Organic growth was achieved in all regions, led by North America with 13.7% growth. All three main segments - JD, Complementary Concepts and Sporting Goods & Outdoor - achieved LFL growth and the JD segment benefitted from new store openings to deliver 11% organic growth.\nWhile the overall market remains volatile, we showed good promotional discipline and managed inventory proactively to support gross margins in the period. Gross margin for the Group in the period was 48.4%, down 30 basis points (bps) on last year. This decline was seen mainly in apparel and online, where its higher penetration resulted in the UK being most impacted. The first half gross margin for the Group was therefore 48.3%, 10 bps below last year and inventory levels at ...