LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - British sportswear retailer JD

Sports Fashion beat a consensus forecast for first-half

profit and said it was on track to meet annual guidance, showing

its multi-brand strategy working at a time when Nike ( NKE ) is

struggling.

The FTSE 100-listed group, which sells Nike ( NKE ), Adidas, On,

HOKA and other brands in Britain, Europe and the United States,

said on Wednesday it would meet targets, despite what it called

a competitive and promotional marketplace.

Nike ( NKE ) on Tuesday posted disappointing quarterly

sales growth and

warned

its holiday season would likely to be filled with

discounts.

For the 26 weeks to Aug. 3, JD Sports posted adjusted

pretax profit of 405.6 million pounds ($538.35 million), ahead

of analyst expectations of 384 million pounds.

"Our success is a direct reflection of the strength and

agility of our global, multi-brand strategy, which allows us to

adapt swiftly to fast-changing industry trends across the

world," Chief Executive Regis Schultz said in a statement.

The group also reiterated its guidance for annual profit

of between 955 million pounds and 1.035 billion pounds.

($1 = 0.7534 pounds)