JD Sports rewarded for record results

That said, the company does enjoy a slight natural hedge thanks to its euro-denominated businesses, where product is sourced from the UK. But the weakening of sterling against the US dollar will cause some pressure on gross margins later this year. Management is confident it can work with suppliers to mitigate the effect, although chief financial officer Brian Small hinted at the possibility of price increases as well: "It's not a JD-specific problem," he said, "and at some point inflation will have to have an impact on the consumer". Last year gross margins nudged up from 48.5 per cent to 48.9 per cent, and Mr Small seems confident that JD's young customer base will cough up for pricier items because they're "obsessed with brands".

The group's extraordinary growth is a result of the 'athleisure' streetwear trend, an increasing contribution from online sales and some well-timed acquisitions. Aside from the dominant leisure segment, its 'outdoor' business lines registered an operating profit for the first time. Mr Small expects the acquisition of retail chain Go Outdoors - announced towards the end of last year - to lift figures for the 2018 financial year. As far as fickle fashion trends go, Mr Small isn't too worried about falling out of favour. "The long-term trend has been towards casual wear, and I don't see that reversing any time soon," he said.

Analysts at Peel Hunt didn't expect this level of profit growth until next year, and have thus upgraded forecasts for the year ending January 2018. The broker now expects adjusted pre-tax profits of £275m and EPS of 22.3p (£245m and 19.5p in FY2017).