JD Sports growth driven by US and European revenues surge

For the 13 weeks to August 3, 2024, JD Sports reported that group like-for-like sales were up by 2.4% and organic sales were up by 8.3% for the period. 

First-half like-for-like sales were up by 0.7% and organic sales were up by 6.4%.

The sportswear retailer said the quarter-on-quarter trading improvement was driven “primarily by the strength of our multi-brand operating model and softer comparatives with the previous year”.

Regionally, the UK was the softest-performing market of the group during the period, with like-for-like sales in the quarter slumping by 0.8%.

Sales in North America were strongest, up by 5.7% on a like-for-like basis, while Europe sales were up by 3% and Asia-Pacific was up by 0.1%.

For the first half, UK sales were down by 3%, compared with North America (up by 3.3%) and Europe (up by 1.9%).

JD Sports said the “global macro-environment remains volatile” but it has maintained its profit before tax guidance range of between £955m and £1bn on a pre-Hibbett basis.

During the period, JD Sports also completed the acquisition of US sportswear brand Hibbett, which adds “material scale and presence in the US through its 1,179 stores, strengthening further our brand relationships in the world’s largest sportswear market”.

Gross margins for the group were down by 30 basis points on last year, driven by a decline in apparel and online sales.

JD Sports said that, “while the overall market remains volatile”, it showed “good promotional discipline and managed inventory proactively to support gross margins in the period”.

In the first half of the year, JD Sports opened 85 new stores, which, along with the Hibbett acquisition and its ongoing disposal of non-core stores, saw the retailer end the period with 4,506 stores across the world – 1,189 more than the start of 2024.

JD Sports chief executive Régis Schultz 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 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.”