Adidas raises profit guidance on strong performance, cuts sales outlook

German sportswear firm Adidas hiked its 2018 profit guidance, citing a strong financial performance in the first nine months of the year, but trimmed revenue target due to weaker-than-expected growth in western Europe.

While Adidas has been taking market share from bigger rival Nike in North America, the U.S. firm has been powering ahead in Europe, Middle East and Africa, where its sales rose 9 percent in the three months ended August.

Adidas had already warned that sales in western Europe were likely to stay flat in the second half of the year after the company failed to focus enough on the launch of more products.

The group said on Wednesday it now saw its net income from continuing operations growing 16 to 20 percent between 1.66 billion to 1.72 billion euros ($1.90-1.97 billion), compared with previous guidance for 13 to 17 percent growth.

It now expects its full-year currency-neutral sales to grow by 8 to 9 percent, less than the previous forecast for an increase of around 10 percent.

Third-quarter sales rose a currency-adjusted 8 percent to 5.873 billion euros, compared with analysts' forecast of 5.92 billion euros, while net profit from continuing operations jumped 19 percent to 656 million euros, beating consensus for 619 million euros.