UPDATE 1-UK’s JD Sports on track for profit growth on leisurewear boom

British sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion said it was on track to post higher annual profit as demand for Nike, Adidas and other branded footwear and apparel pushed underlying sales up 12% despite the pressure on consumers from rising bills. JD's typically younger customers have kept spending over the last two years, shrugging off the impact of rising inflation, eager to buy JD's often exclusive sportswear fashions. The group, already the UK's biggest sportswear retailer, is expanding rapidly across Europe and the United States, aiming to spend up to 3 billion pounds to open 1,750 stores over five years and become a global athletic leisurewear "powerhouse".