This sports wear fashion retailer looks like it could be set for a recovery having had a solid Christmas and maintained trading strength through into the new Year.

Its long term chart is showing signs of an uptrend channel developing and the sp as crossed the 10 and 30 day moving averages..



Trader Chart



Last Trading Statements..

Xmas Statement

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200901090700073733L

January Trading Statement

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200902040700127485M

Fundies..

INVESTMENT RATIOS
2008 (A) 2009 (E) 2010 (E)
EBITDA 55.35m 63.30m 65.30m
EBIT 43.13m 47.48m 48.90m
Dividend Yield 2.68% 3.63% 3.99%
Dividend Cover 9.07x 7.17x 6.88x
PER 4.12x 3.85x 3.64x
PEG 0.06f 0.55f 0.66f
Net Asset Value PS 83.41p p p

Trades on a forward P/E of less than 4 for 2010.

Nothings guranteed but this looks like a forerunner in green shoot recovery for fashion sports clothing retail.

Beta 0.2

DYOR

JD Sports Fashion Sports Impresses With Interim Profit As Sales Surge
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sports and fashion chain JD Sports Fashion PLC Wednesday sported an ...
Alliance News17 September, 2014 | 7:58AM

LONDON (Alliance News) - Sports and fashion chain JD Sports Fashion PLC Wednesday sported an impressive increase in its pretax profit for the first half of its financial year, as strong revenue growth was driven by another strong sales performance from its core UK sportswear business.
The sportswear, outdoor clothing and fashion retailer reported a pretax profit of GBP16.5 million for the six months to August 3, up from only GBP6.1 million a year earlier.
Its profit was driven by a 27% increase in revenue to GBP721.5 million, up from GBP567.4 million last year, after strong sportswear sales continued, and it was given a much-welcome boost by the build up to the football World Cup.
"Our sports operations continue to provide the engine for profit growth and cash generation in the group and will therefore continue to be the primary focus of investment," said Executive Chairman Peter Cowgill in a statement.
Alongside raising its interim dividend to 1.1500 pence per share, up from 1.1125 pence last year, the retailer gave a confident outlook for the remainder of the year, despite tough comparatives, saying it expects to deliver a profit an the top end of market expectations.
"The board recognises the demanding comparatives of the second half of the last financial year...as well as our significant dependence on Christmas trading but following the robust performance of the business in the first half believes that the group is well positioned to deliver results towards the upper end of current market expectations," said Cowgill.
Profit and sales growth in the company in recent years has been driven by its core sportswear business, including JD and its footwear stores Size?, while its fashion and outdoor businesses have been a drag.
The company said that besides its UK and European sports operations, its begun to see positive progress in its outdoor business, following major restructuring. However it said its fashion business, which includes brands Bank and Scott, continues to under perform and increased its trading losses.
"Fashion continues to disappoint, albeit trading more positively in the second quarter. The second half of the year is traditionally stronger for the fashion fascias," said Cowgill.
The retailer has also been expanding overseas, having recently acquired a package of stores in the Netherlands and Germany, while adding to its international offering in France and Spain.
"We have subsequently opened a further two stores in this country [Germany] and have increased our critical mass elsewhere with additional stores in the period in both France and the Netherlands. There will be further openings in all of our international territories in the second half," the company said.
Investec analyst Kate Calvert said the retailer's trading figures for the first half did not disappoint.
"Good numbers were expected post its first quarter trading update, but a 100% increase in first-half pretax profit results has exceeded expectations. This has been driven by Sports, which has had another strong footwear performance, and progress in Europe," said Calvert.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; rowenaharrisdoughty@alliancenews.com; @rharrisdoughty
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
- See more at: hxxp://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/AN_1410937092203265900/jd-sports-fashion-sports-impresses-with-interim-profit-as-sales-surge.aspx#sthash.pjqJkUhF.dpuf

Sprint after record-breaking JD Sports
By Lee Wild | Wed, 17th September 2014 - 12:22
Sprint after record-breaking JD SportsJD Sports Fashion (JD.) had a fantastic 2013, and after a pause for breath this year, has unveiled a record set of first half numbers. Profit actually doubled and City number crunchers have raised forecasts for the full-year. The second half will be harder, but the sports retailer's shares look to have legs.
Sales for the 26 weeks ended 2 August surged by 27% to £721.5 million and costs as a percentage of revenue fell sharply. Strip out £3.5 million of one-off items, mainly provisions for onerous property leases, and operating profit rocketed from £10.4 million to £21 million. Investec Securities had pencilled in just £15 million.

