JD Sports sales race ahead despite high street slowdown. Clothing retailer to expand international presence after buying Finish Line chain in US. JD Sports Fashion (JD.) has upgraded its profit outlook following strong Christmas sales, and is stepping up its expansion in the US, where it has opened its first five stores. Britain’s biggest sports retailer has been riding the athleisure boom – sportswear designed to be worn outside the gym – which has helped it avoid the collapse in fashion sales seen in other parts of the high street. Retailers are battling against rising rents and business rates, a shift to online shopping and waning consumer confidence. JD said like-for-like sales rose more than 5% in the 48 weeks to 5 January, up from 3% in the first half, while total sales (including newly opened shops) surged 15%. It said like-for-like sales were “consistently” positive over the Black Friday and festive period.
SSE hits out after Bulb claims big energy firms are squeezing families. Challenger companies’ low prices are unsustainable, says UK’s second-biggest supplier. A row has broken out between the UK’s second-biggest energy supplier and one of the largest challenger firms over whether small companies are pricing unsustainably or the big six are ripping people off. The renewable energy supplier Bulb criticised the big six for pegging their default tariffs only £4 on average below the government’s price cap, saying they were treating the measure as a target rather than a limit. The firm, which has grown rapidly since it entered the market in 2015 to more than 850,000 customers, accused the large players of “squeezing every last penny they can out of families”. Unusually, SSE (SSE) has hit back and suggested that smaller rivals are pricing at loss-making levels. Stephen Forbes, the co-head of SSE Energy Services, said companies of differing scale had bunched just below the cap, and rightly so. “It’s plain wrong to present this as a big-six issue. In total, 27 energy suppliers of all shapes and sizes have also set their prices within the same narrow range,” he said. “The reason for this is the cap has been set at a level which does not fully reflect the true cost of providing energy to all customers.” The default tariff offered by SSE is £4 under the cap of £1,337 based on typical energy use, compared with Bulb at £120 below. SSE linked that low pricing to Bulb posting a £23.7m loss for the financial year 2017-18.
UK advertising market faces recession under no-deal Brexit. Spending in sector to decline by 3% this year to £22.5bn if UK crashes out of EU, says report. The UK will be plunged into its first advertising recession in a decade in the event of a no-deal Brexit, with spending likely to fall by more than £1.4bn this year alone, according to a report. Enders Analysis has modelled the impact of two scenarios on the UK’s £23bn advertising and marketing industry, based on an “orderly withdrawal” and a no-deal outcome. If the UK leaves without a deal, spending will decline by 3% this year to £22.54bn, the first annual recession since 2009 when the sector plunged by 13%. This means that £1.36bn in advertising and marketing spend will disappear from the market.
