Adidas UK sees falling wholesale and e-tail sales

Adidas has filed its UK-specific accounts at Companies House and said that last year, sales fell by 9% to £1.125 billion. This was made up of an increase of £14.99 million in its own retail stores but a fall of £88 million in wholesale and £37.7 million via its own e-commerce channel.

In fact, its wholesale revenue fell from £851 million to £753 million last year while its online sales fell from £293.6 million to £255.8 million. Although its retail sales rose from £91.4 million to £106.4 million, this was clearly not enough to counteract the declines in the other two much larger channels.

And profit before tax fell by 18% to £30.859 million. The gross profit margin was 19%, down from 24% a year earlier, but the operating profit margin stayed steady at 3%. 

Net profit for the year was down to just short of £22 million from a little over £31 million in 2022.

The company also said that 2024 started with high inflation, interest rate rises and geopolitical tensions but despite those challenges, the outlook is positive with consumer interest still high for the companies products. This is “mainly driven by the Terrace trend in Lifestyle” and the industry was set to benefit from the major sports events that happened during 2024. 

The results report didn’t include any details on how those sports events – such as the Olympics and the Euros – actually went for the UK business. 

But for the wider company globally, the outlook seems strong and Adidas has upgraded its operating profit forecast to around €1 billion from an earlier forecast of €700 million.