JD Sports profits dented

Sports fashion retailer JD Sports, whose massive new warehouse on Kingsway Business Park should be complete and occupied soon, has said its recently bought Blacks Leisure made an operating loss of £2.2m in the first three weeks of its ownership.

It said the loss from Blacks was due to a lack of stock, an "excessively large and over-rented" store portfolio and "disproportionate" costs.

It also set aside £3.5m for restructuring costs, after buying the outdoor retailer for £20m on 9 January.

Pre-tax profits at JD fell 14% to £67.4m for the year to 28 January 2012.

Revenues rose almost 20% to £1.06bn.

JD said that trading since the end of the financial year had been "satisfactory", though profit margins were still under pressure as consumers sought out special offers.

Sales at stores open for more than a year in the UK and Ireland were up 1.2%.

www.jdsports.co.uk