JD Sports owner John David Group made first half operating losses of £1.5m - down from profits of £11.1m last time - after what the firm described as a disappointing six months.

Many of the problems stemmed from difficulties integrating the newly-acquired sports and leisure division of Blacks Leisure, in Peterlee, County Durham.

John David Group, based in Heywood, Lancashire, said the improvement in performance it had hoped for failed to materialise as integrating Blacks' First Sport chain continued to disrupt operations.

JD said it had launched a turnaround plan involving store closures and the splitting of the group into two divisions, sports and fashion.

The company warned that it would take until the financial year beginning February 2005 for the full benefits of the shake-up to come through.

The group said in August that integrating its JD brand with the 209-strong First Sport chain, which it bought from Blacks Leisure last year, had been tough.

While it has converted 106 of the stores to the JD brand and closed 21 branches - with a further 16 due to shut before the end of the year - it suffered from so-called cannibalisation, with JD Sports and First Sport stores competing for business in close proximity in about 60 of the original locations.

JD has also found it hard to get stock levels right for the enlarged group.