JD Gyms hails record year as sales pass £100m
JD Gyms, which is part of the wider empire owned by FTSE 100 giant JD Sports, has posted a pre-tax loss despite its sales passing £100m in what the chain has described as a record financial year.
The Greater Manchester-headquartered company has reported a pre-tax loss of £29,000 for the 12 months to 3 February, 2024, having achieved a pre-tax profit of £16.4m in the prior year.
The loss comes despite its revenue rising from £81.1m to £100.8m in the 12 months, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House.
JD Gyms finished its financial year with 85 sites, up from 79, and around 536,000 members, a rise from 453,000.
The company said its higher sales “reflect enhanced membership volumes aligned to 24-hour operations and club reinvestment alongside underlying yield growth on the back of selective club-level member price increases”.
JD Gyms added that its pre-tax loss related to the holding company and was because of the sale of other businesses instead of the performance of the chain itself.
The company did achieved an operating profit of £7.4m for the year, up from a loss of £17m in the prior year.
A JD Gyms spokesperson said: “We are delighted to announce a record year for JD Gyms.
“We grew our annual profit before adjusting items – which reflects the underlying performance of the business – by nearly two thirds to £29.5m, on revenue that exceeded £100m for the first time.
“This record performance was driven by the ongoing investment in our successful core JD Gyms business, increased membership numbers and the popularity of our 24-hour opening times.
“Our statutory figures for the last financial year included one-off costs related to the divestment and impairment of non-core assets, in line with our renewed focus on the profitable JD Gyms fascia.”
JD Gyms creates almost 250 jobs
During the year JD Gyms increased its membership prices rise above its typical £19.99 monthly fee “following significant multi-year compounded inflationary pressures”.
JD Gyms said its “directors are confident that the selective price increases continue to offer our members best in class value at those clubs impacted”.
During the year, the average number of people employed by JD Gyms jumped from 708 to 954.
The results for JD Gyms come after JD Sports itself reported a record revenue for the first half of its financial year after a pick-up in sales and the acquisition of American retailer Hibbett.
Revenue at the retailer reached just over £5bn in the 26 weeks to 3 August, 2024, up by 5.2 per cent year on year.
Its pre-tax profit also rose by two per cent to £405m, while earnings per share rose 4.5 per cent to 5.15p.
Morning Wire has also reported that Go Outdoors, which is also owned by JD Sports, has slumped into the red thanks to a “disproportionate” rise in costs.