Companies: JD.    UMB   

Overall retail sales continued to flourish in June with Government figures showing a 1.1 per cent increase in sales between May and June. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) went further, stating like-for-like sales increased 2.4 per cent during the period. But, perhaps the long-awaited decline has begun, as in the previous month the BRC calculated that like-for-like numbers were higher at 3.7 per cent.

The main drivers for the growth were the warm weather in early June and the Euro 2004 competition. A few sub-sectors did especially well from the football fever that gripped the nation. The major beneficiaries included promotion-led food & drink, electrical and sports goods retailers.

Sports shops sold particularly large quantities of football shirts and related paraphernalia. But, surprisingly, the shares in sporting goods businesses have fallen rather than risen. Umbro, the global football brand, saw its shares rocket eight per cent to 108p on admission to the main board in late May, but they are now languishing at 99.5p.

Shares in sports merchandiser John David Sports have dropped 15p since May to 195p – the recent removal of chairman Roger Best, the short-term impact of its clearance of its fashion fascia and a significant selling of a 11.5 per cent shareholding by a non-executive director to supplier Pentland, all seem to have taken their toll.