JD Sports Fashion plc, the Bury-based FTSE 100 retailer, reported fourth-quarter to-date organic sales growth of +1.4% but said group like-for-like (LFL) sales were down 1.8%, in line with Q3 (Q3: -1.7%).
“Improved LFL sales trend in our largest market, North America (vs Q3: -1.7%); offset by weaker LFL trends in Europe and the UK (vs Q3: -1.1% and -3.3% respectively),” said JD Sports.
“Continued resilience in apparel sales reflecting strength of product range; softness in footwear as expected given end-of-cycle product line headwinds, despite positive momentum in running …
“Expect FY26 profit before tax and adjusting items (PBTAI) to be in line with current market expectations.
“On track to generate free cash flow of c.£400m in FY26; completed £200m of share buybacks.”
JD Sports Fashion CEO Régis Schultz said: “Overall sales during the peak period were in line with our expectations, against a volatile consumer backdrop. Black Friday saw strong customer engagement across all regions, but demand softened in the first half of December, particularly in Europe and the UK.
“We responded decisively in the final weeks of the period by choosing to make targeted price investments, and we saw improved sales in the immediate run-up to Christmas Day and the period after, demonstrating the strong customer appeal of JD and its complementary fascias, in a challenging market. I’d like to thank all our colleagues for their continued hard work and commitment during a critical trading period for the Group.
“We were pleased to see a marked improvement in our like-for-like sales trend in North America, our largest market, where we returned to growth and delivered further market share gains, supported by disciplined execution of our trading plan.
” JD’s brand awareness continues to grow in the US and, building on this momentum, we have decided to increase our marketing initiatives in North America in the coming year to accelerate our growth plans in the region.
“Operationally, we continue to exercise strong cost and cash control, and expect to exit the financial year with a higher-quality inventory position.
“Our strategic initiatives are delivering strong progress across the business: we are optimising our supply chain, continuing to upgrade our online proposition through the ongoing re‑platforming of our e‑commerce channels, and accelerating our digital transformation through the roll‑out of our agentic AI‑driven commerce capabilities. Together, these actions position us well to navigate a fast‑changing retail landscape.
“Looking ahead, we remain confident that our agile, multi-brand, cross-category approach will enable us to outperform the market, and deliver strong cash flows and enhanced shareholder returns. For FY26, we expect full year profit before tax and adjusting items to be in line with current market expectations, and free cash flow of c.£400m, underpinned by disciplined execution and a strong balance sheet.”