The high street retailer was pretty inconsistent across the first 6-ish months of 2018; opening at £3.39, the stock found itself ranging between £3.40 and £4, unable to settle at either end of that bracket. Well, that was until summer kicked in.
Like a sunflower growing towards the sun, the FTSE 250 firm just kept growing during the UK heatwave, eventually hitting a fresh all-time high of £5.18 by the end of August. It has slipped a bit since then, but not by much, with JD Sports Fashion PLC now at a current trading price of £4.98.
Throughout the year the company’s updates have impressed. Hot on the heels of the news it was buying American trainer supplier Finish Line for $558 million, mid-April saw JD Sport post a huge 24% surge in annual pre-tax profit to £294.5 million, with turnover rocketing 33% higher to £3.2 billion. And while there was an eye-catching 30%-plus jump in like-for-like website sales, the 3% increase in LFL store sales was nothing to sniff at either, especially since executive chairman Peter Cowgill reaffirmed that bricks and mortar are the company’s ‘core offering’.
The end of June then brought JD Sports’ most recent statement, where the company said it was on track to deliver results ‘in line with consensus market expectations’. During its first quarter the firm was busy expanding, with a net increase of 36 stores, with 18 new stores across Europe and 16 in the Asia Pacific region, including the debut locations in South Korea and Singapore.
In terms of Tuesday’s half year results, investors will just want the good vibes to continue to roll in, with the maintenance of its like-for-like store sales growth and an update on the integration of Finish Line.
JD Sports Fashion PLC (LON:JD) has a consensus rating of ‘Buy’ alongside an average target price of £4.72.
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