JD Sports Fashion PLC (LON:JD.) has said it is confident that its annual profits will come in at well over £100mln ahead of market expectations after enjoying strong online trading in the run-up to Christmas.
The FTSE 100-listed sports retailer expects headline profit before tax for the year to January 2021 be “at least £400mln”, compared to the average analyst forecast of roughly £295mln.
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This is partly thanks to like-for-like for the 22 weeks to January 2 being more than 5% ahead of the previous year, the group said in a statement on Monday amid the enforced closures of most of its shops in the UK due to the recent lockdown.
Consumers, the group said, “readily switched between physical and digital channels” during November and December.
Looking ahead to the next financial year, management said because of the ongoing uncertain outlook, with stores in the UK likely to be closed until at least Easter and closures in other countries possible, its current best estimate is for 5%-10% growth in headline profit before tax.