JD Sports Fashion has warned of “volatile” trading this year as tariffs imposed by President Trump hit its suppliers and threaten to knock consumer confidence in the United States.
The UK sportswear company has forecast little or no profit growth for the new financial year, even before any potential impact from US tariffs.
The FTSE 100 retailer, which counts the US as its biggest market by revenue, said it expected profit before tax and adjustments for the financial year to February 2026 to be in line with current consensus expectations. Analysts have forecast £920 million, with a range of £878 million to £982 million.
The group expects profits of between £915 million and £935 million for the current financial year, in line with previous downgraded guidance in January.
JD Sports told investors that it was too soon to assess the impact of the US tariffs, saying it expected “the trading environment in our key markets to be volatile throughout the year”.
Shares in the company rose by as much as 12 per cent on Wednesday as the relatively stable outlook calmed investors and it announced a new £100 million share buyback scheme, paring back some steep losses since tariffs were introduced last week. In late-afternoon trading, they were up 7½p, or 11.7 per cent, at 70½p.
JD Sports, which has almost 5,000 stores globally, is among a group of UK retailers exposed to the Trump administration’s latest round of import tariffs, which are expected to hit goods manufactured in Asian countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh. Those countries face tariffs of 46 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.
Wolverhampton Wanderers launch their 2024/25 away kit at a JD Sports store in Miami last August. The US is JD’s biggest market by revenue
JACK THOMAS – WWFC/WOLVES VIA GETTY IMAGES
Sportswear brands, including Nike and Adidas which are stocked by JD Sports, are particularly vulnerable due to the high volume of production in these regions. JD Sports generates about 45 per cent of sales from the Nike brand, its biggest supplier of trainers.
Andrew Higginson, chairman of JD Sports, warned that prices across the sector would rise if Trump’s tariffs stayed at their present levels. He told the BBC it was “unlikely” shoe production would move to the US but that it “depends on how high the tariffs are and for how long”.
The storm will come as a fresh blow to JD Sports, which has been struggling amid a slowdown in sales at Nike and a “volatile” sportswear market, pushing it further away from its £1 billion profit target.
Like-for-like revenue growth for the fourth quarter was 0.3 per cent, as stronger sales in Europe offset declines in the UK and North America. For the full year, like-for-like revenue growth was also 0.3 per cent, in line with previous guidance.
JD Sports said it expected recent acquisitions, including Hibbett in North America, to add a further 10 per cent to sales next year. Analysts believe JD Sports will continue to struggle until Nike is back in demand again.
Kate Calvert, an analyst at Investec, said: “Until Nike really resets itself — and that’s going to take another 18 months — it’s quite difficult to see JD growing as a business. Because … [if about half] of your business is probably Nike, you’re quite reliant on what happens to them.”
Clive Black of Shore Capital, the broker, said: “Despite the ongoing market challenges, JD remains a highly profitable and highly cash-generative business, a fact that should be brought into focus by the newly announced buyback. With tariff impact still up in the air, we hesitate to bang the drum but one to watch closely as the situation develops.”
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