Adidas Q2 net sales improve, lifts annual sales growth outlook; Birgit Kretschmer named CFO

Adidas AG, the German athletic apparel, footwear, and related products company, on Thursday reported a decline in net profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, hurt by loss from discontinued operations. However, the company recorded a rise in net sales, helped by improved demand.

For the three-month period, the company reported a net income of 355 million euros, or 2.02 euros per share, less than 369 million euros, or 2.07 euroes per share, in the same period last year. Loss from discontinued operations was 14 million euros, compared with a gain of 6 million euros a year ago.

Net profit from continuing operations was 398 million euros, or 2.10 euros per share, higher than 375 million euros, or 2.03 euros per share, in the prior year. Operating income stood at 574 million euros as against 546 million euros in the previous year.

The company posted net sales of 6.743 billion euros, up from 5.952 billion euros last year. The Apparel business of Adidas registered net sales of 2.721 billion euros, higher than 2.029 billion euros a year ago.

In addition, Adidas has appointed Birgit Kretschmer to its executive board with effect from September 1. She will succeed Harm Ohlmeyer as the company's chief financial officer at the end of the year. This follows Ohlmeyer's decision not to extend his executive board mandate beyond his current term.

With this appointment, Kretschmer returns to Adidas, where she had spent her 25 years in different leadership roles across the organization. For the past six years, she worked as the CFO of C&A, a fashion retailer.

Looking ahead, for fiscal 2026, the company has reaffirmed its operating profit guidance of 2.3 billion euros. For fiscal 2026, citing its better-than-expected current earnings performance, Adidas now anticipates revenue growth of 9 to 10 percent against its earlier expectation for revenue growth in a high-single-digit rate.

For fiscal 2025, Adidas had posted an operating profit of 2.056 billion euros, with net sales of 24.811 billion euros.