Fashion
Mixed update from JD Sports details progress in key markets but UK weakness
Published
August 27, 2025
Retail giant JD Sports Fashion has issued a trading update for Q2 and the first half and while like-for-like (LFL) sales dipped in both periods, ‘organic’ sales rose (organic for JD refers to currency-neutral sales factoring out acquisitions). Importantly too, it said its new giant Manchester store is performing strongly.
And while many headlines chose to focus on the negatives, it’s perhaps significant that the firm’s share price rose almost 3% as the markets opened.
The company itself chose to focus on the improved LFL sales trend for Q2 in North America but said Europe and the UK combined were affected by “tough prior year comparatives” due to last year’s Euro 2024 football tournament (clearly the Women’s Euros this year didn’t have the same impact).
But it said it saw a good performance in apparel, although footwear was softer “given end of cycle for key product lines”.
JD also said it made “strong progress” against its strategic objectives across its omnichannel customer proposition, store footprint, supply chain and North America operations, and costs and cash are being “well controlled”.
It now expects FY26 profit before tax and adjusting items (PBTAI) to be in line with current market expectations, “albeit we continue to assess potential impacts from US tariffs”.
The numbers
So, let’s look at the actual figures for Q2 and H1. For the second quarter – the 13 weeks to 2 August – group LFL sales fell 3% but they rose 2.2% on an organic basis. That divided into a 2.3% LFL drop for North America but a 4.8% organic rise; a 1.1% LFL dip for Europe and a 5.4% organic increase; a 6.1% LFL drop for the UK and a 4.5% organic drop in its home market; and a 0.3% LFL increase for Asia pacific with a 9.3% organic rise there.
And for the first half – the 26 weeks to 2 August – group LFL sales fell 2.5% while they rose 2.6% organic. Again, looking at individual regions North America was down 3.8% LFL and up 3.1% organic; Europe dipped 0.4% LFL and rose 5.9% organic; the UK dropped 3.3% LFL and fell 1.8% organic; and Asia pacific was down 2.4% LFL and up 6% organic.
It’s clear from this that the UK remains a problem market for the company and that performances are much better in North America, Europe (even with the aforementioned tough comparatives) and the still-very-small Asia Pacific.
Looking at these regions in more detail for the second quarter, the company said it had plenty of activity in North America, its largest regional market (accounting for 36% of Q2 sales). DTLR and Shoe Palace took over the operations of 198 City Gear stores on 1 June; its new JD/Finish Line e-commerce platform went live in H1; and Shoe Palace’s Morgan Hill distribution centre (west coast of the US) went live in May, with JD/Finish Line planning to go live at the end of this year. This will make Morgan Hill the JD Group’s first multi-fascia distribution centre, “unlocking significant improvements in speed to store replenishment and online fulfilment”.
Its performance in the market was “resilient”, led by JD and DTLR, against strong Q2 comparatives. And it saw a “good performance in newer footwear lines (following a shift in the product launch schedule from Q1, as previously highlighted), partially offsetting the impact of key product lines being at the end of cycle”.
It also saw a “strong performance in apparel, albeit a smaller proportion of our category mix in North America”, and a “much improved overall online performance, supported by a better online range and focused marketing”.
In Europe, its group Heerlen distribution centre (in the Netherlands) “continues to ramp up”, and is on track to launch automation this year (for stores, with online to follow in H1 next year).
Europe is its second-largest regional market at 34% of sales with the UK third on 26% of sales. That said, the UK is hugely significant given that it contains a much smaller number of consumers than North America or Europe and therefore punches above its weight per head.
Both Europe and the UK faced difficult comparisons with last year when the Men’s Euros football tournament boosted sales of replica kits and saw healthy in-store cross-selling. Last year also saw strong sales of athletic footwear for women that were difficult to replicate.
But it talked up a “resilient underlying performance in apparel, supported by a strong product offer” and said footwear performance in both regions was supported by newer footwear lines (especially performance-based) and value-oriented footwear.
It also said it maintained in-store pricing disciplines in both regions. Controlled price investments were made in the online offer to boost its competitive position and increase engagement with online customers. This was reflected in higher European online traffic and conversion in Q2.
As for openings globally for the first half as a whole, it opened new JD fascia flagship stores in the UK (Trafford Centre, Manchester), North America (Las Vegas and Vancouver) and Asia Pacific (Melbourne), with “positive early learnings and strong results in particular from the Trafford Centre store”.
View from the top
CEO Régis Schultz said of all this: “We are making strong progress in developing our omnichannel customer proposition, store footprint and supply chain, and we are controlling our costs and cash effectively.
“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.
“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.
“Reflecting this, we are reaffirming our commitment to enhanced shareholder returns, and announcing today a new £100 million share buyback following the successful completion of the first £100 million programme last month.”
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Wholesale revenue dropped 12.8 per cent on a currency-adjusted basis to €4.9 billion, while direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales increased 3.4 per cent, lifting the DTC share to 32.4 per cent from 28.9 per cent.
