The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
HERZOGENAURACH, Germany — Adidas AG, the German sport-shoe maker, forecast an increase in earnings this year as consumers spend more, making it easier to sell higher-priced goods and offset rising costs.
Net income from continuing operations will increase 10 percent to 12 percent excluding goodwill impairment, Adidas said in a statement Thursday as it reported full-year earnings that were pre-released last month. Operating margin excluding goodwill impairment will be at least stable compared with last year’s 6.5 percent. Gross margin will narrow as much as 1 percentage point due to higher purchasing costs in Asia.
After 15 years in the job, Chief Executive Officer Herbert Hainer is presiding over his final annual-results press conference before passing the reins to Henkel AG CEO Kasper Rorsted. The new CEO, who starts in October, will need to improve Adidas’s standing in the U.S., where it’s slipping further behind No. 1 sneaker brand Nike Inc., and increase growth in athletics shoes, which define its brand.
Sales will be helped by this summer’s European soccer championships, which drive sneaker and clothing sales, Adidas said. The company said Thursday it’s raising its dividend 6.7 percent to 1.60 euros a share, matching the Bloomberg forecast.
ADVERTISEMENT
Last month, Adidas raised its sales and operating profit outlook for the year. Revenue and operating profit are set to increase at a double-digit rate, versus the single-digit rise previously forecast.
In nabbing Rorsted from Henkel, a rare cross-company hiring in Germany’s DAX Index, Adidas hopes to add more luster to its brand against Nike, which is twice its size. In an apparel market where women are wearing tights and running shoes to the office, he’ll also need to hold off a passel of smaller brands like Under Armour Inc., Lululemon Athletica Inc. and Sketchers USA Inc., which are looking to chip off pieces of Adidas’ already tenuous share.
Adidas said Wednesday it plans to add Nassef Sawiris, Egypt’s richest man, to the supervisory board as it enlarges its governing body.
By Aaron Ricadela; editors: Nate Lanxon, Thomas Mulier and Phil Serafino.
In 2020, like many companies, the $50 billion yoga apparel brand created a new department to improve internal diversity and inclusion, and to create a more equitable playing field for minorities. In interviews with BoF, 14 current and former employees said things only got worse.
For fashion’s private market investors, deal-making may provide less-than-ideal returns and raise questions about the long-term value creation opportunities across parts of the fashion industry, reports The State of Fashion 2024.
A blockbuster public listing should clear the way for other brands to try their luck. That, plus LVMH results and what else to watch for in the coming week.
L Catterton, the private-equity firm with close ties to LVMH and Bernard Arnault that’s preparing to take Birkenstock public, has become an investment giant in the consumer-goods space, with stakes in companies selling everything from fashion to pet food to tacos.