By Shares in JD Sports Fashion, a London-listed fashion retailer, took a sharp decline of 23%, making it the worst performer on the FTSE 100 index. This comes after the company reduced its expectations for headline pretax profit for fiscal year 2024. The disappointing figures were attributed to weaker-than-expected trading during the peak season.
At 0859 GMT, the company’s shares plummeted by 36.15 pence, reaching 119.30 pence. Over the past twelve months, shares have fallen by 12%.
JD Sports Fashion cited lower-than-anticipated revenue growth for the 22 weeks leading up to December 30, largely caused by cautious consumer spending and mild weather conditions in the second half of September. These factors resulted in a decline in apparel sales.
Despite these challenges, Chief Executive Regis Schultz emphasized that the company still managed to increase its market share, although it faced heightened promotional activity during the peak trading season.
In addition to the decrease in revenue growth, JD Sports Fashion experienced a decline in its gross margin rate due to the elevated level of promotional activity. As a result, the company now expects its gross margin rate for the year ending February 3 to be slightly lower compared to the previous year.
Consequently, the company revised its forecast for headline pretax profit for fiscal year 2024, reducing it from £1.04 billion to a range of £915 million to £935 million ($1.16 billion to $1.18 billion).
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