BERLIN (AP) -- Sportswear maker Adidas reported a nearly 18 percent increase in second-quarter earnings and raised its full-year forecast on Thursday, citing growth in emerging markets and the impact of major events such as football's European Championship and the Olympics.
Adidas AG said its net earnings totaled €165 million ($203 million) in the April-June period, up from €140 million a year earlier. The company's total revenue was up to €3.52 billion from €3.06 billion — an increase of nearly 15 percent.
The company said it is now targeting an increase in full-year net earnings of between 15 and 17 percent. That compared with its previous forecast of a range between 12 and 17 percent. However, it left its revenue forecast unchanged, saying that it still expected an increase "approaching 10 percent" in currency-neutral terms.
Adidas' net earnings beat the €156 million forecast of analysts surveyed by FactSet and revenue was in line with expectations. Still, Adidas shares were down nearly 3 percent in early Frankfurt trading at €59.16.
Adidas said currency conversion effects bolstered its revenue figures as the euro weakened compared with a year earlier.
In currency-neutral terms, the company said revenue was up 7 percent — with increases of 5 percent in western Europe, 10 percent in North America, 13 percent in China and 18 percent in emerging European markets.
However, the Reebok brand was a weak spot. Adidas said its second-quarter revenue was down more than 21 percent to €336 million.
The company said overall western European sales across the year's first half were bolstered by growth in Britain and Poland — hosts of the London Olympics and Euro 2012 respectively.
First-half net earnings were up 30 percent, climbing to €455 million from €349 million. Revenue rose nearly 16 percent to €7.34 billion from €6.34 billion.
