Adidas Appoints New HR Head after Race Row

Adidas has appointed Amanda Rajkumar as its new head of human resources. (AFP)
Adidas has appointed Amanda Rajkumar as its new head of human resources. (AFP)
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Adidas Appoints New HR Head after Race Row

Adidas has appointed Amanda Rajkumar as its new head of human resources. (AFP)
Adidas has appointed Amanda Rajkumar as its new head of human resources. (AFP)

Adidas has appointed Amanda Rajkumar, an executive from French bank BNP Paribas, as its new head of human resources after employee complaints over racism at the German sportswear company led to the departure of Karen Parkin in June.

Parkin stepped down as HR head after a group of employees called for an investigation over her handling of racism at the company which she had described last year as “noise” only discussed in America.

Rajkumar, a 48-year-old British national, was most recently head of human resources for the Americas for BNP Paribas. She previously worked for JP Morgan for almost a decade. She will take up her new job at Adidas in 2021.

Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said he hoped Rajkumar would help to strengthen diversity at the company and entrench its position as one of the most popular employers worldwide.

“We want to ... make Adidas a truly diverse, inclusive, people driven and equitable company,” he said.

After the death of George Floyd in May prompted many brands to pledge action over racial inequality, Adidas promised to promote more Black and Latino staff and invest in Black communities.

The company also admitted it has not given enough credit in the past to the many prominent Black athletes and celebrities - like James Harden and Kanye West - as well as Black employees and consumers who have helped to make it successful.

Adidas said in August it had seen no impact on sales from the race row and expects a recovery in the third quarter assuming there are no new major lockdowns as it benefits from more people exercising and dressing down as they work from home.



Estee Lauder Sees Bigger Sales Fall in 2025 on US Slowdown, Sputtering China Recovery

An Estee Lauder cosmetics counter is seen in Los Angeles, California, US, August 19, 2019. (Reuters)
An Estee Lauder cosmetics counter is seen in Los Angeles, California, US, August 19, 2019. (Reuters)
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Estee Lauder Sees Bigger Sales Fall in 2025 on US Slowdown, Sputtering China Recovery

An Estee Lauder cosmetics counter is seen in Los Angeles, California, US, August 19, 2019. (Reuters)
An Estee Lauder cosmetics counter is seen in Los Angeles, California, US, August 19, 2019. (Reuters)

Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder forecast a bigger-than-expected drop in fiscal 2025 sales on Thursday, signaling a slowdown in demand for beauty products in the American market and a longer road to recovery in the key China region.

Estee has been struggling to revive sales at airports and tourist hubs in China and other major Asian markets as consumer sentiment in the region remains weak due to high unemployment rates. Asia-Pacific, which includes China, contributed 31.3% of the company's total sales in fiscal 2024.

Its sales have also been soft in the US, with the company now facing challenges from President Donald Trump's chaotic implementation of tariffs.

Estee had pulled its annual forecast in October, citing an uncertain recovery in China, before Stephane de La Faverie took over as CEO.

His turnaround plans for the company include speeding up of new launches and bringing in new luxury price tiers. But that might face a roadblock from growing economic uncertainties due to the trade war.

Organic net sales in the Americas fell 5% on retail softness and decline in consumer confidence and sentiment.

"From a regional perspective, the Americas had the largest miss and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) was only slightly softer ... Outperformance on margins show the progress of EL's PRGP (profit recovery plan) and restructuring activities," RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi said in a note.

European peer L'Oreal has also flagged weakness in the US, while it continues to see strong demand for its creams and perfume in Europe.

Estee expects fiscal 2025 net sales to be down 8% to 9%, compared with analysts' estimate of a 7.07% fall, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company forecasts annual adjusted per-share profit to be between $1.30 and $1.55, with midpoint above the estimate of $1.40, as it starts to benefit from its restructuring plan, including job cuts.

Shares of the MAC lipstick maker were down nearly 1%.

Estee aims to return to sales growth in fiscal 2026, its CEO said, adding that this depends on the resolution of the recently enacted tariffs to mitigate potential negative impacts.

The US has imposed 145% tariffs on China, while Beijing put a 125% levy on American imports into the country.

To navigate the tariff situation, Estee expects to reduce imports into China from the US to 10% from 25%.

Estee said about a quarter of products imported into EMEA are sourced from the US, but it is working to change to regionalized and third-party manufacturing networks.