The Current adidas CEO Wants Another Two Years to Turn It Around

In the ever-competitive sportswear market, we are seeing adidas AG struggle against strong competitors such as Nike and rising Under Armour. Its storied attempt at regaining its footing in the sportswear realm has put its CEO, Herbert Hainer, in hot water. After abandoning two long-term strategy plans which failed to deliver results, Hainer still managed to convince the adidas supervisory board to extend his contract until March 2017 for “sufficient time for a smooth transition.” Hainer, who has helmed adidas AG since 2001, has soured his reputation with investors, with Ingo Speich of Union Investment saying “the sooner Hainer hands the baton to a successor the better… a new strategy would be believable only with new leadership.” adidas has announced that it wouldn’t reach targets of €17 billion EUR in revenue while also missing an operating margin of 11 percent, reducing predictions to €15.5 billion EUR and a margin of 6.5 to 7 percent. Nike, on the other hand, reported that sales rose 7 percent from last year, making a profit margin of 14 percent — double that of adidas. With two more years left on Hainer’s term, we will see whether the struggling sportswear giant will be able to turn anything around.