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JD Sports has welcomed a strong second quarter of trading, with like-for-like sales up by 2.4%, as organic sales grew by 8.3%. The quarter-on-quarter trading improvement was largely driven by the strength of its multi-brand operating model, according to the group, as well as softer comparatives with the previous year.
Regionally, LFL growth was strongest in North America (+5.7%) and Europe (+3.0%). Organic growth was achieved in all regions, led by North America with 13.7% growth.
The group said that while the overall market remains volatile, it showed “good promotional discipline and managed inventory proactively to support gross margins in the period”. Gross margin in the period was 48.4%, down 30 basis points on last year. This decline was seen mainly in apparel and online, where its higher penetration resulted in the UK being most impacted.
During the first half of the year, the group opened 85 new JD stores, which along with the Hibbett acquisition and ongoing disposal of non-core stores, meant it ended the first half with 4,506 stores, up 1,189 from the start of the year.
Looking ahead, the group said it will “continue to be cautious” on outlook amid the volatile global macro environment, but is still maintaining its guidance range of profit before tax and adjusting items of £955m to £1.035bn, on a pre-Hibbett basis.
Régis Schultz, CEO of JD Sports, 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, Inc. 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.”
