Shares for JD Sports Fashion slipped over 5 percent on Wednesday following the U.K. retailer’s continued struggles amid a “challenging” environment.
Organic sales for the company in the first half of fiscal 2027 dipped 0.7 percent to 5.90 billion pounds, down from 5.94 billion pounds the same time last year.
Régis Schultz, chief executive officer of JD Sports Fashion, told analysts on the company’s first half earnings call that sales in the period include a 2.1 percentage point contribution from new selling space despite having over 100 fewer stores overall. Profit before tax and adjusting items in the first half was 282 million pounds, down from 351 million pounds in the first half of fiscal 2026.
The CEO blamed the company’s performance on the increase in youth unemployment and cost of living pressure, while the footwear product cycle continued to evolve into a highly promotional market.
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“Our response to a maturing market and challenging trading condition is to control the controllables,” Schultz said on Wednesday’s call. “That means focusing on our customers, bringing them the best, latest and greatest product, investing in our omnichannel proposition, and maintaining tight discipline on our cost and capital.”
He added that the company remains committed to its five strategic priorities, which include strengthening and diversifying its product range; driving store productivity and optimization across the portfolio; completing global e-commerce replatforming; accelerating AI adoption; and taking data-driven customer personalization to the next level.
Turning to the company’s footwear performance, organic sales were down 3 percent in the first half of 2027 and account for 60 percent of the firm’s overall mix. Throughout the first half, JD Sports continued to see a “significant shift” in the global footwear product cycle, given the transition between (smaller in value) newer product lines and footwear styles and the (larger) ‘end of cycle’ product lines of some of our brand partners.
“In footwear, performance running and newer non-sneaker styles are gaining momentum,” Schultz noted. “While relatively small today in our mix, mary jane ballet flats, ballerinas, loafers and brands like Birkenstock and Havaianas are supporting continued growth in the other category. And the question we ask ourselves, is the future of sneaker a revision of formal shoes?”
While the question remains to be answered, the CEO called out what’s winning right now for JD.
“In running, we have now two subcategories: retro running and new running with On, Hoka, Salomon, Vomero Plus, are all growing very fast,” Schultz described. “Running clubs and gyms are becoming the new nightclubs. Health, fitness and well-being are increasingly a priority for our core customers. This shift of customer trend within our running category is helping to offset the year-on-year mix decline in retro basketball and retro football category.”
Schultz was also particularly optimistic on the updates to the Samba chain and ballet shoes from Adidas, as well as the On Cloudtilt and the Salomon XT-6 sneaker franchises.
“We are encouraged by our momentum in performance-based running and newer footwear styles,” he said. “Although small today, these present an exciting longer-term opportunity for the group.”
It’s been a busy few weeks for JD Sports, from announcing new executive appointments and a retail expansion in Mexico. Just last week, the company named John Mersho as president and chief executive officer of the JD banner in North America. At the same time, Mike Grimes was appointed chief marketing officer for JD Group.
JD Sports said in a statement that the appointments reflect the company’s “continued focus” on capturing the significant growth opportunity in North America, while also enhancing its position as a “market leader and its unique customer proposition.”
Earlier this week, JD Sports announced it had inked a new long-term franchise partnership with Grupo Axo, S.A.P.I de C.V., a multi-brand omnichannel retail distributor in Mexico, to launch the JD brand in the country.
Under the terms of the agreement, Axo will operate JD stores and e-commerce in Mexico, using JD’s brand and intellectual property.
Starting in 2027, Axo will operate more than 140 JD stores in Mexico, leveraging its existing retail estate of sneaker stores. Over time, key locations are expected to be upsized and reimagined in line with JD’s flagship “bigger and better” format, the company said.
