* Says recession has thrown up opportunities
* H1 underlying pretax profit 14.2 mln stg, vs 12.4 mln
* Underlying sales for six weeks to Sept. 12 up 0.8 pct
* "Well positioned" to deliver on full-year expectations
* Shares down 2 pct
(Adds detail, chairman comments, shares)
By James Davey
LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Britain's No. 3 sportswear retailer, JD Sports Fashion, said it was targeting more acquisitions as it posted a 14.5 percent rise in first-half profit and predicted full-year profit in line with expectations.
"If the right deal comes along then we take advantage of it," Executive Chairman Peter Cowgill told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.
The company has already made three acquisitions in the past six months -- rugby brands Canterbury Europe and Kooga, and French sports footwear retailer Chausport.
Cowgill said that under normal circumstances JD would concentrate on developing these purchases. However, given the firm ended the half with net cash of 6 million pounds ($9.71 million) it was prudent to take advantage of cut-price opportunities the recession has thrown up.
Shares in JD, 57 percent of which are owned by sportswear company Pentland, have doubled in value in six months, outperforming general retailers by 47 percent.
The stock was down 2 percent at 590 pence at 0856 GMT, valuing the business at 276 million pounds, as investors booked profits.
JD, which focuses on the upper end of the sportswear market, with 438 stores in the UK and Ireland, made a profit before tax and exceptional items of 14.2 million pounds in the six months to Aug.1. That was in line with analysts' forecasts and up from 12.4 million in the 2008 period.
Revenue increased 8.4 percent to 324 million pounds and was up 0.7 percent on a like-for-like basis, while gross margin was maintained at 48.2 percent. The interim dividend is 3.3 pence, up 6.5 percent.
Many UK retailers have struggled over the last year as consumers cut back spending amid an anaemic property market and rising unemployment. But JD has bucked this trend, benefiting from its blend of sports and fashion brands and its strong relationship with brands such as Nike and Adidas.
Like-for-like sales rose 0.8 percent in the six weeks to Sept. 12.
"The result for the full year remains very dependent on the sales and margin performance in December and January," said Cowgill. "Nevertheless, the board believes that the group is well positioned to deliver on market expectations."
Before Tuesday's statement, analysts were forecasting a consensus year to end-Jan. 2010 underlying pretax profit of 55.4 million pounds, up from 53.6 million pounds last time.
The UK sportswear sector is characterised by complicated cross-shareholdings. JD has a stake of just under 10 percent in sector No. 2 JJB Sports, while market leader Sports Direct International has a 13 percent stake in JD.
Earlier this month the Serious Fraud Office and the consumer affairs watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading, announced they were investigating JJB and Sports Direct over possible price fixing and fraud. (Editing by Dan Lalor and Rupert Winchester) ($1 = 0.6181 pound)