Adidas’s currency-neutral revenues climbed by 8 per cent in the first quarter, fueled by the robust growth of the company’s core business, which expanded by 5 per cent. Furthermore, throughout the quarter, revenues of around € 150 million were realised by the sale of a portion of the leftover Yeezy inventory.
The company’s sales in euros increased by 4 per cent to € 5.458 billion, despite a 4 per cent loss in sales in North America. This decline was due to a double-digit decline in the wholesale channel, even though the company maintained its strict sell-in strategy.
Commenting on the first quarter update, Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden said, “I am very happy to see that the business in Q1 developed better than we had expected. Sales, gross margin, and operating profit were all better than initially planned.”
Clothing stocks were high, especially in the North American market, which resulted in decreased sell-in into the wholesale channel, despite a 2 per cent increase in garment sales. Due to the company’s successful jersey introductions in front of the Conmebol Copa América and the UEFA Euro 2024, football apparel saw double-digit growth in both wholesale and DTC. The quarter saw a 1 per cent decrease in accessories.
From a channel standpoint, the company’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) business, which expanded 20 per cent on a currency-neutral basis during the quarter, was the main driver of the top-line development. Sales at Adidas’ own retail locations rose by 11 per cent, which is indicative of robust double-digit growth throughout the full-price concept store fleet of the business. Revenues from e-commerce increased by 34 per cent in the first quarter.
