JD Sports Fashion PLC (LSE:JD.) warned that its profits this year will sit at the lower end of guidance after volatile trading continued in the third quarter, partly blamed on uncertainty around the US election.
“After a good start to the period, helped by strong back-to-school sales, we saw increased trading volatility in October,” chief executive Régis Schultz said in a statement.
North America and the UK were particularly affected, he added, causing like-for-like sales to drop by 1.5% and 2.4% across each respectively in the three months to November.
Sales also dropped by 3.8% in the Asia Pacific region and increased by 3.5% across Europe.
Overall, group LFL sales declined 0.3% in the quarter, turning negative after 0.7% growth in the first half of the year.
Promotional activity in the sector was elevated toward the end of the period, exacerbated by unseasonable weather and consumer caution, which JD said was made worse by “suppressed demand in the US ahead of the election”.
Full-year pre-tax profit is now expected to sit at the lower end of JD Sports’ guided range of £955 million to £1,035 million as a result, the company said.