Adidas to open fewer stores in Russia in 2014, 2015

BERLIN (Reuters) - German sportswear firm Adidas AG (ADSGn.DE) is cutting the number of stores it plans to open in Russia due to flagging consumer sentiment and the weak rouble, Chief Executive Herbert Hainer said on Thursday.

Hainer told journalists on a conference call that Adidas now planned around 30 net new openings per year in 2014 and 2015.

In August, Adidas, which runs more than 1,100 stores in Russia, already cut its target for net new store openings to 80 for this year and next, down from an original 150 a year.

Hainer said Adidas was also making progress in turning around its struggling golf business, predicting that sales and margins should stabilise and grow in 2015.

Both the Russia and golf business have suffered from excess stock and Hainer said Adidas hoped to cut inventories by a double-digit percentage rate in 2014 and to continue reducing absolute levels in 2015.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Maria Sheahan)