Adidas Holds Back on Profit Upgrade Due to Tariff Uncertainty 

The logo of Adidas is seen on a Gazelle sneaker for sale at a shop in Berlin, Germany, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
The logo of Adidas is seen on a Gazelle sneaker for sale at a shop in Berlin, Germany, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
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Adidas Holds Back on Profit Upgrade Due to Tariff Uncertainty 

The logo of Adidas is seen on a Gazelle sneaker for sale at a shop in Berlin, Germany, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)
The logo of Adidas is seen on a Gazelle sneaker for sale at a shop in Berlin, Germany, May 2, 2024. (Reuters)

German sportswear maker Adidas on Tuesday said higher US import tariffs and broader uncertainty around trade were clouding its forecasts and making it difficult to plan.

CEO Bjorn Gulden said the company would have hiked its revenue and profit guidance for 2025 after strong first-quarter results, but tariff uncertainty meant it decided to hold back.

Adidas expects the blanket increase in US tariffs to eventually cause price increases across all its products, but said it was currently impossible to quantify those or to establish the likely impact on US consumer demand, highlighting the paralysis caused by trade uncertainty.

Adidas has already reduced exports of China-made goods to the US to a minimum but is still "somewhat exposed" to much higher US tariffs on Chinese goods, Gulden said, though it is unclear how long those might remain at the current level.

"Given the uncertainty around the negotiations between the US and the different exporting countries, we do not know what the final tariffs will be. Therefore, we cannot make any 'final' decisions on what to do," Gulden said.

Unexpectedly high US tariffs on Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia, announced at the start of this month, but paused until July, blindsided sportswear brands, which make most of their sneakers and clothing there.

As tariffs raise the cost of doing business, Adidas said it would strive to ensure US retail partners and consumers get product "at the best possible price", adding it would try to compensate for uncertainty in the US by boosting its performance in the rest of the world.

First-quarter sales rose 14% in Europe and 13% in Greater China and were up 26% in Latin America. Sales in North America increased just 3%, which Adidas said was due to the phase-out of its Yeezy sneaker line.

While sticking to its full-year guidance, Adidas said uncertainties "could put negative pressure on this later in the year".



Loro Piana is Latest Italian Luxury Brand Under Fire for Worker Abuse in Supply Chain

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Loro Piana is seen in a shop in downtown Rome, Italy February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Loro Piana is seen in a shop in downtown Rome, Italy February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo
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Loro Piana is Latest Italian Luxury Brand Under Fire for Worker Abuse in Supply Chain

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Loro Piana is seen in a shop in downtown Rome, Italy February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Loro Piana is seen in a shop in downtown Rome, Italy February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo

Cashmere king Loro Piana, part of LVMH's luxury empire, became on Monday the fifth high-end brand to be put under judicial administration in Italy over worker abuses in supply chains, after an investigation that has tainted the image of Italian luxury goods.

Loro Piana Spa will undergo court monitoring for a year, according to the 26-page ruling reviewed by Reuters, which stems from investigations into the world of subcontracting for luxury goods in Italy that started in 2023.

As in previous cases involving Italian luxury firms, the administration may end earlier if the company brings its practices into line with legal requirements.

In a statement, Loro Piana blamed a supplier for sub-contracting work without informing it, breaching legal and contractual obligations, and said it had ended work with the supplier as soon as it found out in May.

The case involving Loro Piana Spa originated after Carabinieri police from the Milan labor protection unit in May arrested a Chinese workshop owner and closed his factory in the northwestern suburbs of Milan, Reuters reported.

The employer was reported by one of his workers for beating him, causing injuries that required 45 days of treatment, after the worker demanded 10,000 euros ($11,692.00) in unpaid wages.

Carabinieri police found that the workshop produced Loro Piana-branded cashmere jackets and that its 10 Chinese laborers, including five illegal immigrants, were forced to work up to 90 hours a week, seven days a week, were paid 4 euros an hour, and slept in rooms illegally set up inside the factory.

Units of fashion brands Valentino, LVMH's second largest brand Dior, Italy's Armani, and Italian handbag company Alviero Martini were previously placed under administration for similar alleged worker exploitation.

The Court of Milan found that Loro Piana, which makes expensive cashmere clothing, subcontracted its production through two front firms that had no actual manufacturing capacity to Chinese-owned workshops in Italy.

The owners of the contracting and subcontracting companies were put under investigation for exploiting workers and employing people off the books, while Loro Piana Spa itself faces no criminal probe.

The company said in its statement it "has been constantly reviewing and will continue to strengthen its control and audit activities" to ensure compliance with its own quality and ethical standards across the supply chain.

LVMH, the world's biggest luxury group, acquired 80% of Loro Piana in 2013, leaving 20% to the company's founding family. In June, Loro Piana appointed Frederic Arnault, son of LVMH chairman and Chief Executive Bernard Arnault, as CEO.

WORKER ABUSE AT SUBCONTRACTORS

The Milan court, as in the cases of the other brands targeted by the investigation, found Loro Piana "culpably failed" to adequately oversee its suppliers in order to pursue higher profits, according to the ruling.

The prosecutors in the case said the violation of rules among fashion companies in Italy was "a generalized and consolidated manufacturing method".

Experience from past investigations "indicates that the complete outsourcing of industrial production processes is aimed exclusively at reducing labor costs and, consequently, also the criminal and administrative liability of the company with regard to worker safety... All this is done with a view to maximizing profits at the lowest possible production cost," the Court of Milan said.

Italy is home to thousands of small manufacturers that make up 50%-55% of global luxury goods production, consultancy Bain has calculated.

In May, Italy's fashion brands signed an accord with legal and political authorities to fight worker exploitation, but the ruling on Loro Piana said "this production chain, headed by Loro Piana, has continued to operate until now" and despite the previous cases being widely reported.

Carabinieri police said in a statement they inspected two intermediary companies and three Chinese workshops, all in the Milan area, and identified 21 workers, 10 of whom were working off the books without proper registration, including seven illegal immigrants.

According to the court ruling, the owner of an intermediary company stated that in recent years she had been producing around 6,000-7,000 jackets per year for Loro Piana at an agreed price of 118 euros per jacket if the order was for more than 100 items and 128 euros if the order was under 100 items.

"The reported cost figures are not representative of the amounts paid by Loro Piana to its supplier, nor do they consider the full value of all the elements, including, among others, raw materials and fabrics," the company said.

On the Loro Piana website, prices for men's cashmere jackets range from over 3,000 euros to over 5,000 euros.