JD Sports showing poor form

SPORTS fashion retailer JD Sports has become the latest firm to report a sharp decline in sales.

The company, which has four stores in Edinburgh, had been one of the few retailers to perform well in the first half of this year, but said comparable sales fell by one per cent in the past 11 weeks.

Sports-branded sites declined by 1.8 per cent, compared to a 5.4 per cent rise in the first 32 weeks.

JD said the deterioration was not unexpected given the retail conditions and very strong comparatives with trading a year earlier.

It stressed it remained confident of meeting market forecasts for the full financial year.

It recently reported a half-year profits haul of £9.1 million for the six months to August 2, an increase of 71 per cent on a year earlier.