JD Sports touted an overall increase in revenue in the first half of fiscal 2026 but continued to see declines in its North American business segment.

The U.K.-based company reported group revenue increased 18 percent in the first half to 5.94 billion pounds compared to 5.03 billion pounds the same time last year. Profit before tax and adjusted items was 351 million pounds in the first half, down 13.5 percent from 406 million pounds last year.

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JD Sports chief executive officer Régis Schultz said on Wednesday that the results so far this year “demonstrate the resilience” of the business. The executive also noted that he expects “limited impact” from U.S. tariffs this financial year supported in part by inventory purchased prior to the implementation of tariffs.

“I would say that the current level of uncertainty is impacting customer confidence across our different markets,” Schultz told analysts on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday. “But more importantly for us, as we have said previously, unemployment is a key factor for our young customer. And we are starting to see early negative sign on it, especially in Europe, and in the U.K. is something for us to monitor in the coming months.”

The CEO added that regardless of immediate effects of tariffs, he is “more nervous” about the global impact the U.S. consumer will have once price increases continue to accrue.

“It’s not happening now, but it’s going to happen,” Schultz said. “That’s a key question that we don’t have the answer. But for our industry, I think it has been well managed, and I think that we’ve seen no impact for the time being.”

Looking closer at JD North America, the company reported that revenue in the region fell 2.6 percent in the first half to 1.13 billion pounds on a reported basis but increased 1.3 percent at constant currency. Like-for-like sales declined 5.2 percent for the period but saw improved trends quarter on quarter, particularly in the company’s apparel proposition and across its online platform.

Despite this performance, the CEO maintained that the company sees “great opportunity” in North America for the development of both the JD brand and its complementary fashion division.

As far as footwear goes, Schultz noted that running shoes are driving the category. He cited Saucony, Salomon, On, Hoka, New Balance, Asics, Adidas and Nike as key brands in the footwear segment, especially in performance.

“Thanks to our agility, to our flexible merchandising, to our buying excellence, we are anticipating the product cycle, the change of trend and the evolution of brand,” Schultz added. “And this is critical in the current challenging product cycle. As we always say, we will win with a winner.”

Looking ahead, the company said it remains cautious on the trading environment for the second half of the year, reflecting continued pressure on consumer finances, elevated unemployment risk, and the ongoing transition in the footwear product cycle.

Despite these headwinds, JD Sports noted that it expects its full-year profit before tax and adjusting items to be in line with current market expectations, which calls for a range between 853 million pounds to 914 million pounds.

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