Adidas Reports a 2023 Loss as Kanye West’s Fallout Weighs

Adidas, the German sportswear giant, revealed an annual deficit for 2023 on Wednesday, still dragged down by the fallout from the breakdown of its partnership with controversial musician Kanye West.

The loss of 75 million euros ($82 million) follows a profit of 612 million euros the year before.

Sales plummeted 5% to 21.4 billion euros, and were notably adversely hurt in the United States due to the termination of sales of Yeezy trainers designed by West.

Sales fell marginally in the fourth quarter, with a particularly sharp drop in North America, as Adidas sold less to wholesalers in an effort to eliminate surplus inventory.

Adidas terminated their deal with West in 2022 after he made a string of anti-Semitic statements, leaving the company with thousands of unsold Yeezy shoes created in collaboration.

Two Yeezy sales in 2023 brought in 750 million euros, far less than the 1.2 billion euros the logo generated in 2022.

Adidas donates revenues from sales to charities.

Adidas anticipates a “mid-single-digit rate” of growth in sales by 2024. The corporation plans to sell the remaining Yeezy revenue at cost, resulting in sales of approximately 250 million euros.

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