Record profits boosting JD Sports

JD SPORTS notched up record profits as its fashionable trainers and lower prices wooed shoppers.

The chain is eyeing huge expansion after it made a £294.5m profit for the year to February, a 24pc rise.

The dividend was raised by 5.2pc to 1.63p per share. Shares rose 5.2pc, or 18.4p, to 371.3p.

Chief executive Peter Cowgill put it down to strong demand for top brands Adidas and Nike, along with the re-emergence of brands such as Fila.

Cowgill added: ‘I think there is a malaise on the high street caused by an excessive emphasis on e-commerce and the internet and the weaker players are continually falling away.’

However, he did apologise for backing a marketing stunt which featured a fake drug den. Cowgill said he was sorry for working with trainer brand Puma on its House of Hustle campaign.

The event in Soho, London, saw attendees sent shoe boxes stuffed with fake £50 notes and a ‘burner’ mobile phone of the sort used to buy drugs anonymously.

Those who took part were invited to a mock drug den with graffiti on the walls and dirty mattresses on the floor.