Adidas has updated its full year profit guidance after a “better than expected” third quarter.

The German sportswear giant now expects revenues to decline at a low-single-digit rate in 2023, with underlying operating profit anticipated to reach a level of around €100 million by the end of the financial year. The company had previously estimated profits to break-even.

The outlook improved after the company’s axing of its Yeezy line was less detrimental than initially anticipated.

Adidas now expects an operating loss of around €100 million on remaining Yeezy stock, some of which has since been sold with proceeds going towards anti-hate charities, whereas previous loss expectations stood at €450 million.

Adidas also noted that while its third quarter performance was again positively impacted by the sale of parts of its remaining Yeezy inventory, the underlying Adidas business performance had also exceeded expectations.

Adidas axed its popular Yeezy line of sneakers after severing ties with its creator Ye, formerly Kanye West, after the rapper made a sequence of public appearances in which he espoused antisemitic views and said “I like Hitler”.

The end of the fashion collaboration left Adidas with around £1 billion worth of unsold merchandise and resulted in the company's first annual loss in more than three decades.

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