Profits for the multinational sportswear company Nike have increased, with the company reporting that in the three months to August (Q1 fiscal 2015) they had net profit of $962 million (a 23 percent increase), with revenue rising to $8 billion (a 15% increase).
Mark Parker, President and CEO of Nike, Inc., said:
“Fiscal year 2015 is off to a strong start. Our connection to consumers and ability to innovate, combined with our powerful global portfolio, is a complete offense. Nike has never been better positioned to realize our tremendous growth potential.”
The company spent a lot of money during the World Cup this year, which was held in Brazil. Nike was supporting some of the world’s most watched players, such as Ronaldo and Neymar.
It was the first time in World Cup history that Nike sponsored more teams than Adidas, which issued a profit warning earlier this year.
Nike also said that future orders for athletic apparel and footwear that are scheduled to be delivered from this September to January 2015 has increased 11% compared to last year.
Nike’s brand president Trevor Edwards said on a conference call:
“There is tremendous energy around the brand in Europe with innovative products that are resonating with consumers. We saw strong results from both performance footwear and apparel as well as in sportswear.”
He added:
“As of the end of the quarter, we had the leading footwear market share in the nine largest football markets around the world.”
Edward Jones, analyst Brian Yarbrough told Reuters:
“When you look around the world, there really isn’t much competition [for Nike]. Adidas is struggling, Reebok is struggling.”
