Dive Brief:
- Martin Shankland, the executive board member for global operations at Adidas, plans to step down from that position and leave the company after 27 years. The company’s supervisory board has terminated his executive board appointment effective Saturday, according to a press release.
- Shankland first joined Adidas in 1997 as finance director for the company’s Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States region. He held various roles during his tenure, culminating in his appointment in 2019 to the executive board. In that role, he oversaw multiple business areas, including product operations, supply chain, technology and sustainability.
- Adidas said Hoa Ly, senior vice president of sourcing, will be responsible for all sourcing operations going forward and will report to CEO Bjørn Gulden, while Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer will take on additional responsibility for supply chain and tech. The changes will reduce Adidas’ executive board from five members to four.
Dive Insight:
Shankland’s departure is the latest of several leadership changes that began in late 2022 with the announcement that Gulden would become CEO, replacing Kasper Rorsted. In March, Arthur Hoeld was named to oversee global sales. Hoeld replaced Roland Auschel, who left after 33 years. Brian Grevy, who oversaw global brands, left around the same time.
A few months later, Amanda Rajkumar, the company’s global human resources chief, exited the company. Michelle Robertson currently holds that role. And last fall, Rupert Campbell, president of the company’s North America market, left his position.
The most recent executive departure comes as Adidas is gaining momentum with its recent financial performance. The brand’s Q2 performance was up double digits across all channels with increases in all of its markets, the company said last week. Second-quarter net sales rose 9% to 5.8 billion euros ($6.3 billion at the time).
Although the company’s North American business was down 7%, the underlying business for the region rose 2%. Adidas’ recent performance is a major shift from last year, when the company posted its first annual loss in 30 years.
On a call with analysts last week, Gulden credited the recent UFEA and Copa America soccer tournaments, along with the brand’s visibility at the Paris Olympics, as factors that are helping to accelerate the company’s growth and sales momentum as the brand celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.
“This positive performance has instilled confidence in the group, leading it to increase its full-year outlook for a consecutive time this year,” Alice Price, an associate apparel analyst at GlobalData, said in emailed comments.
In its latest guidance, Adidas expects currency-neutral revenue for the year to increase at a high-single-digit rate — up from its prior forecast of a mid- to high-single-digit rise. Adidas said in July its full-year operating profit is also now expected to reach 1 billion euros versus its previous guidance of 700 million euros.
