Muslim festival of Eid prompts sales alert at JD Sports

Shares in JD Sports fell sharply today after the retailer said it was facing 'margin pressure' and that comparative sales will be impacted by the timing of the Muslim festival of Eid.

JD Sports said comparative sales will be impacted by the timing of the Muslim festival of Eid. Picture: Nick Ansell/PA Wire

The firm said that Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan, meant it had to adjust the timing of its clearance period.

“Therefore, we do not believe our like-for-like store sales comparatives will be truly meaningful until the end of the first half, by which point the impact of the aforementioned timing differences and the strong comparatives from the performance through last year’s Euros tournament will all have fully unwound,” JD Sports said.

Shares plummeted by about 9 per cent to 362.2p following the update.

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This was despite the company saying that like-for-like growth and online sales have been in line with expectations, with the group on track to deliver full-year results within forecasts.

JD Sports said it continues to expand across the UK and overseas, with a net increase of 28 stores in the period to 24 June, including its first JD stores in Australia and Malaysia.

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In April, the firm reported a record set of annual results as the retailer hailed an “exceptional year” and pointed to further growth, despite Brexit-linked inflationary pressures.

Pre-tax profits at the sports-to-fashion chain rose by 81 per cent to £238 million in the year to 28 January, while revenue grew 31 per cent to £2.3 billion.

Jonathan Pritchard, analyst at Peel Hunt, said: “Expectations have mostly caught up with reality, but the fact that forecasts have precisely doubled in the last two years, an extraordinary run, made that certain to happen at some stage.”

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