Bosses went on to warn that the wider fall in consumer spending was likely to continue into the second half of the year. The retailer now expects lower pre-tax profits of between \u00a3700m and \u00a3800m for the full year, having previously hoped to reach \u00a3750m to \u00a3850m.<\/p>\n
The news led to a 14% drop in JD\u2019s London-listed shares by Thursday afternoon trading, to their lowest level since May.<\/p>\n
R\u00e9gis Schultz, JD\u2019s chief executive, said: \u201cTrading in the second quarter remained tough,\u201d adding that the company had been forced to cut prices and offer promotions to compensate, as \u201cour core consumer was impacted by incremental cost-of-living pressures.\u201d<\/p>\n
JD Sports at Westfield Stratford, east London. Photograph: Hollie Adams\/Reuters<\/p>\n
The company, which runs 4,800 stores worldwide including the JD, Blacks and Millets chains in the UK, said pressures included higher fuel prices, which have been pushed up by the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has effectively stopped tankers passing through the strait of Hormuz<\/a>.<\/p>\n Overall, JD said like-for-like sales fell by 3.1% in the second quarter, with its North America operations taking the biggest hit, down by 6.8%. Sales across Europe were down 2.7%.<\/p>\n The UK was a rare bright spot as World Cup excitement drove sales of football replica kits, while consumers bought more outdoor gear, including from its high street brands Blacks and Go Outdoors.<\/p>\n Chloe Tedford-Jones, apparel analyst at the industry research firm GlobalData, said JD\u2019s sales performance reflected a maturing sportswear market and problems at its biggest brand, Nike.<\/p>\n \u201cThe retailer\u2019s performance is heavily impacted by its over-reliance on Nike, which has continued to struggle due to an innovation drought in footwear,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile JD Sports now also stocks surging alternative brands like On<\/a> and Hoka, they lack the volumes required to offset this heritage deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n Tedford-Jones said JD needed to move faster to adapt to changing trends, which are shifting towards outdoor gear and performance sports rather than casual \u201cathleisure\u201d clothing.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Every weekday<\/p>\n Sign up to Business Today<\/p>\n Get set for the working day \u2013 we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Disagreements about strategy at the retailer led to the exit of the chair Andrew Higginson at JD\u2019s annual meeting last month, reportedly after he failed to convince the board to oust Schultz.<\/p>\n Peter Agnefj\u00e4ll, former boss of the furniture retailer Ikea, is to step in as the new chair next month \u2013 making him the group\u2019s fourth chair in just over four years.<\/p>\n Darren Shapland, formerly chair of Poundland and Topps Tiles, has been acting as interim chair since the exit of Higginson, who joined to the replace long-term boss Peter Cowgill, who stepped down in 2022 after the competition regulator fined the retailer more than \u00a34m<\/a> over clandestine meetings with the boss of its takeover target FootAsylum.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/500.jpg\")
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