JD Sports Fashion PLC (LSE:JD.) has reported an uptick in profit before tax for its year ended January 2023 but remains cautious of headwinds for the year ahead.
Profit before tax and adjusted items grew to £991.4mln in the year to 29 January 2023, a slight increase on last year’s figure of £947.2mln, the company said in a statement.
“This is a record result for the group and I must pay tribute to the skills, resilience and positive attitude of the colleagues in our businesses who have not let the leadership changes distract from their focus on the consumer and our offer,” noted JS Sports chair Andrew Higginson.
The FTSE 100-listed retailer was hit with an adjusted items charge of £550.5mln, which it said related to non-cash movement in the present value of future put and call options and losses incurred in divesting non-core businesses.
Profit before tax after the adjusted items was 32% lower than last year at £440.9mln, while revenues grew to £10.1bn from £8.5bn.
JD Sports hiked its final dividend to 0.67p from 0.35p, meaning investors received a total pay-out of 0.8p for the year.
Trading in the first 13 weeks of the current fiscal year has "reassured", JD Sports said, with growth in organic sales at constant exchange rates of more than 15%.
"Whilst we are encouraged by the resilient nature of the consumer demand in the current period to date, we remain conscious of the headwinds that prevail at this time including the general global macro-economic and geopolitical situation,” Higginson added.
Headline profit before tax and adjusted items forecasts for the current financial year is in line with expectations of £1.03bn.
The company said it has a net cash position of £1.4bn to “power the ongoing development opportunities.”