JD Sports enjoys sales growth despite high street difficulties

Aerial image of JD Sports, Kingsway

Sports apparel retailer JD Sports has enjoyed a robust sales growth, despite tough high street conditions.

The retailer, whose warehouse at Kingsway is undergoing a 352,000 sq ft extension, reported a sales increase of 15% in the 48 weeks to 5 January, a figure the company said it was pleased with 'given the well-publicised challenges within the wider UK retail market'.

This included a five percent rise for like-for-like sales, and a consistently positive like-for-like performance across Black Friday and the Christmas period.

However, the fashion retailer said the transition to the enlarged Rochdale site 'has inevitably caused some labour cost inefficiencies in our operations' but remains confident that pre-tax proft for the year ending 2 February 2019 should be at the upper end of market expectations, which currently range from £325m to £352m.  

The retailer has also branched out internationally, opening five stores in the United States and two in Thailand, calling its US performance ‘encouraging’.

Peter Cowgill, Executive Chairman, commented: "I am pleased with the continued progress of the group. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank all our colleagues for their significant contribution in delivering another excellent performance."

Works to install the additional automation equipment at the Kingsway Distribution Centre are ongoing, with completion scheduled for late spring 2019.