JD Sports Fashion Plc (LON:JD), the leading global retailer of sports, fashion and outdoor brands, has announced its full year results for the 52 weeks ended 1 February 2025.
Commenting on the results, Régis Schultz, Chief Executive Officer of JD Sports Fashion Plc, said:
“We increased Group revenue on a constant currency basis* by 12% with organic sales growth* of c.6%, more than double the market growth, thanks to our strong and agile, multi-brand model. We delivered a 48% gross margin, excluding the impact of acquisitions*, which was in line with the previous period due to our full price commercial strategy and strong trading discipline in a promotional market. We concluded two important acquisitions in our key strategic markets – Hibbett in the US and Courir in Europe – while we continued to invest in our infrastructure and controls environment. In constant currency, our operating profit* was ahead of last year and our operating cashflow was over £1.2bn, demonstrating our strong cash generation. We achieved Profit before tax and adjusting items* of £923m, in line with our January guidance.
“In April, we announced we were adapting our strategy to reflect slower anticipated market growth and an increased focus on profitability, leveraging the investments we have made to support our growth in the key markets of North America and Europe, delivering strong cash generation and improving returns to our shareholders.
“Our focus on increasing shareholder returns is demonstrated by paying FY25 dividends of £52m, up 11% on the previous period, and after the period end, the commencement of a £100m share buyback programme.
“Overall trading in the first quarter of the new financial year has been in line with our expectations in a volatile market. Despite this volatility, and uncertainty surrounding the impact of US tariff changes, we look forward into the medium term with confidence that we can continue to outperform the market, improve our profit margin and create significant value for our shareholders.”
Performance summary
| £m | 52w to 1 Feb 2025 | 52w to 27 Jan 2024 restated(1)(unaudited) | Change(52 v 52) | Constant currency change(52 v 52) |
| Revenue | 11,458 | 10,397 | 10.2% | 12.0% |
| Gross margin before adjusting items* | 47.8% | 48.0% | (20)bps | (20)bps |
| Operating profit before adjusting items after interest on lease liabilities* | 937 | 940 | (0.3)% | 0.8% |
| Operating margin before adjusting items after interest on lease liabilities* | 8.2% | 9.0% | (80)bps | (90)bps |
| Profit before tax and adjusting items* | 923 | 961 | (4.0)% | (2.9)% |
| 53w to 3 Feb 2024 restated | Change (52 v 53) | |||
| Adjusted basic earnings per share* (p) | 12.39 | 12.81 | (3.3)% | |
| Operating cashflow net of lease repayments* | 1,245 | 1,161 | 7.2% | |
| Net cash before lease liabilities* at period end | 52 | 1,032 | (980) |
1 Explanations for restating FY24 numbers can be found in note 4 to the Consolidated Financial Statements
| Statutory/£m | 52w to 1 Feb 2025 | 53w to 3 Feb 2024 | Change (52v53) |
| Revenue | 11,458 | 10,542 | 8.7% |
| Operating profit | 903 | 927 | (2.6)% |
| Net finance expense | (188) | (116) | 62.1% |
| Profit before tax | 715 | 811 | (11.8)% |
| Basic earnings per share (p) | 9.50 | 10.45 | (9.1)% |
| Dividend per share (p) | 1.00 | 0.90 | 11.1% |
Throughout this release,’*’ indicates the use of Alternative Performance Measures. Please refer to pages 41 to 47 for the further information including reconciliations to statutory measures.
Financial highlights
· Organic sales growth* of 5.8% and like-for-like (LFL) sales growth* of 0.3%
· Constant currency revenue growth* of 12.0% to £11,458m
· Gross margin* of 47.8%, down slightly on the prior period reflecting the acquisitions of lower margin Hibbett and Courir
· Constant currency Operating profit before adjusting items after interest on lease liabilities* up 0.8%
· Profit before tax and adjusting items* of £923m, down 4.0%, due largely to the continued investment in infrastructure, controls and security
· Profit before tax of £715m, down 11.8% due partly to an increase of £53m in adjusting items*
· Adjusted basic earnings per share* down 3.3% to 12.39p
· Basic earnings per share down 9.1% to 9.50p
· Operating cashflow net of lease repayments* of £1,245m driving net cash before lease liabilities* of £52m
· Proposed final dividend of 0.67p; total proposed dividend up 11.1% to 1.00p
· Q126 trading in line with expectations
Strategic highlights
· JD Brand First
o JD store openings delivering payback of less than three years
o Launched franchise partnerships in South Africa and Indonesia, and the Philippines after year end
· Complementary Concepts
o Completed strategically important acquisitions of Hibbett, Inc. and Courir, extending our ‘Reach’ in the key growth markets of North America and Europe
· Beyond Physical Retail
o Continuing to implement our global supply chain strategy
o Over 8m active JD STATUS members
o Improved controls and security environment
· People, Partners & Communities
o Record employee engagement
o Included in the Carbon Disclosure Project Climate A list
· After the year end, we updated our medium-term-plan to increase focus on profitability and improved shareholder returns
Analyst and investor Q&A
JD Sports Fashion Plc will be hosting an invite-only event for institutional investors and analysts at 0830 BST on 21 May 2025 with CEO Régis Schultz and CFO Dominic Platt. The presentation will be held at Peel Hunt, 100 Liverpool Street, London, EC2M 2AT.
To register for the live webcast of this event, please visit the following link: https://app.webinar.net/qRdaD7wD7xe
If you are unable to attend in person and wish to ask questions, please visit the following link: https://registrations.events/direct/Q4I812121497
For those unable to attend in real time, either in person or virtually, the presentation will be made available directly following the live presentation on the Investor Relations section of the JD PLC website:www.jdplc.com/investor-relations/results-centre
Financial calendar
2 July 2025: AGM
August 2025: Q226 trading update
September 2025: H126 results
November 2025: Q326 trading update
