Shares in JD Sports increased by over 6% in early trading, after the retailer widened its profit guidance for the current financial year.

In the year to 31 January, the firm’s sales increased by 10.5% to £12.6bn, driven by the annualisations of the Hibbett and Courir acquisitions in the previous year.

However, in this period, its statutory profit before tax fell by 12% year-on-year to £629m, while operating profit dropped by 12.8% to £787m, driven by higher operating costs and interest on lease liabilities.

Despite this, JD Sports described the results as a “resilient financial performance”, against the global industry and consumer backdrop.

It stated that its operating cash flow jumped by 3.3% to £1.3bn, while its free cash flow increased by £123m to £462m, supported by cost and capital discipline.

Chief executive officer at JD Sports, Régis Schultz, said: "We delivered a resilient performance, achieving organic sales growth of 2.1% despite tough market conditions. Our deep understanding of our customers and lifestyle trends give us a clear view of how they want to shop and spend, allowing us to consistently deliver the right products, in the right places and at the right prices. This customer led focus, alongside disciplined cost and capital management, supported a 36% increase in free cash flow.

"We also made good progress against our strategic priorities, launching automation at our Heerlen distribution centre to support JD Europe store replenishment, and advancing our global e commerce re platforming programme, with full roll out to Europe and the UK planned for later in 2026. These programmes are critical stepping stones in future-proofing the infrastructure for a group of our scale, creating a robust platform that enables us to operate more efficiently and drive future growth."

In its outlook, JD Sports stated that its Q1 like-for-like sales fell by 2.3% in the three months to 25 April, although this period is the lowest sales weighting in its financial year.

Looking to the rest of the year, the retailer said it continues to anticipate "muted market growth in the near term", and while it has no direct exposure in the Middle East, it will continue to monitor the situation and its potential impact on the consumer.

Reflecting on this uncertainty, JD Sports has widened its profit guidance to a range of between £750m and £850m, with free cash flow of between £460m and £520m.

Head of markets at AJ Bell, Dan Coatsworth, stated that while the firm has cited a resilient performance, its "miserable longer-term" share price performance shows that investors "aren’t fooled".

He concluded: "The UK has been sluggish amid softer demand for footwear and JD is being caught up in the general high street gloom.

"The new financial year hasn’t exactly got off to a good start, with a 2.3% decline in like-for-like sales and a warning of muted market growth in the near-term.

"Conditions are unfavourable for JD, with higher oil prices threatening to curb the public’s day-to-day spending. A new pair of trainers are a ‘nice to have’ but non-essential purchase, and they might be down the list of priorities when individuals work out how far their money can go."

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