1H24 Group PBT of £373.5m (-2.6% YoY) was in-line with company compiled consensus of £371m & guidance. Management guided to a return to a more historic 1H:2H split of 35%:65% and that 1H PBT would be slightly down YoY. 1H Group sales were up 8% with organic growth (ex the impact of non-core divestments) up 12%. Standout performance was Europe where organic growth was +27%, with Asia +26%, North America +14% and the UK +8%. Current trading for the last 7 weeks in-line with management’s expectations. At constant FX, Group organic sales were up 10%. Reassuringly, the US has returned to growth after a strong Back-to-School season. Revenues rebounded in July (up high single digit) with August/Sept up decent double digit, having been down high single digit in June, which has turned out to be an aberration. Good 1H organic growth, in the range of 13%-17%, was delivered across all 3 businesses (Finish Line/JD, DTLR). FY24 guidance reiterated. Management expects headline FY24 Group PBT at current FX rate to be line with current market consensus of £1.04bn. We have maintained our forecasts but increased our FY24E DPS to 0.9p as mgmt. expects to return to a 1/3 H1:2/3 H2 FY DPS split. It declared a 0.3p 1H DPS. JD Brand First strategy very much on track with over 200 new JD stores due to open in FY24 (1H opened net 83 with 17 being conversions) and it signed its 1st franchise agreement. Its new European distribution centre is on track and JD plans to launch a new loyalty card in the UK in October. This will be rolled out in October in the UK and next year in Europe. Undemanding valuation (CY24 PE 8.1x) does not reflect how well JD is positioned to deliver double-digit growth per annum over its 5 year plan.