It’s been a torrid year for investors in JD Sports Fashion, whose shares are down about a quarter so far, having never recovered from January’s shock profit warning.

The mood among dealers remained pretty low on Monday following a downbeat assessment from Deutsche Numis, which urged clients to sell their shares in the self-proclaimed “king of trainers”.

The sportswear group’s shares are trading at an “unwarranted” premium to its peers, analysts argued, suggesting that the company has underestimated the cost of growth, evidenced by “deteriorating cash conversion”.

Alison Lygo and her team at Deutsche Numis now forecast that organic revenue growth for JD’s present financial year will be at the lower end of its guidance alongside flat like-for-like sales.

“While we see potential for