John David remains cautious

Sports-fashion retail company, JD Sports part of the John David Group, has warned that High Street sales have declined significantly in the last few weeks.

The company, based in Bury, is cautious about the trading as the festive season approaches and mirrored comments of its rival JJB Sports, which recently said sales will only match those of 2006.

Furthermore, Mike Ashley’s Sports World chain Sports Direct, said the same, particularly since England failed to reach the European Championship next year.

JD said the last 7 weeks have seen a much lower rate of positive performance, in spite of the strong performance so far this year. The company has informed investors today that its profits will beat City expectations due to an 11.8% rise in like-for-like sales in the 44 weeks to beginning of December.

Analysts had been forecasting pre-tax profits of about £31 million against £25 million last year. They have now raised predictions by about 10%.

JD concluded that the Christmas period remains critical to the end result.

John David Sports was founded in 1981 and currently has more than 400 stores.

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