An "exceptional" performance at the Sports division was the driving force. There, business was up across Europe and profit grew by a third to £34.8 million. Trainers sold particularly well.

Crucially, losses at the Outdoor unit - Blacks and Millets - narrowed significantly from £8.9 million to £5.6 million and are expected to shrink further during the remainder of the year. Fashion had another shocker, though, with losses widening to £8.2 million from £6.8 million. However, the second quarter showed signs of improvement and the second half is typically busier. Underperforming stores are being shut and rents reduced, too.

Admittedly, comparisons get tougher as the year progresses - like-for-like sales at the core UK and Ireland Sports operation jumped by 11.2% in the second half of last year.

That's why Investec capped its upgrade for full-year adjusted pre-tax profit at 3%. The broker now expects JD to make £83.5 million in the year to January, giving adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 32p, up 9%. It's looking for 11% growth the following year.

Of course, JD has work to do turning round both the Outdoor and Fashion operations, but both are achievable. Fix them, and Investec points out that EPS would be enhanced by 18%. True, that's unlikely short-term, but it gives an idea of the potential.

Strip out forecast year-end net cash of £61.1 million, worth 31p per share, and JD Sports shares (currently at 433p) trade on just 12.6 times forward earnings, dropping to less than 11 for 2016. JD shares have consistently found strong support at the 200-day moving average (currently 396p), but if management keep this up, they won't need it.

JD. JD SPORTS FASHION on a P/E of just 4.91 way way too cheap. Uprating must come over the next year given the excelence of the the retail offering.

JD SPORTS FASHION SHARE PRICE INFORMATION

Name JD Sports Fashion Epic JD.
Sector General Retailers ISIN GB00BMNQZP86
Activites JD Sports Fashion plc's (formerly John David Sports plc) principal activity is the retail and distribution of sport and athletic inspired fashion, footwear, apparel and accessories. The Group's principal fascias are: JD Sports, Size?, Scotts, Bank and Chausport. Index FTSE 250

Latest Share Price (p) 430.55 Net Gearing (%) 41.69
Market Cap (£m) 197.32 Gross Gearing (%) 54.50
Shares in issue (m) 48.66 Debt Ratio 13.09
P/E Ratio 4.91 Debt-to-Equity Ratio 0.13
Divs per share (p) 27.10 Assets / Equity Ratio 2.20
Dividend Yield (%) 6.68 Price to book value 0.72
Dividend Cover 3.03 ROCE 0.11
Earning per share (p) 82.52 EPS Growth (%) 3.53
52-week high / low (p) 1,825.00 / 360.00 DPS Growth (%) 3.04

JD SPORTS FASHION BROKER VIEWS

Date Broker Recommendation Price Old target price New target price Notes
17 Sep Investec Buy 430.55 475.00 475.00 Reiterates
17 Sep N+1 Singer Buy 430.55 500.00 500.00 Reiterates
17 Sep Cantor Fitzgerald Buy 430.55 500.00 500.00 Reiterates

JD. Citywire Comment...


JD Sports doubles profits
Retailer JD Sports (JD) has exceeded expectations with a 100% increase in first-half profits before tax.

Investec analyst Kate Calvert retained a ‘buy’ recommendation and a target price of 475p following its H1 results. Shares were trading at 408p yesterday.

‘Good numbers were expected post its Q1 trading update, but a 100% increase in H1 profits before tax results has exceeded expectations,’ she said.

‘This has been driven by sport, which has had another strong footwear performance, and progress in Europe. Valuation on our upgraded full year forecast – 3% increase – looks undemanding given the untapped UK growth potential, building momentum in its profitable European business as scale increases, and the ability to reduce £15 million of outdoor and fashion forecast losses over time.’

19 Sep 2014 JD Sports Fashion... JD. Cantor Fitzgerald Buy 0.00 433.30 500.00 500.00 Reiterates

SP TARGET 500p