JD Sports shares rise as King of Trainers hikes full-year profit guidance
JD Sports have climbed by more than two per cent after the sportswear retailer revealed that full-year profits are likely to beat current City expectations.
The so-called King of Trainers said the strong performance it enjoyed in the first half of the year, when it reported a 10 per cent rise in like-for-like sales, had continued into the third quarter of the year.
As a result it expects headline pre-tax profits to exceed current consensus market expectations of £125m by £10m, the company said.
The news brought cheer to investors ahead of the crucial Christmas season, with shares rising by 2.22 per cent this afternoon to 1,005.68p ahead of close.
The profit beat comes after the retailer reported an 82 per cent jump profits to £46.6m in the six months to 1 August, while its revenue rose 21 per cent to £809.9m.
JD Sports said it was "pleased to report that relatively strong trading has continued" and said the hike in guidance came whilst "recognising the critical importance of trading through the remainder of December and early January and also the further infrastructure cost increases during the year to support the increasing international development of the business".