Sportswear giants Adidas and Puma weighing job cuts

German sportswear giants Adidas and Puma have said they seek to reduce costs, including possible job cuts, to bolster profits.

Adidas said it wanted to ensure "long-term success" and had "begun examining how we can adapt our business's structures to the reality of our work."

Without further details, a spokesman told AFP on Thursday that this could impact the number of positions at the group's headquarters in Herzogenaurach, southern Germany.

Changes would be carried out "with the greatest respect and care for employees," he added.

German news outlet Manager Magazin said the plans could affect up to 500 employees and reflected CEO Bjorn Gulden's desire to simplify Adidas.

The news comes as the group seeks to put a difficult few years behind it following the furor surrounding musician and entrepreneur Kanye West, now known formally as Ye.

Adidas had designed Yeezy trainers in collaboration with West but broke off the partnership after his anti-Semitic comments sparked outrage. The firm then wrote off some of the stock and sold the rest at a discount.

Preliminary results released this week showed that Adidas's operating profits jumped fivefold last year after earnings took a hit in 2023 due to the fallout from the West crisis.

But Gulden said Adidas still needed to improve. The company is targeting profit margins of 10 percent, up from 5.6 percent last year.

Puma, Adidas's smaller rival, said Wednesday that it was also aiming to cut costs through "personnel expenses"—suggesting job cuts could be on the table—as it released disappointing results.

Its shares were down as much as 18 percent on Thursday morning after net profit for last year fell to 282 million euros ($293 million) from 305 million the year before.