JD Sports has upped profit expectations but delayed its full-year results so it can address the divestment of Footasylum and complete a governance review.
JD Sports, which has been a consistently strong performer, said full-year headline earnings are likely to be at least £900m, which is “slightly ahead” of previous expectations.
The upgrade followed strong trading in January, a month not covered in JD’s previous update that showed group like-for-like growth of approximately 10%.
JD also said it has agreed with auditor KPMG to postpone the publication of its results, originally scheduled for April 12.
The retailer said the decision was “to ensure that KPMG has sufficient time to complete its global audit procedures and to allow the group to report on the outcome of the divestment of Footasylum Limited with greater certainty”.
JD’s hopes of acquiring rival Footasylum were dashed by the competition authorities, to the fury of boss Peter Cowgill.
Earlier this week, the Competition and Markets Authority, which blocked the deal, also fined the two retailers almost £5m for breaking rules over the attempted tie-up.
JD said the delay to its results would also allow it to complete a review of “governance procedures and policies in light of the ongoing process to divide the current joint role of executive chair and chief executive officer”.
The retailer expects to update on that when it announces its results “in due course”.
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