Adidas outpaces Nike in North America and China

Berlin

SHARES in Adidas rose to a record high on Thursday after the German sportswear firm reported a bigger than expected increase in first-quarter sales and profits, outpacing rival Nike in North America and China and growing fast online.

After losing ground to its US rival for years, Adidas launched a big marketing drive in the United States to challenge Nike on its home turf, prompting consumers to snap up its Boost running shoes and retro styles such as Superstars.

Quarterly net profit rose 30 percent to 455 million euros (S$697 million) on sales up 19 per cent to 5.67 billion euros, beatin…