German sporting goods firm Adidas on Thursday said the World Cup in Russia and strong e-commerce sales lifted net profit in the second quarter, keeping the company on track to meet its 2018 goals. Net profit at the Bavaria-based company more than doubled to 396 million euros ($459 million) between April and June, up from 158 million the previous year.
Group revenues climbed four percent to 5.3 billion euros year-on year, powered by brisk demand in the key North American and Chinese markets as well as by online sales.
A major growth driver in the second quarter was the World Cup football extravaganza, which helped propel a double-digit increase in sales in Russia.
As well as supplying the footballs, Adidas sponsored 12 of the 32 teams in the tournament, allowing it to shrug off Germany's embarrassingly early exit. "We delivered another strong quarter on the back of a successful World Cup activation," said chief executive Kasper Rorsted, pointing to global sales of 10 million footballs and some eight million football shirts.