Adidas Ireland continues profit and sales slump

There were no trophies won by Adidas Ireland off the field last year as sales and profits slumped further.

Adidas is the kit supplier for Munster rugby, but in common with the provincial side last year, Adidas (Ireland) Ltd saw its fortunes decline further in the Irish market, recording a 20% drop in pre-tax profits to €693,000.

This followed revenues declining by 19% from €35.5m to €28.8m in the 12 months to the end of December last. The slump in revenues followed a 19% decline in 2012, going down from €43.67m to €35.5m.

Over the two years, the firm’s pre-tax profits have almost halved from €1.27m to €693,000.

According to the firm’s directors’ report for 2013, the decrease in sales “is in light of difficult trading conditions in the Irish retail market”.

The directors state that results for the year were satisfactory. The firm paid a dividend last year of €800,000 and this followed a dividend payout of €1.2m in 2012.

The sales of Munster rugby tops and Ronaldo Real Madrid jerseys would have contributed to Adidas’ revenues in Ireland last year, along with sales of the Bayern Munich and Chelsea strips.

At the end of 2013 the Irish unit had accumulated profits of €613,000 with total shareholder funds amounting to €2.6m. The firm’s cash increased from €480,000 to €2m. The figures show that the company last year reduced its advertising spend from €2.75m to €2.58m while distribution costs reduced from €2.75m to €2.58m. The firm’s cost of sales reduced from €26.7m to €22.1m.