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Adidas Company profile

What is Adidas?

Adidas (ADS) is a group of companies that design, produce and sell sports footwear, apparel and equipment. Its global staff includes more than 60,000 employees. Via a chain of stores and online shops, the Adidas group markets its products under the following brands: Adidas, Reebok (footwear, apparel and hardware); and Five Ten (outdoor footwear).

The company’s strategic business plan is based around three key elements. These are: speed (fast in satisfying consumer needs and fast in internal decision-making); cities (it’s identified six key cities where it wants to grow market share); and open source (Adidas wants to be the first sports brand that invites athletes, consumers and partners to be part of its brands).

Among Adidas’s biggest competitors are Nike, Puma, Converse and Asics. Nike remains the market leader in the global sports footwear industry, with revenue of $19.87 billion in 2016 – almost double that of Adidas ($10.68 billion). But in early 2018, polling suggested that Adidas had a narrow lead over Nike in terms of its Impression score (whether people had a positive or negative impression of the brand).

Who are the key people at Adidas?

Danish national Kasper Rorsted has been Chief Executive Officer of Adidas AG since October 2016. He had previously served as CEO of Henkel AG. Other leading figures at Adidas include: Roland Auschel, Executive Board Member responsible for Global Sales; Eric Liedtke, Executive Board Member responsible for Global Brands; and Harm Ohlmeyer, Executive Board Member responsible for Finance.

What is the modern history of Adidas?

Adidas traces its history back to 1924, when Adi Dassler registered the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik and embarked on a crusade to provide athletes with top-quality equipment. After Adi’s death in 1978, his son Horst took over the business and ran it till he died in 1987. The company suffered a record loss and near-bankruptcy in 1992, but a successful turnaround followed and in 1995 Adidas went public. In the early 2000s the company introduced a new lifestyle segment focusing on sports-inspired streetwear. And in a landmark development, Adidas acquired Reebok in 2006. The acquisition of outdoor specialist Five Ten followed in 2011.

What are the latest developments at Adidas?

In 2017, as part of a strategy to focus on its core competencies in footwear and apparel, Adidas divested its hockey brand CCM and its golf brands TaylorMade, Adams Golf and Ashworth. The year was a strong one for the company, whose strategic growth areas – North America, Greater China and Digital Commerce – were the main performance drivers.

In its full year 2017 results, Adidas reported currency-neutral revenues up 16% on the previous year; operating margin 1.2 percentage points higher at 9.8%; and net income from continuing operations 32% higher than 2016. Basic EPS from continuing operations increased 31% to €7.05.

The Adidas share price has risen sharply in recent years, climbing from €56 in January 2015 to €150 in September 2016, and to over €200 in April 2018. At that level, Adidas had a market capitalisation of more than €42 billion. To find out how the shares are doing right now, follow Capital.com. Our ADS chart puts all the information at your fingertips.

Where does Adidas operate?

Adidas is based in Herzogenaurach in the German state of Bavaria. The company also has major hubs in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Portland and Boston (USA), Hong Kong and Shanghai (China), and Panama. In total, Adidas has operations in around 160 countries across the world.

Where is Adidas traded?

Adidas shares are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and they’ve been a constituent of the DAX-30 index since 1998. Check out Capital.com for the latest ADS chart. We’ll keep you up to date and in the picture.