JD Sports Fashion chief executive Barry Bown said he was cautiously optimistic about prospects for the year ahead and shrugged off concerns that rising youth unemployment could slow growth.

The retailer reported a 14.5% rise in half-year pre-tax profit to £14.2m and said it was confident of meeting expectations for the full year.

Bown said: “It’s been reported by a number of retailers that it has not been great out there but I think we’ve come through it pretty well. We’re cautiously optimistic but are not getting carried away.”

Some analysts have voiced concerns that rising youth unemployment, which is approaching the 1 million mark, could lead to a drop in spending by JD’s target customer and hit sales.

However, Bown said JD’s young customers were relatively well insulated from the recession. “Our footfall has stayed fairly static but our conversion has gone up,” he said. “I’d like to think that our consumers are probably the last ones to be affected. In a number of cases they’re probably still living at home and still with disposable income.”

A sales boost may come from JD’s relaunch of the Sergio Tacchini sportswear brand – a favourite of football fan “casuals” in the early 1980s, which features in a new film about football hooliganism called The Firm.

“Sergio Tacchini is featured fairly heavily in the film and within the stage set of a JD store,” said Brown.

Group sales in the period jumped 8.4% to £324m while like-for-likes edged up 0.7%.

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