JD Sports warns Iran war could hit consumer spending and raise prices

The sports fashion retailer JD has warned that profits will fall this year amid a “muted market” hit by weaker spending by young people and concerns about the Middle East conflict. The company, which runs 4,800 stores worldwide including the JD, Blacks and Millets chains in the UK, said it expected profits of between £750m and £850m in the year ahead, after reporting £852m in the year to the end of January. JD said there had been “no material business impact to date” from the conflict in the Middle East, where it operates a small number of stores through franchise agreements. However, it said that the Iran war could push up costs and prices. It said: “Over time, the potential future impacts of heightened uncertainty may contribute to direct cost pressures, including energy and fuel costs across our store and logistics networks, respectively, as well as potential indirect impacts on pricing and consumer demand should input cost inflation emerge.” JD does not expect an increase in sales this year, excluding the impact of acquisitions, after recording flat sales in the three months to the end of April. That came after an increase of 2.1% in the year to January to £12.66bn. The UK was the worst-performing market in the year, with sales down 2.5%, offset by growth elsewhere in Europe and the US. …