Adidas AG shares slid yesterday, as the German sportswear giant confirmed it was “intensively investigating” allegations that senior employees in China embezzled millions of US dollars.
The Financial Times on the weekend reported that a letter, allegedly written by “employees of Adidas China,” named several Chinese employees.
Adidas — only just recovering from a period of turbulence after its split from controversial rapper Kanye West — yesterday said a probe was under way.
Photo: AFP
“We received an anonymous letter indicating potential compliance violations in China,” the group said in a statement, adding that it was “intensively investigating this matter together with external legal counsel.”
“Adidas takes allegations of possible compliance violations very seriously and is clearly committed to complying with legal and internal regulations, and ethical standards in all markets where we operate,” it added.
Adidas shares were down 4 percent at 216 euros on Frankfurt’s blue-chip DAX as of 10:30am GMT.
China is a hugely important market for Adidas. Its sales there suffered in recent years during the long-running COVID-19 lockdowns, but have started recovering strongly.
Those accused included one executive involved in Adidas’ marketing budget in China, which the company said stood at 250 million euros (US$268 million) a year, the Financial Times said.
Another Adidas China manager is said to have received “millions in cash from suppliers and physical items such as real estate,” the paper said.
The letter, which was posted this month on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (also known as Little Red Book), was no longer on the Web site over the weekend, but a purported copy, the authenticity of which AFP was unable to verify, was posted on several accounts.
The letter did not provide evidence for the allegations, but appeared well-informed about confidential internal issues, the paper quoted company insiders as saying.
Adidas in 2022 ended its tie-up with West, with whom the company had developed the lucrative line of Yeezy products, after his anti-Semitic comments triggered an outcry.
It dealt a huge financial blow to the sportswear giant, which recorded its first annual loss in more than 30 years last year. However, the company has been returning to a better financial footing in recent months.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS