The expensive departure from the controversial rapper Kanye West and his “Yeezy” products brought the sporting goods manufacturer Adidas a loss in the first quarter.
The bottom line was a minus of 24 million euros in the first three months of 2023, Adidas announced in Herzogenaurach. At the same time last year, the company still posted a profit of 310 million euros.
The rapper had launched expensive lifestyle products together with Adidas – a highly lucrative business for both sides. “Yeezy” meant billions in high-margin sales for Adidas. After anti-Semitic statements by West, Adidas had to stop working together. Should the products still in stock have to be completely destroyed, this would burden the annual result by 700 million euros. In addition, there is a class action lawsuit by investors in the USA, who accuse Adidas of not having reacted in time.
Nevertheless, the new CEO Björn Gulden considers the first quarter to be somewhat better than expected. At just under EUR 5.3 billion, currency-adjusted sales were at the previous year’s level. In addition to the problems with “Yeezy”, Adidas is primarily struggling with large inventories. However, these are already 300 million euros lower than at the beginning of the year.
