British sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion has warned today that annual profit would come in at the lower end of its guided range after a tough October of discounting, mild weather and consumer caution, sending its shares down 9%.
FTSE 100-listed JD, which sells Nike, Adidas and other sports brands in Ireland, Britain, Europe and the US, said today that volatile trading last month meant underlying sales fell 0.3% in its third quarter to November 2.
The company said in the US, where it has over 1,200 stores, demand had been suppressed ahead of the election there in early November. Underlying sales in North America in the period were down 1.5%.
"The trading environment remains volatile," CEO Regis Schultz said in a statement.
Shares in JD traded down 9% to 101 pence in early deals, bringing losses over the last month to 25%.
Investec analysts said the group's longer term growth opportunities were being overlooked but better trading would need to be seen before any recovery in valuation.
JD had in October reassured investors on growth, citing its multi-brand strategy following worries over sales of Nike products, which account for 45% of JD sales. Nike had separately warned about discounting ahead of Christmas.
But JD said today it was positioned well for Christmas.
Nike is trying to win back market share with new product launches after losing out to more innovative brands such as Roger Federer backed On and Deckers Outdoor's Hoka.
For the full financial year, JD said pretax profit would come in at the lower end of the £955m to £1.035 billion guided range. In its 2023/24 year, it made £917.2m.
Peel Hunt analysts said they would lower their forecasts to reflect the softer trading, and noted that JD Sports would likely take around a £30m hit from changes to social security contributions in Britain next year.
"There is no change to the wider strategy: it has just been a slightly slower run-up to peak," they said.
