Adidas Net Profit Drops

Sportswear and equipment maker Adidas AG (ADS.XE) has almost completed its restructuring, Chief Executive Herbert Hainer said Wednesday.

Photo: Adidas Net Profit Drops

He added that the company has reached its restructuring goals for the first half of the year , Wall Street Journal reports.

Meanwhile, the Herzogenaurach, Germany-based company said net profit in the April-June period dropped to euro9 million ($13 million) from euro116 million in the second quarter of 2008, as sales dipped 3 percent to euro2.46 billion from euro2.52 billion.

As well as the sales decline, the world's second largest sportswear company behind Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE) blamed currency devaluations -- the Russian ruble in particular -- and the "highly promotional retail environment" for a steep fall in profits. Operating profit for the quarter slid 66 percent to euro72 million from euro208 million a year earlier , New York Times reports.

Adidas repeated its forecast that revenue in 2009 will fall at a “low-to-mid single-digit” pace, excluding currency moves. Discounting and weak currencies in eastern Europe have eroded the company’s performance versus last year, when sales reached a record in the second quarter because of soccer’s European Championship and the Beijing Olympics , Bloomberg reports.