JD Sports has reported good global sales growth in the second quarter of 2024, smashing analysts’ expectations.
Like-for-like sales at the FTSE 100 firm rose 2.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to 3 August 2024 or 0.7 per cent in the first half. Organic sales rose 8.3 per cent or 6.4 per cent for the first half of the year.
The company said the trading improvement was “driven primarily by the strength of our multi-brand operating model and softer comparatives with the previous year.”
Growth was strongest in North America, where sales grew 5.7 per cent on a like-for-like basis. In Europe, sales growth came in at three per cent.
Growth was slightly softer in the UK, with like-for-like sales down 0.8 per cent compared to the prior quarter and down three per cent year on year in the first half.
The company said its gross margin fell 0.3 per cent to 48.4 per cent due to the “volatile” market, with the decline mainly seen in apparel and online.
Earlier this month, shares in the sportswear retailer slumped more than five per cent after stockbroker Deutsche Numis downgraded its stock rating and questioned the retailer’s ability to generate cash.
Numis had forecast the firm’s like-for-like sales growth to be flat.
Shares in JD Sports haven’t quite bounced back from the downgrade yet and hover about 4p below their early-August high.
Régis Schultz, chief executive of JD Sports said: “I am pleased to report like-for-like sales growth of 2.4 per cent and organic sales growth of 8.3 oer cent 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 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.”
The company is “on track” to deliver profit within its full-year guidance of £955m-£1,035m, Schultz added.
During the first half, JD Sports opened 85 new stores, which along with the Hibbett acquisition and the “ongoing disposal of non-core stores”, meant the company ended the first half with 4,506 stores, up by 1,189 from the start of the year.