Gains for JD Sports, Just Eat, and Sainsbury's despite Omicron flare-up          

Large companies relying on selling goods and services to consumers came through the Omicron flare-up in remarkably good shape, a batch of new corporate trading updates suggest

JD Sports raised its annual profit forecast for the second time in four months.

Large companies relying on selling goods and services to consumers – including JD Sports, Just Eat, and the owner of Premier Inn – came through the Omicron flare-up in remarkably good shape, a batch of new corporate trading updates suggest.            

Retailer JD Sports – which also owns DTLR Villa and Shoe Palace in the US – raised its annual profit forecast for the second time in four months, despite the myriad of challenges including supply chain disruption and inflation. Its shares, which had already climbed above their pre-pandemic levels, were little changed on the latest update to value the firm at £11.3bn (€13.5bn). 

In its update, Whitbread-owner Premier Inn, which has outlined plans to expand in Dublin and Cork, said its sales in Britain "remained resilient" last month. Its shares were also little changed, but are still deeply below levels of two years ago before the onset of the Covid crisis. It has a stock market value of over £6.4bn.

Shares in UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's – which also owns Argos – rose almost 2% after it got through Christmas by cutting costs even as British supermarkets faced a slowdown in grocery sales from the elevated levels of the previous Christmas. 

Sainsbury's, Britain's second largest supermarket, is now forecasting a full-year 2021-22 underlying profit before tax of "at least" £720m compared with previous guidance of "at least" £660m and £356m made in 2020-21. 

Grocers in Britain and Ireland have had a good pandemic, and Sainsbury's shares are sharply ahead of levels before the pandemic to value the group at £6.7bn.

And, in its update, delivery firm Just Eat Takeaway said it was sticking with its previous revenue forecasts for this year. Its shares climbed 5.5% in Amsterdam trade to value the company at almost €9.7bn. Delivery firms shares have had a tougher time since the lifting of the worst of the Covid crisis.          

Chief executive Jitse Groen said Just Eat was not forecasting profitability this year.