Herbert Hainer

German sportswear company Adidas AG said Wednesday its net income fell 30 percent in the third quarter as it saw sales decline, especially at its sport performance division. Adidas, based in Herzogenaurach, said net income fell to euro213 million ($315 million) in the July-September period from euro302 million in the third quarter of 2008. Revenue for the period fell 7 percent to euro2.9 billion from euro3.1 billion. Adidas, which also owns the Reebok brand, said it expected sales to decline at a low to mid-single-digit rate in 2009, assuming unchanged currency values, due to weaker consumer confidence and rising unemployment in many major markets. ... Read Full Story

BERLIN (Reuters) - Sports goods makers Adidas and Puma, founded by two feuding brothers, buried a 61-year-old grudge by playing a soccer match at their German hometown of Herzogenaurach to mark International Peace Day on Monday. With Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer and Puma CEO Jochen Zeitz taking part, employees played in mixed teams to mark the annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence with the first reconciliation since brothers Adi and Rudolf Dassler split in 1948. "The two brothers did not speak until they passed away and that is unfortunate," Zeitz told reporters. "We are public companies and we focused very much on ... Read Full Story

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - More than 60 years after a feud between brothers Adi and Rudolf Dassler resulted in the creation of the Adidas and Puma sportswear rivalry, the two companies are making peace ... for one day. A historic handshake between the chief executives of the two firms and a football match, which will see employees from both companies play on mixed teams, have been planned for Monday to celebrate International Peace Day, the companies said in a joint statement this week. "We are uniting on this day as a commitment to Peace Day," Puma CEO and Chairman Jochen Zeitz said in the ... Read Full Story

German sportswear giants Adidas and Puma are to settle on the football pitch a feud kicked off over 60 years ago by their founding brothers, a joint statement from the two rival firms said Friday. The two companies were formed in 1948 after Rudolf and Adolf Dassler fell out during World War II and split up their business -- once a provider of shoes to legendary US sprinter Jesse Owens. The rivalry even divided the firms' home town of Herzogenaurach, a small town of 23,000 people in southern Germany, where Adidas and Puma have rival factories on opposite sides of the river. But the ... Read Full Story

German sports equipment group Adidas posted Wednesday a massive drop in second-quarter profit that underscored weak global consumer sentiment, but beat expectations and stood by its full-year outlook. Adidas said net profit in the three months from April to June plunged by 93 percent to nine million euros (13 million dollars) from 116 million in the same period 12 months ago. The earlier figures were boosted by the Euro 2008 football championships and the Beijing Olympics. The latest result, which included a rise in sales of golf equipment, was better than a forecast loss of 2.2 million euros by analysts polled by Dow Jones ... Read Full Story