adidas has been ranked #1 in the 2018 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB), which measures the human rights performance of the top 100+ global companies across industry sectors. The CHRB ratings are closely tracked by investors and social responsibility investment (SRI) funds. With a score of 87.5 we moved up 4 places in the ranking, having been placed 5th in the 2017 pilot. Why did we do so well? One word: Transparency. We shared our ongoing work to protect human rights defenders, to tackle modern slavery challenges along our supply chain and our deep involvement in human rights and sports. We also shared our policies and approach to women’s rights, which has both an internal and external focus for us as a brand. The bottom line is that we are delivering on our belief that, through sport, we have the power to change lives. 

In the third quarter, currency-neutral revenues grew 8%. Revenues at the adidas brand increased 10%, driven by double-digit growth in Sport Inspired as well as high-single-digit growth in Sport Performance, the latter driven by continued double-digit growth in Training and Running. Revenues at the Reebok brand decreased 5% as double-digit growth in Classics was more than offset by declines in Training and Running. From a channel perspective, the company’s top line was largely driven by excellent double-digit growth in direct-to-consumer revenues with strong support from e-commerce, where revenues grew 76% in the quarter. In euro terms, the company’s revenues were up 3% in the third quarter to € 5.873 billion (2017: € 5.677 billion).

Major developments in Q3:
- Revenues grow 8% currency-neutral and 3% in euro terms
- Gross margin increases 1.4pp to 51.8%
- Operating margin improves 1.3pp to 15.3%
- Net income from continuing operations grows 19% to € 656 million
- Basic EPS from continuing operations up 21% to € 3.26 

"We delivered high-quality growth again in Q3. The top-line expansion was driven by double-digit increases across our strategic growth areas North America, Greater China and e-commerce. At the same time, we achieved strong profitability improvements despite a significant increase in marketing investments and severe currency headwinds. With these results, we are confident to reach a higher-than-expected profitability level in 2018 and remain firmly on track to achieve our long-term targets until 2020,” said adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted.