JD Sports Springs 3% Higher Despite H1 Profits Drop

By Pune Media On Sep 24, 2025

Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg

Heavy discounting in a tough retail environment pulled JD Sports’ profits sharply lower last year, the FTSE 100 retailer announced.

But at 91.6p per share, the JD Sports share price rose 3.4% in Wednesday trading.

Boosted by acquisition activity and new store openings, sales at the athleisure retailer rose 18% during the 26 weeks to 2 August, to £5.9 billion. On an organic basis turnover crept 2.7% higher from the same 2024 period.

However, operating profit before adjusting items dipped 8.2% over the year to £369 million, with operating margins declining 180 basis points to 6.2%.

Pre-tax profit before adjusting items was £351 million, down 13.5% year on year.

JD opened 42 new stores in the first half, while the acquisitions of Hibbert in the US and Courir in France also boosted the top line. It ended the first half with 4,872 outlets on its books.

On a like-for-like basis sales declined 2.5%.

Like-For-Like Falls

JD said it enjoyed “market share gains in key growth markets of North America and [Mainland] Europe, against tough consumer backdrop.” The retailer makes 39% and 32% of total revenues from these two markets.

However, a tough climate for consumers meant like-for-like sales fell across all of its regions. JD was also impacted by tough comparatives in the UK due to the Euro 2024 football tournament the previous summer.

North American sales rose 3.1% on an organic basis, but from a like-for-like perspective dropped 3.8% to £2.3 billion.

The company said its largest single market delivered “a much-improved online sales performance in H1, supported by a better online range, focused marketing efforts and, to a lesser extent, the successful roll-out of a new e-commerce platform for the JD and Finish Line fascias.”

Organic sales in Europe rose 6% but dropped 0.3% on a like-for-like basis. In the UK – from which JD sources a quarter of group revenues – organic and like-for-like turnover dropped 1.7% and 3.3% respectively.

Guidance Unchanged

Commenting on the “tough trading environment,” chief executive Régis Schultz said JD’s first-half growth in organic sales “demonstrates the resilience of our business, underpinned by our agile multi-brand model, broad geographic reach and unmatched connection with customers.”

He added that “whilst we remain cautious on the trading environment for the second half, we expect limited impact from US tariffs this financial year, and our full year profit before tax and adjusting items to be in line with current market expectations.”

City analysts expect pre-tax and adjusted items of £878 million for the 12 months to January 2026. That’s down from the £917.2 million JD recorded in financial 2024.

JD also said the £100 million share buyback programme it announced in August would begin on Wednesday.

It said the fresh programme “reflects the Board’s view that, at current share price levels, share buybacks represents a compelling return on equity.”

Mixed Outlook

Analyst Adam Vettese of eToro commented that “margin pressure, increased promotional activity, and softer trading in key regions, particularly the US and UK” all dragged pre-tax profit before adjusting items lower in the first half.

He added that “continued investment in omnichannel infrastructure and brand partnerships lays the groundwork for future growth, but the near-term outlook remains cautious given macro uncertainties and ongoing margin risks.”

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