JD Sports trading improved over Christmas
The demise of Allsports will certainly have helped JD Sports by taking out a direct competitor in the run-up to Christmas
Group like for like sales for the 8 weeks ended 7 January 2006 were +4.7% (Sports +6.0%; Fashion -7.5%). Since 1 October 2005, Group like for like sales for the 14 weeks ended 7 January 2006 were +3.5% (Sports +4.9%; Fashion -9.6%).
The cumulative Group year to date like for like sales performance up to 7 January 2006 has improved from -2.5% reported on 5 October 2005 to -0.4%.
The Allsports business (acquired on 28 October 2005) has been excluded from the like for like figures to avoid distortion.
The company said that The Fashion sales performance has been disappointing but the margin uplift in the division has been good and the acquired RD Scott stores in particular, had shown considerably improving trends in recent weeks. The Fashion business continues to account for less than 10% of total Group turnover.
The store portfolio obtained from Allsports has so far been used to clear its stocks and will make a loss in the current year. Peter Cowgill, Executive Chairman,said ‘We are pleased with our performance over the Christmas period and believe it demonstrates that our consumer offer and operational strategy are resulting in an improving performance from the Group.’
