LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - JD Sports Fashion Plc (JD.L), the British sports and fashion retailer, forecast its year to end-Jan. 2009 underlying pretax profit would exceed current market expectations.

www.JDSports.co.uk

"The positive sales uplift reported for the Christmas trading period has in fact been sustained during January," it said on Wednesday.

Full year results will be announced on April 8.

Shares in JD Sports closed Tuesday at 213 pence, valuing the business at 104 million pounds ($149.7 million)

(Reporting by James Davey, editing by Rhys Jones)