Adidas, the world’s second largest sports brand company, announced on March 4 that the company’s profit in the fourth quarter of 2008 more than doubled year-on-year, rising from 21 million euros to 54 million euros, exceeding market expectations of 47 million euros.
The company stated that the main reason for the huge difference in profit data was the reduction in marketing expenses in the fourth quarter of 2008. In the same period of 2007, huge financial resources were invested in preparing for the European Cup and the Beijing Olympics.
In 2008, the company’s net profit was 642 million euros, an increase of 16% over 2007. Full-year sales revenue in 2008 increased by 4.9%, reaching 10.8 billion euros.
The company previously stated that Russia will surpass Germany to become Adidas’ most important market in 2010, and sales in China are expected to reach 1 billion euros.
Although the company’s performance is good, Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer said that the global economy is currently in an unprecedented crisis. The company expects that excluding the impact of exchange rates, sales revenue in 2009 will decline by about 3-5%. Stock returns will also be lower.
