Results round-up

Sports, fashion and outdoor brand retailer JD Sports Fashion posted its interim results for the 26 weeks to 30 July on Tuesday, with revenue up 20% to £970.57m compared to the first half of last year.

The FTSE 250 firm reported a gross profit margin of 48.1%, ahead of the 47.4% margin last year, with operating profit before exceptional items improving 63% to £77.65m.

Profit before tax rose 73% to £77.41m, with basic earnings per ordinary share 69% higher than a year ago at 29.83p.

JD’s board declared an interim dividend of 1.25p per share, just ahead of the 1.2p payout announced at the 2015 interim results.

During the period, the firm continued its international expansion with vigour, reporting a net increase of 20 stores in existing fascias across Europe after complementary acquisitions in the Netherlands and Portugal.

“I am delighted to report that this has been another period of excellent progress for the group with a record profit before tax and exceptional items of £77.4m,” said executive chairman Peter Cowgill.

“Given that last year's result was in itself a record for our group then to increase this by a further 66% has exceeded reasonable expectations.”

Payment technology provider SafeCharge reported an increase in interim profit but said growth in the second half was likely to be more moderate than the first.

In the six months to the end of June, reported profit after tax came in at $15.2m from $12.4m, on revenue of $52.2m, up 5% from the same period a year ago.

During the period, the group made significant customer wins, including Paddy Power Betfair and Sun Bingo, while progress was made in new sectors such as airlines, retail and games.

Chief executive officer David Avgi said: "The first half of 2016 was a period of further success and growth for the group. I am proud to report that several of our latest innovations in technology based payment solutions have been successfully rolled out to serve our clients.

“Whilst we continue to advance in our core verticals, the group has made exciting progress in entering our new target sectors and over coming months we will focus and invest further to build our sales teams in order to further accelerate entry into these sectors."

Safecharge said it expects growth in the second half to be more moderate than in the first. However, it said that given quality of clients both recently launched and within the current pipeline, it is confident of growth prospects into 2017 and beyond.