Sportswear chain bucks sales trend

UK sportswear chain JD Sports Fashion bucked the Christmas retail gloom today with a bullish forecast of better-than-expected profits this year.

High street big names such as Next and Marks & Spencer have unveiled falling sales this week, but JD said like-for-like sales rose 2.8% in the five weeks to January 5.

The firm – one of the strongest retail performers in the current downturn - said it believed current market expectations on pre-tax profit would be “marginally exceeded” in the year to January 31.