JD Sports posts 10.6% uplift in Christmas sales at sports fashion fascias
JD Sports has reported a 10.6% increase in like-for-like store sales in its core sports fashion fascias in the five weeks to 2 January.
As a result, the group now expects that its full year headline profit before tax and exceptional items will exceed current market expectations of £136 million by up to 10%.
Peter Cowgill, JD Sports executive chairman, said: “I am delighted to report that the exceptional performance in the year to date has continued during the key Christmas period. This is particularly pleasing given the very strong comparatives in the core Sports Fashion fascias in the prior two years.”
The group has also announced that its board has decided to abandon a project to replace its core systems.
In a statement, JD Sports said: “This project was started when we believed that our current systems required changing to manage growth and change in the business. However, with a stronger IT team now in place, and significant developments having been introduced to our current systems, we have concluded that we can manage further growth and change with more agility and lower cost using our internally developed systems and thereby minimising the change risk to the business.”
The termination of the project will result in a one-off exceptional charge this year of approximately £12 million to write off the capitalised work done to date of which £10 million was incurred in prior years.
