Herzogenaurach, Germany – Adidas, the global sporting footwear giant, had first quarter sales of EUR5.3m, almost unchanged on the period last year. However, operating profit across the business fell by 37.9% to EUR437m in the first quarter of 2022.
World of two halves for Adidas in Q1
Kaspar Rorsted: mixed picture. Credit: Adidas
The company was hit by supply chain constraints because of last year's lockdowns in Vietnam. This reduced top-line growth by about EUR400m in the quarter. In addition, the challenging market environment and coronavirus lockdowns in Greater China and the Asia Pacific hit performance in those regions.
The company pushed products through its higher margin direct to consumer channels. Revenues from this stream grew 1% in the year, and 33% compared to the 2020 numbers.
The disappointing performance in Asia was offset by strong demand in the west.
CEO Kasper Rorsted said: 'Our combined sales in North America, EMEA and Latin America grew at a double-digit rate. In the east, we will return to growth in Asia-Pacific in the second quarter, while we expect the challenging market environment in Greater China to continue.'
