The sneaker deal with Kanye West is history, for Adidas this means a minus of around 600 million euros. But the high inflation and problems in China are also depressing the operating result. The shareholders are now feeling this clearly.
The shareholders of the sporting goods manufacturer Adidas have to adjust to a significantly lower distribution after the slump in profits last year. They are to receive a dividend of EUR 0.70 per share after EUR 3.30 in the previous year, as Adidas now announced in Herzogenaurach.
Europe's largest sporting goods manufacturer remains in crisis mode for the time being. CEO Björn Gulden, who has changed from competitor Puma, expects currency-adjusted sales to decline in the high single-digit percentage range for the current year. A few weeks ago, Gulden had to issue a profit warning because of the loss of business with Yeezy products, which were created in collaboration with scandal rapper Kanye West. The operating result could be up to 700 million in the red for the first time in decades. "2023 will be a transitional year to lay the foundation for 2024 and 2025," said Gulden when presenting the annual figures.
In 2022, the group struggled with high inflation and problems in China. In addition, the cooperation with Kanye West was terminated, among other things, because of anti-Semitism allegations against the rapper. The profit from continued business therefore collapsed from almost 1.5 billion to 254 million euros. The number two on the global sporting goods market thus confirmed the preliminary figures it had already presented. In the fourth quarter there was even a loss of 482 million euros after a profit of 123 million euros a year earlier.
With the end of the Yeezy cooperation, Adidas lost around 600 million euros in sales, which rose by a total of one percent to 5.2 billion euros. Currency-adjusted, Adidas posted a minus of one percent. The Yeezy issue will also weigh on the group in the current year.
Gulden indicated that in the future he would again pay more attention to sales via wholesalers and retailers and, unlike his predecessor Kasper Rorsted, not only push direct sales via the Internet and his own shops. Adidas also needs to be more considerate of local needs. The Norwegian switched from local rivals Puma to Adidas earlier this year.
