Greater China, APAC drag Adidas’ sales growth in 2021

The market reduced Adidas’ revenue growth by €1.5b.

Adidas saw its currency-neutral revenues increase by 16% in 2021, but this could have increased by €1.5b more if not for Greater China and parts of the Asia-Pacific region.

“Adidas was able to increase its currency-neutral revenues by 16% despite several external factors weighing on both demand and supply throughout the year,” the company said in a report.

Amongst the factors that weighed on Adidas is the challenging market environment in Greater China and the extensive pandemic-related lockdowns in Asia-Pacific. Disruption in the supply chain also contributed in the €1.5b reduction.

The company’s currency-neutral sales managed to grow as it saw increases in other markets such as the Europe, Middle East and Africa (24%), North America (17%), and Latin America (47%).

“In 2021, we delivered a strong set of results despite several external factors weighing on both demand and supply throughout the year”, Kasper Rorsted, CEO of Adidas, said.

“Wherever markets operated without major disruptions we have been experiencing strong top-line momentum. This is reflected in double-digit revenue growth in EMEA, North America and Latin America.”

Adidas’ financial income dropped 32% to €19m in 2021 from €29m in 2020. Its financial expenses also decreased by 22% to €153m from €196m in the previous year.

This led to a negative financial result of €133m in 2021 from €167m over the same period.