JD Sports H1 sales slip, FY pre-tax profits seen in line with expectations

(Sharecast News) - Sports fashion retailer JD Sports said on Wednesday that it expects FY26 pre-tax profits to meet current market expectations despite seeing group sales fall in the six months ended 2 August. JD Sports said H1 group sales were down 2.5% on a like-for-like basis at £5.94bn, with North American sales down 3.8% at £2.31bn, UK sales dropping by 3.3% to £1.46bn, Asia-Pacific sales slipping 2.4% to £238m and European sales contracting 0.4% to £1.92bn.

However, the FTSE 250-listed firm stated it had seen an improved sales trend across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions in the second quarter, with organic sales up 4.8%, 5.4% and 9.3%, respectively. The UK, on the other hand, saw like-for-like sales continue to decline, down 6.1% in the period, affected by tough prior year comparatives due to Euro 2024 tournament.

Including acquisitions, JD Sports stated its overall gross margin in H1 was 60 basis points lower year-on-year.

JD Sports, which announced a new £100m share buyback programme, reflecting confidence in medium-term industry growth and ongoing market share gains, said FY26 profits before tax and adjusting items were still tracking in line with market expectations, but also noted that it was continuing to assess potential impacts from US tariffs.

Chief exexutive Regis Schultz said: "Across our regions and fascias, in general we see a resilient consumer, albeit very selective on their purchases. We therefore remain cautious on the trading environment going into H2. For our FY26 profit before tax and adjusting items we expect to be in line with current market expectations, before any indirect impact of US tariffs which we continue to work through.

"We are well placed to continue growing our market share in the key growth regions of North America and Europe, and confident about the medium-term growth prospects for our industry."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com