Sports goods multinational Adidas posted a loss of 39 million euros in the first quarter of this year, in contrast to the 482 million profit recorded in the same period last year.

The company indicated that the end of the deal with Yeezy, the brand developed in collaboration with Kanye West, represented a loss of around 400 million year-on-year, mainly in North America, China and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

According to Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden, quoted by Lusa, Adidas' sales up to March this year totaled 5,274 million euros, down 0.5% on the same period last year, while the multinational's cost of sales rose 9.7% to 2,911 million euros.

"In the first quarter, Adidas' sales grew 3.1% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to 1,996 million euros, while in North America they fell 16.1% to 1,177 million euros," reads the news release.

Bjorn Gulden also said that the gross margin in the first quarter fell by 5.1 percentage points to 44.8% (49.9% in the same period last year), mainly due to the negative impact of higher supply chain costs, as well as higher discounts, which could not be offset by the positive effect of the price increases implemented by the company.

"The first quarter ended a little better than we expected," said the Adidas CEO, adding that sales growth, excluding Yeezy, was 9%.