Regionally, sales fell 6.9 per cent in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 7.4 per cent in Asia-Pacific and 10 per cent in the Americas, with North America driving much of the decline.
Puma has reported sales of €7.3 billion (~$8.61 billion) in FY25, with currency-adjusted revenue down 8.1 per cent amid strategic reset actions.
Wholesale declined while DTC share increased.
Margins contracted and EBIT turned negative, leading to a net loss.
Q4 saw sharper declines across regions and categories.
Puma expects further sales softness and negative EBIT in FY26.
By product segment, footwear sales decreased 7.1 per cent, apparel declined 9.7 per cent and accessories fell 8.5 per cent, although selective growth was observed in running, training and premium sport style lines, Puma said in a press release.
Profitability weakened significantly during the year. Gross margin contracted 260 basis points to 45.0 per cent, impacted by promotional activity, inventory reserves, unfavourable mix and currency effects. Adjusted EBIT turned negative at €165.6 million, while reported EBIT declined to -€357.2 million after €191.6 million in one-off costs related mainly to the cost efficiency programme and goodwill impairments.
Loss from continuing operations widened to -€643.6 million, translating to earnings per share of -€4.37 versus €1.88 in the prior year.
From a balance sheet perspective, inventories rose 2.3 per cent to €2.06 billion as inventory takebacks from wholesale partners supported distribution clean-up. Working capital increased 20.2 per cent, while trade receivables and payables declined sharply in line with reduced sales and purchasing activity. Puma ended the year with additional financing capacity, including €1,202.2 million in unutilised credit lines.
Fourth quarter (Q4) performance reflected the peak impact of the strategic reset. Currency-adjusted sales declined 20.7 per cent to €1,564.9 million, with reported revenue down 27.2 per cent due to currency headwinds. The decline was driven by deliberate reductions in wholesale exposure, inventory clearance actions and lower promotional intensity.
Wholesale sales fell 27.7 per cent in Q4, while DTC revenue decreased 8.0 per cent, although DTC share increased to 41.1 per cent from 35.5 per cent. Regionally, sales dropped 12.6 per cent in Asia-Pacific, 22.2 per cent in the Americas and 24.3 per cent in EMEA.
Across product divisions, footwear sales declined 25.4 per cent, apparel fell 13.7 per cent and accessories dropped 18.2 per cent, with selective resilience in training and performance running categories.
Profitability deteriorated sharply. Gross margin declined to 40.2 per cent from 47.7 per cent due to promotions, inventory provisions and currency effects. Adjusted EBIT fell to -€228.8 million, while reported EBIT reached -€307.7 million following one-off costs linked to restructuring and impairment charges. The quarter ended with a loss from continuing operations of -€335 million.
Arthur Hoeld, CEO of Puma, said: “2025 was a reset year for us. We want to establish Puma as a top 3 sports brand globally, return to above-industry growth and generate healthy profits in the medium term. It is crucial to make the Puma brand less commercial and ensure we once again excite our consumers with attractive products, compelling storytelling and distribution in the right channels. I am satisfied with the progress we have made so far. We cleaned up most of our distribution by reducing promotions in our own channels and cutting our exposure to those wholesale channels that damage our brand’s desirability. To better position our product icons and our performance offering and tell more engaging product stories, we created the right structures inside our company. We also addressed operational inefficiencies and further optimised our cost base.”
Looking ahead, Puma expects currency-adjusted sales in fiscal 2026 to decline in the low- to mid-single-digit percentage range, with EBIT projected between -€50 million and -€150 million. Capital expenditure of around €200 million is planned as the company continues investments in brand repositioning and digital capabilities, added the release.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)
Nominal GDP, or GDP at current prices, is estimated to grow at 8.6 per cent to reach ₹345.47 trillion in FY26 against ₹318.07 trillion in 2024-25.
India’s real GDP is estimated to grow at 7.6 per cent to ₹322.58 trillion (~$3.54 billion) in FY26 compared to the first revised GDP estimate of ₹299.89 trillion for FY25 (7.1 per cent growth).
It released the new series of annual and quarterly national accounts estimates with FY23 base.
Real GVA is projected to grow at 7.7 per cent to reach ₹294.40 trillion in FY26 against ₹273.36 trillion in FY25.
Real gross value added (GVA) is projected to grow at 7.7 per cent to reach ₹294.40 trillion in FY26 against ₹273.36 trillion in FY25 (a 7.3-per cent growth rate).
Nominal GVA is estimated to grow at 8.7 per cent to hit ₹313.61 trillion during FY26, against ₹288.54 lakh crore in 2024-25.
Robust economic performance in FY26 is primarily on account of robust real growth observed in the second quarter (8.4 per cent) and third quarter (7.8 per cent).
The manufacturing sector has been the major driver of resilient performance of the economy the consecutive three fiscals after rebasing, a release from the ministry said.
Both private final consumption expenditure and grossed fixed capital formation exhibited more than 7-per cent growth rate in FY26.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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