Sportswear brand Adidas has recovered from the corona crisis in the last three months of last year. Excluding currency effects, the German label sales grew slightly compared to the same period the previous year.
This happened despite the resurgence of the coronavirus in Europe and North America.
Adidas sold 5.5 billion euros worth of sports shoes and shirts, and other items in the fourth quarter. Although that is less than the 5.8 billion euros a year earlier, corrected for the strong euro’s unfavourable effect, the growth amounted to 1 percent.
Fourth-quarter sales increased in almost all regions where the brand operates. Only in Europe, where new lockdowns had to close German stores, among other things, was there a 6 percent decline.
In the whole of 2020, turnover fell by 16 percent to just under 20 billion euros. The rebound in the autumn was mainly due to online sales, which increased by more than half last year to more than 4 billion euros. CEO Kasper Rørsted has high expectations for 2021 because he is counting on revenue growth of between 15 and 19 percent.
The annual profit fell sharply to 443 million euros, 78 percent less than in 2019. This was due to the extra costs associated with cancelled orders, more extensive stocks and the shipping of clothing purchased online.
In addition, Adidas had to write off its subsidiary brand Reebok. It was recently announced that the German group wants to get rid of this brand and is probing investors for a takeover of Reebok.
