JD Sports' Asia Pacific division delivered the strongest regional performance in the global group's half-year 2026/27 results, even as the UK-listed sports fashion giant flagged softening consumer sentiment in Australia and New Zealand.
For the 26 weeks to August 1, JD's Asia Pacific segment — which spans Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and South-East Asia — posted revenue of £278 million (~A$525 million), up 17.5 per cent on a reported basis and 10.7 per cent at constant currency, making it the only region in the group to grow both organic and like-for-like sales.
Organic sales rose 10.7 per cent and like-for-like sales grew 3 per cent, split between 5 per cent growth in the first quarter and a softer 1.4 per cent in the second, which the company attributed to "strong World Cup replica demand" offsetting weaker ANZ consumer sentiment.
Operating profit before adjusting items and after lease interest in the region was flat at constant exchange rates at £25 million, giving an operating margin of 9 per cent — still the highest of JD's four reported regions (North America, Europe, UK and Asia Pacific).
The company added that well-executed cost control discipline had offset inflationary pressures and the cost of scaling online in the period.
Store numbers in Asia Pacific rose to 121 from 107 a year earlier, with six new openings in the half and no closures, reflecting continued network expansion in the region. In Australia, JD Sports operates 76 stores.
The result contrasted with declines across JD's larger markets: Group revenue fell 0.7 per cent to £5.9 billion, with like-for-like sales down 2.8 per cent and profit before tax and adjusting items down 19.7 per cent to £282 million.
Group CEO Régis Schultz described the half as a resilient performance against a challenging backdrop of consumer cost-of-living pressures, footwear product cycle headwinds and a highly promotional market.
“We ended the half with net cash of £168m, an improvement of nearly £300m year-on-year after returning £260m to shareholders through buybacks and dividends over the last 12 months,” Schultz said. “Our FY27 guidance is unchanged from our Q2 trading statement: profit before tax and adjusting items of £700m to £800m and free cash flow of £460m to £520m, reflecting our focus on working capital efficiency and inventory management.”
On the strategic front, JD pointed to two Asia Pacific developments during the half: a new partnership with Central Group in Thailand, under which Central has taken a minority stake in JD's Thai business in exchange for access to its property portfolio for expansion, and continued store rollout in Malaysia following recent successful openings.
JD Sports' Australian operations are led locally by Hilton Seskin, who is CEO of APAC, though the half-year statement did not break out Australia-specific trading figures separately from the broader Asia Pacific segment.