JD Sports like-for-likes edged up 2.4% in its second quarter however it flagged its cautious outlook for the rest of the year as the global macro environment remains “volatile”.
The sales rise in the quarter to 3 August at marks and improvement on the 0.7% year-on-year decline in its first quarter.
The business said the trading improvement was “driven primarily by the strength of our multi-brand operating model and softer comparatives with the previous year”.
Growth was strongest in North America and Europe, while UK like-for-like sales fell 0.8%, an improvement on the 6.4% fall in the first quarter.
“The global macro environment remains volatile and so we continue to be cautious on our outlook for the rest of the year,” JD said.
The company is “on track” to deliver profit within its full-year guidance of £955m to £1,035m, chief executive Régis Schultz added.
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During the period, JD Sports completed the acquisition of US sportswear brand Hibbett, which adds “material scale and presence in the US through its 1,179 stores, strengthening further our brand relationships in the world’s largest sportswear market”.
In the first half of the year, JD Sports opened 85 new stores which, along with the Hibbett acquisition and its ongoing disposal of non-core stores, saw the retailer end the first half with more than 1,000 new stores.
Last year, the retailer set out plans to become the “leading global sports-fashion powerhouse” under Schultz’s five-year growth plan, where he set a target of opening 250 to 350 stores a year.
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