• JD Sports reports interim results
• The company warns of inflation and other macro headwinds
• Shares fell over 6% in early Thursday trading

JD Sports Fashion (LON: JD) shares are down over 6% Thursday after the retailer posted its interim results for the 26 weeks ended 30 July 2022, going pretty much as we expected…

The company’s pre-tax profit fell to £298.3 million for the six-month period, compared with £364.6 million a year earlier.

JD said it remains cautious about trading through the remainder of the second half of the year due to widespread macroeconomic uncertainty, inflationary pressures, and the potential for further disruption to the supply chain, with industrial action a continuing risk in many markets.

The comments echo the current market with other retailers raising concerns about the cost of living crisis pressuring consumer spending.

There were some positives, however, with the company posting record revenue of £4.41 billion compared to £3.9 billion in the prior period.

As we mentioned in our three stocks to watch piece at the start of the week, traffic to the JD Sports website was on the slide, and this showed, as the company stated in its outlook, that online sales initially softened in August and early September.

Looking ahead, JD said it continues to be “reassured by the ongoing resilience in the Group’s performance,” with total sales in the company’s organic retail businesses “tracking around 8% ahead of the prior year” after six weeks, with an “encouraging return to positive trading in the United States.”

JD said profit before tax and exceptional items for the year-end will be in line with the record performance for the year ended 29 January 2022.