England failure would hurt retailer

JJB says the hit from England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 would be millions of pounds. Photo / Reuters

London - JJB yesterday admitted that an England failure to qualify for Euro 2008 could cost it millions of pounds in lost sales as it mapped out a path to clawing back some of the profits it has lost over the past five years.

The sports retailer also said sales of replica football shirts would be down by some £20 million ($54 million) after a strong 12 months boosted by last northern summer's World Cup. But that did not stop analysts from upgrading their profit forecasts in anticipation of the group's margin recovery. JJB's shares rose 6p to 266p.

Chief executive Tom Knight said: "If England fail to qualify it would certainly have a detrimental impact on our numbers.

"We would lose from lost replica sales and more from the feel-good factor so it's very important that England do well." He estimated the hit from failure to qualify would be "several millions of pounds".

JJB, which has moved into leisure clubs, reported pre-tax profits of £38.5 million for the 12 months to January 28, up from £33.7 million the previous year. This was after absorbing £5.4 million of charges relating to its failed appeal against a fine for price-fixing of certain replica kits during 2000-01 and some property losses.

JJB said its decision to roll out separate areas within its stores dedicated to selling Nike and adidas products was also boosting its margins.

- Independent