JD Sports chief executive officer Régis Schultz offered a glimpse on how the footwear and sports apparel retail fared during the holidays in the company’s latest trading update on Wednesday.
The CEO said in a statement that overall sales during the peak holiday period were “in line” with expectations even against a volatile consumer backdrop.
“Black Friday saw strong customer engagement across all regions, but demand softened in the first half of December, particularly in Europe and the UK,” Schultz said. “We responded decisively in the final weeks of the period by choosing to make targeted price investments, and we saw improved sales in the immediate run-up to Christmas Day and the period after, demonstrating the strong customer appeal of JD and its complementary fascias, in a challenging market.”
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Overall, the company said its fourth quarter to-date organic sales grew 1.4 percent, while like-for-like sales dipped 1.8 percent in the period, which was in line with the company’s third quarter performance.
By region, the company say like-for-like sales in North America, its largest market, increase 5.3 percent in Q4 to-date, up from down 1.7 percent last quarter. The company noted that the region reported “resilient performance” in footwear, driven by continued momentum in the running category and strong demand in new retro basketball product launches. These were offset by softness in end-of-cycle product lines.
JD also noted that it saw strong online performance across all of its key banners in North America during the period, supported by better online ranges, focused marketing and controlled price investments particularly on FinishLine.com.
“We were pleased to see a marked improvement in our like-for-like sales trend in North America, our largest market, where we returned to growth and delivered further market share gains, supported by disciplined execution of our trading plan,” Schultz added. “JD’s brand awareness continues to grow in the U.S. and, building on this momentum, we have decided to increase our marketing initiatives in North America in the coming year to accelerate our growth plans in the region.”
The company’s return to gains in North America were offset however by weaker like-for-like sales trends in Europe, down 1.1 percent, and the UK, down 3.3 percent in the period. Both markets took a hit from a cautious consumer environment and higher promotions, JD noted.
In Asia Pacific, the company continued to see like-for-like growth, up 2.8 percent, despite tougher prior year comparisons, driven by good performance across footwear and apparel.
As for the full fiscal year 2026, the company is expecting its profit before tax to be in line with current market expectations based on its current year-to-date performance.
But, as it moves into fiscal 2027, JD Sports noted that it currently anticipates a period of muted market growth. The company cited the weak spending outlook for its core customer demographic and the early stages of the innovation pipeline of its major brand partners, particularly in footwear, as major reasons why for this guidance.
“Looking ahead, we remain confident that our agile, multi-brand, cross-category approach will enable us to outperform the market, and deliver strong cash flows and enhanced shareholder returns,” the CEO concluded.
