The US sporting goods supplier Nike Inc. started the 2022/23 financial year with an increase in sales. Due to higher costs, however, the profit in the first quarter fell short of the previous year’s level. Nevertheless, the group was able to exceed market expectations with the results published on Thursday evening.
In the months of June to August, group sales amounted to 12.7 billion US dollars (12.9 billion euros). It was four percent above the level of the same quarter of the previous year. Adjusted for exchange rate changes, sales even grew by ten percent. The main contributor was Nike, whose sales increased by four percent (currency-adjusted +10 percent) to 12.0 billion US dollars. Smaller label Converse was up 2 percent (+8 percent at constant currency) to $643 million.
Strong growth in North America compensates for sales losses in China
The growth driver was business in North America: the Nike brand achieved sales growth there of 13 percent to 5.5 billion US dollars. In the EMEA region, which includes Europe, the Middle East and Africa, its revenues increased by 1 percent (+17 percent at constant currency) to $3.3 billion, and in Asia and Latin America by 5 percent (+16 percent at constant currency). a total of $1.5 billion. Greater China, on the other hand, went down: Sales there shrank by 16 percent (currency-adjusted -13 percent) to almost 1.7 billion US dollars.
Earnings were impacted by higher freight and logistics costs, extensive discounts and negative currency effects. In addition, there were higher personnel and marketing expenses as well as “strategic investments in technologies”. Due to these factors, net income fell significantly short of the level of the same quarter last year: it fell by 22 percent to 1.47 billion US dollars (1.49 billion euros).