Follow us

Menu
PARTNER WITH USFREE NEWSLETTER
VISIT TheIndustry.beauty

JD Sports sees full-year growth despite lockdown closures

Tom Bottomley
13 April 2021

Despite the temporary closures of stores in a number of countries at various times in the year, total revenue for JD Sports Fashion Plc increased by approximately 1% to £6.17 billion in the year to 30 January 2021, compared to £6.11bn in 2020.

That includes total revenues of £1.76bn from its combined businesses in the United States (versus £1.6bn in 2020) of which Shoe Palace, which was only part of the Group for approximately six weeks following its acquisition on 14 December, 2020, contributed £56.1m.

Given the temporary closure periods in the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a company statement said “it would not be meaningful to present sales on a like for like basis.” However, total gross margin in the year stood at 48%, slightly ahead of the 47% in 2020. That was “largely due to a stronger margin in the United States.”

Profit before tax and exceptional items decreased slightly to £421.3m, versus £438.8m in 2020.

Peter Cowgill, Executive Chairman of JD Sports Fashion Plc, said: “The global COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, the UK's formal exit from the European Union have presented a series of unprecedented challenges which have severely tested all aspects of our business including our multichannel capabilities, the robustness of our operational infrastructure and the resilience of our colleagues. However, at all times, the group has strived to do the right thing for all stakeholders.

"Notwithstanding these well publicised challenges, a number of positive themes have been increasingly apparent through the year which gives us confidence that, as we begin to emerge from the worst of the disruption, JD is at the pinnacle of the global sports fashion industry. We have a market leading multichannel proposition which continues to enhance its relevance to consumers and has the necessary agility to progress in an environment where the retailing of international brands may see permanent global structural change.

"Our positive outlook is reflected by the fact that, even with the unique circumstances of store closures for a substantial period of the year, the group has retained substantially all of its record profitability from the prior year with a profit before tax and exceptional items of £421.3 million (2020: £438.8m).

“Our recent completed acquisitions of Shoe Palace and DTLR in the United States, together with the conditional acquisition of Sizeer in Central and Eastern Europe, are important steps in our evolution which will transform our consumer connection in these markets and further develop our key brand relationships.

“Whilst we must recognise the substantial level of temporary store closures to date and ongoing, we remain confident that we are well placed to benefit from the opportunities that prevail and, at this early stage, our current best estimate is that the group headline profit before tax for the full year to 29 January 2022 will be in the range of £475 million to £500 million.”

Despite the pandemic and forced store closures throughout the year, the group has also been encouraged by the resilient nature of trading by both JD Sports and Size? in its core UK and Republic of Ireland market. During the initial closure period in spring 2020, approximately 70% of the combined store and online revenues from the prior year were retained through solely digital channels. This retention rate increased to 100% through November when stores in the UK were closed again.

The group says there is “cause for optimism” in the future of its store estate, as even with materially lower footfall into many city centres and major shopping malls, sales in like for like stores grew by more than 4% in the Q3 period from August to October, 2020, which was largely a period free from restrictions.

Recognising the benefits that accrue from investing in its retail estate in terms of consumer engagement, the group has continued with our programme of upsizes in key locations, with bigger stores opened during the year in Exeter, Plymouth and Brighton.

The upsizing programme will continue in the new financial year, with new larger format stores scheduled to open in a number of key locations including Belfast, Edinburgh and Stratford.

Free NewsletterVISIT TheIndustry.beauty
cross