Healthy figures for JJB soccer and fitness wings

SPORTSWEAR retailer JJB Sports has seen revenues increase by more than a fifth at its health club and indoor soccer centre wing.

But the firm, headed by former Blackburn Rovers player David Whelan, posted an overall 1.2 per cent decrease in trading in the first 18 weeks of the year, as kit sales during last year's football World Cup produced tough comparative figures.

The firm added that if sales of replica kits are taken out of the figures, retail revenue would have risen by 2.6 per cent.

Revenues for the health clubs and soccer centres increased by 21.9 per cent for the first 18 weeks of this year, while membership rose to 181,200 - compared to 153,000 for the same period last year.

The firm now runs 42 health clubs in the UK, including branches in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Coatbridge and Dundee.

It expects to open eight combined units in this calendar year, followed by a further 17 in 2008.

Roger Lane-Smith, JJB's non-executive chairman, said: "Trading results for the first 18 weeks of the current accounting period is in-line with our expectations and I remain confident that our policies of product differentiation within our retail stores and the expansion of our chain of health clubs, will provide future growth."

It expects specialist Nike and Adidas branded in-store areas to help revenue and gross margin in the coming year.

It currently has 83 Adidas and 53 Nike areas and wants to increase that to 200 and 100 respectively by the end of 2007.