This result reportedly reflects growth in all of the brand’s market segments except for Greater China. In euro terms, revenue was up by 6% to €22.5 billion.
Wholesale saw growth of 1%, while direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales were up by 2%. Within DTC, own-retail revenue for Adidas was flat while e-commerce grew by 4%, driven by North America and Latin America.
Currency-neutral sales were up by 44% in Latin America and 12% in North America, increasing by 9% in EMEA amid closures in Russia and up by 4% in Asia-Pacific. In Greater China alone, revenues dropped by 36% year-on-year.
The net financial result for the year was a loss of €281 million (down from a loss of €133 million in 2021).
In the fourth quarter alone, currency-neutral revenues were down by 1%, reflecting an impact of €600 million related to the termination of the Yeezy partnership as well as a decline of 50% in Greater China. In Euro terms, Q4 revenue was up by 1% to €5.21 billion.
By channel, wholesale saw currency-neutral revenues increase by 4% in the fourth quarter while the DTC channel fell by 1% and e-commerce dropped by 4%. Own-retail sales were up by 1%.
In 2023, Adidas is expecting currency-neutral revenues to fall by high single-digit rates as macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical tensions persist, including elevated recession risks in Europe and North America as well as uncertainty around the recovery in Greater China.
“2023 will be a transition year to build the base for 2024 and 2025,” said Bjørn Gulden, CEO of Adidas. “We need to reduce inventories and lower discounts. We can then start to build a profitable business again in 2024. Adidas has all the ingredients to be successful, but we need to put our focus back on our core: product, consumers, retail partners and athletes.
“We will work on strengthening our people and the Adidas culture. Motivated people and a strong Adidas culture are the most important factors to build a unique Adidas business model again. A business model built to focus on serving our consumer through both wholesale and DTC, that balances global direction with local needs, that is fast and agile, and of course, always invests in sports and culture to keep building credibility and brand heat. We will bring it back to be the best sports brand in the world once again.”
