11 January 2023
If you are covering JD Sports’ latest trading update, please find below a comment from Mamta Valechha, equity research analyst at Quilter Cheviot:
“JD Sports provided a strong Christmas trading update this morning, with organic retail sales strengthening in the second half of the year (+10% vs. 5% in the first half), driven by better stock availability. Its trading has come in ahead of expectations thanks to an impressive Christmas period. Both in stores and online did well with total revenue in the six weeks to the end of December up more than 20%.
“The US was the stand out region with sales continuing to recover strongly. The JD conversion programme is on track with 134 JD stores open in North America. Elsewhere in the UK and Europe, JD has kept their first half momentum in both stores and online despite the macroeconomic backdrop, which is reassuring and demonstrates the ongoing resilience of the premium sportswear sector.
“As a result of a strong second half performance, JD now expects group headline profit for FY23 to be at the top end of current market expectations, though we will have to wait for January trading to settle before getting the final figure. Shares in JD Sports are still at a level where we think the market is underestimating the strong proposition it has to offer in the attractive sportswear sector.”
