By Paul Sandle
LONDON (Reuters) -JD Sports said the Euro soccer championships, Paris Olympics and new styles of trainers and track suits would spark life into a lacklustre market after its like-for-like sales dropped in January, limiting its fourth-quarter growth to 0.1%.
The British retailer, which sells Nike (NYSE:NKE) , Adidas (OTC:ADDYY), HOKA and other sports brands, said trading was challenging due to "less product innovation and elevated promotional activity, especially online".
Chief Executive Regis (NASDAQ:RGS) Schultz said JD (NASDAQ:JD)'s young customers wanted new styles and colours, and they were turned off by a lack of innovation in products, such as fleeces.
Nike, JD Sport's biggest brand, warned last week of lower sales in its first half as it battles newer competitors.
Schultz said Nike recognised that consumers wanted something new and it would launch more new styles later this year.
"We believe that Q2 and the second half should see some innovation coming and we should benefit from the big sporting events that will happen this summer, with the Euros and Olympic Games," he told reporters.
JD's shares rose after the update to their highest since early January, the biggest one-day jump in almost 14 months, and were up nearly 10% in morning deals.
It said its pretax profit for the year to Feb. 4 would meet guidance it downgraded in January to a range of 915 million pounds to 935 million pounds ($1.15-$1.18 billion).
Like-for-like sales in Britain and Ireland fell 3.2% in the fourth quarter, a drop it blamed on a higher proportion of weaker-selling clothing in its mix than in other regions and a decision not to discount as much as some online rivals.
It said trading since its year-end had been in line with its expectations, and its initial guidance for pretax profit for the year ahead was between 900 million and 980 million pounds.
($1 = 0.7925 pounds)