Shares of JD Sports Fashion plc, the Bury-based FTSE 100 retailer, fell as much as 15% on Thursday after it published a “tough” second-quarter trading update and lowered its full-year profit forecast.

“Noting our underlying H1 sales trends and the promotional market backdrop, which may persist into H2, we now anticipate FY27 profit before tax and adjusting items of £700m to £800m (previously £750m to £850m),” said the Bury company.

“We remain on track to deliver FY27 free cash flow of £460m to £520m.”

Group second quarter organic sales fell 1.3% and Q2 like-for-like sales were down 3.1%.

JD Sports CEO Régis Schultz said: “Trading in the second quarter remained tough. The market stayed highly promotional, reflecting the consumer and footwear product cycle headwinds our industry has faced in recent quarters, whilst our core consumer was impacted by incremental cost-of-living pressures.

“North America saw the most acute impact, also reflecting a slower quarter for high-heat footwear product and the timing of ‘back-to-school’ demand. The UK delivered a good quarter, with strong football replica kit sales and an improved performance in our Outdoor business. Europe’s trend improved slightly versus Q1 against a still-subdued backdrop, supported by resilient Sporting Goods trading.

“Our focus remains on executing against our strategy, and growing our resilience through our increasingly diverse product and omni-channel offer – with growth in apparel and accessories sales, encouraging momentum in performance-based running and newer footwear styles, and online sales up 2.6%.

“Our store estate is also becoming more productive, with Group space growth contributing +2.1% to sales in H1 despite a lower store count.

“We continue to exercise strong cost and capital discipline across discretionary spend, store operating costs, inventory and capex, while also driving further supply chain efficiencies, including automation at our distribution centre in Europe.

“Our guidance reflects a pragmatic view of external market conditions, whilst our cost and capital discipline, coupled with the highly cash-generative nature of our model, keep us on track to deliver unchanged free cash flow of £460m to £520m.

“We remain confident in our long-term strategy and my thanks go to our colleagues worldwide for their continued hard work and focus.”