British retailer JD Sports Fashion posted a 22% rise in full-year profit as demand for branded trainers in the UK and Europe helped sales soar.
The company, along with its core sports retail business, runs fashion and outdoor retail outlets such as Scotts and Blacks.
It said today that profit before tax and exceptional items for the year to January 31 rose to £100m, almost 6% ahead of forecasts.
The firm had raised profit expectations earlier this year after seeing strong sales growth and demand over Christmas.
Group revenue grew by a quarter in the year with its core sports business posting improving margins and like-for-like sales growth across the UK and Europe of 13%.
"This result and its ingredients provide a robust platform for further profitable growth, at home and internationally," the company's executive chairman Peter Cowgill said today.
JD Sports, which rivals Sports Direct, has the majority of its 850 stores in the UK, but is expanding overseas in the Netherlands, Spain, France and Germany.
The group said it was determined to reach profitability in its outdoor Blacks and Millets arm in its 2016/17 fiscal year.
The unit, bought from administration in 2012, posted a reduced operating loss of £4.9m for the year.
