Adidas presented the final results for the first quarter of the year. As already communicated in the provisional notification, expectations were exceeded. Current -adjusted sales rose by 13% at the same period last year. In euros, sales increased by around EUR 700 million to EUR 6.153 billion), which also corresponds to 13% growth (2024: 5.458 billion euros). After the sale of the remaining Yeezy stocks was completed at the end of last year, the results of the company for the first quarter of 2025 do not include sales with Yeezy products (2024: around € 150 million).
Shoes are the strongest growth driver. Sales with shoes have increased by 17%. Tales with clothing increased by 8%, sales with accessories by 10%. There was a double -digit plus in the Lifestyle corporate segment, driven by original and sportswear. Especially in the area of the low profile sneakers, there were strong removal at the beginning of the spring season, to which Adidas reacts with additional styles. In the performance segment there was a high single -digit plus with double -digit growth in “all important categories”. With the persistently strong visibility of the Adizero shoe family and the appropriate performance clothing, Adidas has further expanded the presence in the running market.
In the Wholesale area there was an increase in sales of 18%. Your own retail recorded an increase of 13%, driven by double -digit growth on a comparable basis in the company’s own retail stores. In E-Commerce, sales decreased by 3%, which is only due to the Yeezy business ended. Without taking into account Yeezy in the previous year, e-commerce turnover rose by 18% in the first quarter and contributed greatly to the growth of the D2C business by 15%. Divided according to regions, the currency -adjusted in Latin America (+26%) and the emerging markets (+23%) increased particularly strongly. In Europe (+14%), China (+13%) and Japan/South Korea (+13%) there was also double -digit growth. In North America, sales rose only by 3%, here too the value is strongly shaped by the Yeezy business. Without taking the Yeezy business into account, North America turnover rose by 13%.
The gross margin improved by 0.9 percentage points from 51.2% to 52.1% in the first quarter of 2025. The increase in the gross margin of the Adidas brand in the previous year was even stronger and was 1.6 percentage points. The positive development is mainly due to lower product and freight costs and fewer discounts. The other company expenses increased by 6% to EUR 2.615 billion (2024: 2.478 billion euros). In relation to sales, other company expenses decreased by 2.9 percentage points to 42.5% (2024: 45.4%). The operating result Sitereg by 82% to EUR 610 million (2024: 336 million euros), which reflects an increase in the operational margin by 3.8 percentage points to a level of 9.9% (2024: 6.2%). The net finance expenses decreased to EUR 25 million (2024: 91 million euros), which represents normalization, since the negative effects in connection with high inflation and repatriation of liquid means decreased compared to the previous year’s quartal. In order to profit before taxes of EUR 585 million (2024: 245 million euros), income taxes in the amount of EUR 149 million (2024: 74 million euros). This corresponds to a tax rate of 25.4% (2024: 30.1%). As a result, the profit from continued business areas has more than doubled and was EUR 436 million (2024: 171 million euros). The unwassed and diluted result per share of continued business areas was therefore at EUR 2.44 (2024: 0.96 euros).
For 2025, the company -adjusted increase in sales of the company in the high single -digit percentage range was forecast. The company also expected an improvement in the operating result to a value between EUR 1.7 billion and EUR 1.8 billion. Since the establishment of this forecast, the macroeconomic risks have increased significantly due to US customs policy. Adidas confirms the forecast, but has increased the range of possible results. It now includes improvement potential, which reflects the more stronger than expected results of the first quarter, as well as downward risks in view of the increased uncertainty in connection with potential direct and indirect effects of the higher US tariffs.