JD Sports sees pick-up in LFL sales growth

Sports apparel retailer JD Sports Fashion saw like-for-like sales growth pick up slightly in the third quarter despite seeing what it labelled as a 'tough' environment.

Like-for-like (LFL) sales in the core UK Sports and Fashion Fascias in the 16 weeks to November 17th grew by 1.5%, up from the 1.1% growth seen in the first half.

The company said: "The trading environment in our markets remains tough and particularly so for the Fashion Fascias. This is reflected in the split of the LFL sales in the 16-week period, being Sports Fascias +3.5% and Fashion Fascias -6.6%."

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Nevertheless, JD gave a positive outlook for the turnaround at Blacks, the outdoor leisure retailer that was acquired in January of this year.

"We have commenced investment into the Blacks stores and early signs are encouraging for the future," the firm said.

It will provide an update on the division in its post-Christmas trading update in January 2013.

As usual, JD said that its full-year results are "substantially dependent" on the performance through the important Christmas period, particularly in the last two weeks of December.

"At this stage the board believes the group remains on course to deliver earnings in line with current expectations."