JD Sports has lost more than a fifth of its stock market value after the retailer downgraded its full-year profit forecast.

A trading update by the sportswear chain on Thursday revealed it now expects profit before tax and adjusted items of between £915m and £935m in 2023/24.

The figure is down on previous estimates of £1.04bn for the period.

Shares in JD Sports plunged as low as 23% on Thursday morning following the forecast and were still at a similar level at lunchtime.

Sportswear peers Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct, Adidas and Puma also fell between 1% and 5%.

There was a further knock-on effect on US sports brands and retailers, with Nike down 1.5% and Foot Locker falling 1.4% in pre-market trading.

JD Sports blamed factors including higher costs and weaker demand from “more cautious” shoppers.

It also said “milder weather” from the second half of September also had an impact on sales.

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The downgrade came after the retailer reported like-for-like organic revenue growth of 1.8% in the 22 weeks to the end of December, which it said were “slightly behind our expectations”.

It expects full-year organic revenue growth to be around 8%, compared with the 12% last year.

Jonathan Pritchard, a retail analyst at Peel Hunt, said: “External factors are mostly to blame here.

“The consumer is cautious and looking for a deal and with no especially exciting [sports fashion product] launches, it has been a dullish period.”

JD Sports chief executive Regis Schultz said the chain had still made “good progress” and had opened more than 200 new stores in the last year.

He added: “Our key markets have seen increased promotional activity during the peak trading season, driven by a more cautious consumer, but we continue to grow market share.

“We are confident in our strategy and we continue to invest in our supply chain, systems and stores, supported by our strong cash generation and healthy balance sheet.”

The company’s fortunes come in contrast to fellow high street retailer Next, which raised its profit forecast on Thursday after reporting better-than-expected sales in the run-up to Christmas.

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