JD Sports maintains FY25 guidance, details FY26 outlook

JD Sports Fashion Plc, without offering any guidance on the potential impact of proposed tariffs, thinks its FY26 trading year will be volatile throughout and come with additional expenses beyond normal inflationary impacts. These include additional labor costs in the UK and higher IT investment, which will partially offset cost savings and efficiencies in North America.

But the 12-month period, which began Feb. 2, has already started within its expectations. The global retail behemoth is forecasting approximately 10 percent sales growth thanks to its recent acquisitions of Hibbett Sports in the U.S. and Courir in Europe. FY26 profit before tax and adjusting items, meanwhile, is predicted to be in line with the current consensus expectation of 920 million British pounds (€1.07b). During the year, the group will open 150 new stores and convert or relocate 100 others. The majority of the 50 store closures will be in Eastern Europe.

In its recently completed FY25, JD Sports posted organic revenue growth of 5.8 percent and profit before tax and adjusted items in line with its January guidance range of £915-£930 million (€1.06-1.09b).

Q4 like-for-like (LFL) revenue increased by 0.3 percent with organic sales up by 5.6 percent, driven by a strong performance in Europe. LFL sales were down 1.2 percent in the UK, off 1.5 percent in North America, but up by 3.5 percent in Europe and 2.2 percent across Asia-Pacific.

For the full year, LFL sales inched up by 0.3 percent, in line with guidance of “broadly flat,” with organic sales increasing by 5.8 percent due to strong growth from North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. FY25 gross margin dipped 20 basis points to 47.8 percent due to the impact from acquisitions. LFL sales declined by 2.8 percent in the UK but were higher in Europe (+2.7%), North America (+0.8%) and essentially flat in Asia-Pacific.