Illustration of Risks

This report includes an explanation of financial and non-financial risks that we deem to be most relevant to the achievement of the company’s objectives in 2021 and beyond. We consider risks related to the coronavirus pandemic material to the success of our company. In this report, we therefore present a holistic assessment of the risks resulting from the pandemic. In addition, according to our risk assessment methodology, macroeconomic, socio-political, regulatory and currency risks, risks related to consumer demand and product offering, risks related to the competitive and retail environment, business partner risks and personnel risks are classified as material. The risks overview table illustrates the assessment of all risks described below. 

Risks related to the coronavirus pandemic

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic could substantially impact the company’s success in multiple ways, in particular in the short term. Risks related to the coronavirus pandemic include, but are not limited to:

• Wide-spread lockdowns and containment measures across all our markets might result in traffic declines in our own and our retail partners’ stores or even require those stores to close. This could have a noticeable negative impact on the company’s financial performance as seen in 2020.
• Closures of distribution centers would negatively impact the company’s ability to fulfill orders by consumers or retail partners and as a result lead to sales and profit shortfalls, order cancellations or excess inventory.
• Supply chain disruptions such as the closure of factories of our manufacturing partners or the closure of ports in critical sourcing countries could cause production or delivery delays and consequently negatively impact our ability to fulfill consumer demand.
• Major sports events such the Olympic Games in Tokyo or the UEFA Euro 2021 could take place without people in attendance or even be canceled completely. This would result in sales and profit shortfalls and more importantly negatively affect our ability to showcase our brand and new product innovations.
• Wholesale customers may cancel purchase orders or return product to adidas which could result in excess inventory and higher inventory allowances.
• Lower than expected sales and profits in our own retail stores may result in higher impairment charges or inventory allowances and negatively affect the company’s bottom line.
• Third-party business partners may partially or completely fail to meet their contractual financial obligations, which could result in higher loss allowances and increased write-offs for accounts receivable.
• A global recession or substantial economic downturns in key markets could lead to rising unemployment, declining disposable incomes and consumer confidence, which could harm the company’s financial and business performance.
• Volatile global financial markets might negatively affect the company’s access to capital in the future.
• Office locations may temporarily be closed or operate with substantially reduced capacity which could interrupt employee efficiency and productivity and therefore have negative effects on business performance.

To mitigate the effects of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, adidas is taking numerous measures. We are further shifting our focus to our own and our partners’ e-commerce and other digital channels with targeted consumer marketing, exclusive product launches and prioritized supply chain management. Through strict cash flow and cost management we ensure the financial stability of our company. In 2020, the company obtained investment grade ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s and strengthened its liquidity and financial flexibility. With flexible shifts in our product purchasing in close alignment with our manufacturing partners, a disciplined sell-in and the conscious use of our factory outlets, we reduce negative margin effects and avoid excess inventory. Through strict measures, adidas is safeguarding the health of its employees and other stakeholders. For example, we have increased our workplace flexibility and given our employees the possibility to work remotely, depending on the development of infection rates in the respective countries.

Macroeconomic, sociopolitical, regulatory, and currency risks

Growth in the sporting goods industry is highly dependent on consumer spending and consumer confidence. Economic downturns, financial market turbulence, currency exchange rate fluctuations and sociopolitical factors such as military conflicts, changes of government, civil unrest, pandemics, nationalization, or expropriation, in particular in regions where adidas is strongly represented, therefore could negatively impact the company’s business activities and top- and bottom-line performance. A slow recovery of travel activity could negatively affect business in tourist destinations and lead to sales shortfalls, higher inventory in the marketplace, increased clearance activity, and margin pressure.

Currency risks are a direct result of multi-currency cash flows within the company, in particular the mismatch of the currencies required for sourcing our products versus the denominations of our sales. Furthermore, translation impacts from the conversion of non-euro-denominated results into the company’s functional currency, the euro, might lead to a material negative impact on our company’s financial performance. In addition, substantial changes in the regulatory environment (e.g. trade restrictions, economic and political sanctions, regulations concerning product compliance, environmental, and climate protection regulations) could lead to potential sales shortfalls or cost increases. See Note 30

To mitigate these macroeconomic, sociopolitical, and regulatory risks, adidas strives to balance sales across key regions and also between developed and emerging markets. We continuously monitor the macroeconomic, political and regulatory landscape in all our key markets to anticipate potential problem areas, so that we can quickly adjust our business activities accordingly upon any change in conditions. Potential adjustments may be a reallocation of manufacturing of our products to alternative countries, a reallocation of investments to alternative, more attractive markets, changes in product prices, closure of our own-retail stores, more conservative product purchasing, tight working capital management and an increased focus on cost control.

