Finance Notes: Retailer JD Sports Says Like-For-Like Sales Up 3% Since July

Christmas "may not have come early at JD Sports," but that did not stop the retailer and analysts from "celebrating its holiday sales" on Tuesday. It "revised up its profit forecast for the second time this year" after announcing that like-for-like sales had risen by 3% since July, "including the festive period." As a result, the sports and fashion seller expects full-year profits to hit about £300M ($417.2M) in the year to Feb. 3 (LONDON TIMES, 1/17).

The Kelantan FA (KAFA) "is struggling to reach a budget" of $2.52M required to finance its football team for the upcoming Malaysia Super League season. Despite signing sponsorship deals with Malaysian sports retailer Al-Ikhsan, dairy product Yakult and Rohm Wako Electronics, KAFA President Bibi Ramjani Ilias Khan said that the association "has yet to reach even half" of its intended target (ASIA SPONSORSHIP NEWS, 1/17).