In the third quarter Adidas’ net income from continuing operations increased 19 per cent. Revenues grew eight per cent on a currency-neutral basis and three per cent in euro terms. Gross margin increased by 1.4 percentage points to 51.8 per cent. Operating profit was up by 13 per cent in the quarter, resulting in an operating margin improvement of 1.3 percentage points to a level of 15.3 per cent.

Due to the strong financial performance in the first nine months of 2018, Adidas has increased its profitability outlook for the year and specified the targeted range for its top-line growth. The company now projects currency-neutral revenues in 2018 to grow between eight per cent and nine per cent at the lower end of the communicated range due to lower-than-initially-expected growth in western Europe.

At the same time, Adidas now forecasts net income from continuing operations to increase between 16 per cent and 20 per cent compared to the prior-year level. The company’s gross margin is now projected to increase up to 1.0 percentage points to a level of up to 51.4 per cent. This, together with the projected top-line growth, is expected to drive an increase in operating profit of between 12 per cent and 16 per cent.