Blacks is tight fit for JD Sports

RETAILER JD Sports Fashion yesterday reported a fall in profits and admitted it will need more time to revive the Blacks Leisure chain but said it hoped to benefit from events such as the Olympics.

The group bought Blacks for £20 million in January, but found it in a “very fractured” state, with a lack of stock in key lines and a bloated cost base.

It has closed underperforming stores but restructuring costs from the first three weeks of Blacks’ new ownership left its mark on JD’s results for the year to 28 January. Profits at the bottom-line fell 14 per cent to £67.4m.

Finance director Brian Small said: “We had a very good period of trading in December, around Christmas. But January and February were a bit tougher. Since then, there have been signs of life on the high street.”

Revenue leapt 20 per cent to £1.06 billion, but the firm warned that margins remained under pressure. A final dividend of 21.2p is 10 per cent up from last year.