JD Sports CEO Warns on ‘Volatile’ Year Ahead, Declines to Comment on Trump Tariffs Following Q4 Gains
Shares for JD Sports rose nearly 14 percent on Wednesday following steady growth in fiscal 2025 despite entering into a “volatile” market spurred by Trump’s reciprocal tariffs announced last week.
According to the UK-based athletic retailer, like-for-like revenue increased 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 despite a “challenging market,” with organic revenue growth of 5.6 percent, driven by a strong performance in Europe.
For the full year, like-for-like revenue growth was also 0.3 percent, in line with its previous guidance of broadly flat, with organic growth of 5.8 percent, slightly ahead of its previous guidance and driven by strong growth from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
The company said that as a result of its performance in the period, JD Sports expects profit before tax and adjusting items for fiscal 2025 to be in line with its January guidance range of 915 million pounds to 935 million pounds.
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On the retail front, the company noted that it ended fiscal 2025 with 4,850 stores, up from 1,533 from the start of the fiscal year. This tally reflects the 1,485 stores acquired through the purchase of both Hibbett in the U.S. and Courir in France.
Looking ahead, JD Sports said that it expects the trading environment in its key markets to be “volatile throughout the year,” and as a result, has started the year in line with its expectations.
On the company’s Q4 earnings call on Wednesday, Régis Schultz, chief executive officer of JD Sports Fashion Plc, walked analysts through its updated medium-term plans.
“Reflecting slower market growth and the investments we have made in our supply chain and infrastructure, we are updating our medium-term plans to capitalize on our organic growth opportunities in North America and Europe, deliver productivity and efficiency benefits from the investments and utilize our strong cash generation to deliver improved returns for our shareholders,” Schultz said.
The CEO said that while global sports fashion is an “attractive and growing market,” the company now expects it to grow at a slower rate over the medium term. “We are therefore adapting our plans to capitalize on our growth opportunities and the investments we have made in our infrastructure over the last two years to improve returns for our shareholders,” he said.
Before taking questions from analysts, Schultz said that he anticipated several inquiries about tariffs but declined to address the topic. “We are digesting the tariffs right now and we are looking at,” he said. “It is a very serious matter, but the position is likely to evolve. It’s volatile.”
As for its action plan however, Schultz noted JD Sports will continue to invest in growth opportunities across North America and Europe in order to deliver a three-year payback. The company said it plans to do this by continuing to open new stores in North America while also completing the conversion of Finish Line stores to JD. It also plans to “accelerate” growth of the Courir brand in Europe, while also enhancing its European sporting goods business and UK outdoor business.
What’s more, the company said that while reflecting on the “important role” the Mersho family (founders of the Shoe Palace chain, which JD Sports acquired in 2020) continues to play in the integration, development and long-term growth of its North American business, it has agreed to defer the buyout of the family’s 20 percent non-controlling interest in Genesis, the parent company of JD’s North American business, to two tranches of 10 percent each in 2029 and 2030.
The CEO also dubbed 2025 a “year of transition” as the company moves away from a period of “significant investment” in M&A to a period focused on leveraging those investments and delivering improved returns.
“As we are now moving into a lower phase of capital investment with no material M&A opportunities in the pipeline, and reflecting the liquidity headroom created by the deferral of the Genesis option, we are in a position to provide incremental shareholder returns,” Schultz said. “In line with this, the board intends to announce the commencement of an initial 100 million pound share buyback program.”
