Operating profit at the sports retailer dropped from£62.1 million to£34.3 million for the year ending January 29. Like-for-like sales were down 4.3 per cent.
The group said the results were 'disappointing', but in line with expectations.
Chairman Roger Lane-Smith said: 'As well as a generally difficult retail climate, the sports sub-sector is also going through a fundamental change with competitive pressures making trading extremely challenging.'
JJB has been pursuing a more competitive pricing policy since October last year, in response to competition from rivals such as Sports World.
Results at the group's leisure division were encouraging, with operating profits up 56.4 per cent to£15 million. The division opened11 health club/superstores last year and a further 12 are planned for this year.
The retail division has shown an improvement at the start of the new financial year, with like-for-like sales up 2.6 per cent in the 11 weeks to April 15.
Investec analyst Mark Charnock said: 'The health club roll-out remains a positive. This year will also see a boost from world cup related sales. In the short-term, the outlook is a little better than it was, but the risk remains that competitive threats become even more intense.'
JJB has 438 retail outlets nationwide.
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