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JD Sports has seen its profits before tax and exceptional items soar to £439.5m in H1 FY21, up from £61.9m in the same period of FY20 and £158.6m in FY19.
The sports fashion retailer reported a 52.7% year-on-year climb in group revenues to £3.89bn in the 26-week period ended 31 July 2021.
In turn, the company has forecasted headline profit before tax for the full year of at least £750m.
It comes as profits before exceptional items grew more than threefold to £170.8m at the firm’s UK and Ireland operations as digital sales paired with pent-up demand after the reopening of physical retail.
As for its US market, the acquisitions of Shoe Palace and DTLR contributed to £245m in H1 profits before tax and exceptional items, a 586% two-year spike.
Peter Cowgill, executive chairman at JD Sports, said that the record results are “extremely encouraging” in the face of the “continued prevalence of the Covid-19 pandemic in many countries, widespread strain on international logistics and other supply chain challenges, materially lower levels of footfall into stores in many countries”.
He also cited the challenges of the “ongoing administrative and cost consequences resulting from the loss of tariff free, frictionless trade with the European Union”.
Commenting on the results, he said: “We remain absolutely confident that our inherent strengths in retail dynamics and operations provide us with a robust platform to make further progress.
“Assuming a prudent but realistic set of assumptions for the peak trading period ahead which take into account the absence of stimulus in the United States for the second half of the year, in addition to current industry-wide supply chain challenges, we presently anticipate delivering a headline profit before tax for the full year of at least £750m.”
