JJB shares slide on warning

BRITAIN'S biggest sportswear seller, JJB Sports, sent a shiver through the retail sector today as it warned its profits will fall as much as 20% short of City expectations this year.

Shares in the group tumbled 29 1/2p to 187p as chairman and founder David Whelan said sales, already under pressure from fierce competition, have been further hit by recent wet weather. This has particularly affected its T-shirt, polo shirts and shorts ranges.

Although much will depend on the Christmas season, the group does not expect to meet City profit forecasts of around £88m for the year ending in January.

Whelan warned that the shortfall could be as much as 20%, indicating profits of some £70m. This compares with forecasts earlier in the year of more than £90m.

JJB did well during Euro 2004, when sales of replica football kit boomed. But this came at the expense of other clothing ranges. Total sales for the 29 weeks to 15 August were down 2%, with a similar decline in the underlying performance.

Margins are also under pressure and likely to remain so, said finance director David Greenwood. 'It's a double whammy. Sales are down and we've had to bring prices down too,' he said.

Today's slump left the shares at a two-year low. A year ago, independent directors rejected 220p-a-share buyout proposals from Whelan, whose family still owns 38% of the shares.

Should you buy JJB shares?
Join the debate

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in