JD Sports revenues jump 47% in wake of Finish Line acquisition

Sports fashion retailer JD Sports has reported a 47% increase in revenue to £2.7m for the 26 week period ending 3 August 2019.

The increase in revenue was attributed to a £725.2m contribution from Finish Line, which the retailer acquired in a £396m deal last year, and its JD stores in the United States.

The group also reported “strong” total like-for-like sales growth in its global Sports Fashion fascias of 12%, which included “highly encouraging” growth of more than 10% in its core UK and Ireland Sports stores.

Additionally, it saw a 6.6% increase in profit before tax to £129.9m, compared with £121.9m during the same period last year, after net adjustments of £7.6m. EBITDA also increased by 37% to £235.2m.

It comes after the group recorded a 15.4% increase in pre-tax profits to £339.9m for the year ending 2 February 2019, which also saw a 6.6% increase in total like-for-like sales for global Sports Fashion fascias, against a backdrop of “widely reported retail challenges” in the group’s core UK market.

Peter Cowgill, executive chairman, said: “I am very pleased to report that this has been another period of significant progress for the Group with revenue growing by 47% to £2,721.2m (2018: £1,846.3m) and the headline profit before tax and exceptional items increasing by a further 30% to £158.6m (2018: £121.9m).

“Against a backdrop of widely reported retail challenges in the UK, it is extremely encouraging that JD has delivered like for like sales growth of more than 10% with an improved conversion reflecting consumers’ increasingly positive reaction to our elevated multichannel proposition…”