To mitigate the risk related to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, we utilize a centralized currency risk management system and hedge currency needs for projected sourcing requirements on a rolling basis up to 24 months in advance. In rare instances, hedges are contracted beyond the 24-months horizon. See Treasury

By building on our leading position within the sporting goods industry, we actively engage in supporting policymakers and regulators in their efforts to liberalize global trade and curtail trade barriers, and to proactively adapt to significant changes in the regulatory environment.

Risks related to consumer demand and product offering

Our success largely depends on our ability to continuously create new, innovative, and sustainable products. Consumer demand changes can be sudden and unexpected, particularly when it comes to the more fashion-related part of our business Therefore, we face a risk of short-term revenue loss in cases where we are unable to anticipate consumer demand or respond quickly to changes. In addition, creating and offering products that do not resonate with consumers and our retail partners is a critical risk to the success of our brands, especially considering our focus on key product franchises. This risk could be exacerbated if our marketing activities and brand campaigns fail to generate consumer excitement. We consider this risk most relevant in our key markets Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. Even more critical in the long term, however, are the risks of continuously overlooking new trends and failing to continuously introduce and successfully commercialize new product innovation.

To mitigate these risks, identifying and responding to shifts in consumer demand as early as possible is a key responsibility of our brand and sales organizations and, in particular, of the respective Risk Owners. Therefore, we utilize extensive primary and secondary research tools as outlined in our risk and opportunity identification process. By putting the consumer at the center of our decision-making, we intend to create higher brand advocacy and to attract new consumers. We continuously expand our consumer analytics efforts to read and quickly react to changes in demand or trend shifts. In addition, direct touchpoints with consumers via our own digital channels and direct communication with consumers on social media platforms strengthen our understanding of consumer preferences and behavior, and, as a result, help us to reduce our vulnerability to changes in demand. Through continuous monitoring of sell-through data and disciplined product lifecycle management, in particular for our major product franchises, we are able to better detect demand patterns and prevent overexposure. By leveraging our promotion partnerships and by carefully orchestrating launch events across markets and channels, we intend to maintain brand desire and consumer demand at a constantly high level. Utilizing external insights and capabilities in product creation helps us strengthen our product offering and drive consumer demand, brand desire, market share and profitability

Risks related to the competitive and retail environment

Changes in the competitive landscape and the retail environment could impact the company’s success. Strategic alliances among competitors and/or retailers, the increase in retailers’ own private label businesses and intense competition for consumers, production capacity and promotion partnerships between well-established industry peers and new market entrants pose a substantial risk to adidas. This could lead to harmful competitive behavior, such as sustained periods of discounting in the marketplace or intense bidding for promotion partnerships. Failure to recognize and respond to consolidation in the retail industry could lead to increased dependency on particular retail partners, reduced bargaining power and, consequently, margin erosion. Sustained pricing pressure in key markets could threaten the company’s financial performance and the competitiveness of our brand. Aggressive competitive practices could also drive increases in marketing costs and market share losses, thus hurting the company’s profitability and market position. The inability to adjust our distribution strategy in a timely manner to a changing retail industry, which is experiencing rapid substitution of physical retail stores by digital commerce platforms as well as increasing connectivity between physical and digital retail, could result in sales and profit shortfalls. A decline in the attractiveness of particular shopping locations such as shopping malls could lead to sales shortfalls in our customers’ and our own stores, higher inventory in the marketplace, increased clearance activity and margin pressure.

To mitigate these risks, we continuously monitor and analyze information on our competitors and markets in order to be able to anticipate unfavorable changes in the competitive environment rather than merely reacting to such changes. This enables us to proactively adjust our marketing and sales activities (e.g. product launches, selective pricing adjustments) when needed. We also continuously and closely monitor numerous indicators (e.g. order placement, sell-through rates at the point of sale, average selling prices, discounts, store traffic) that help us identify changes in the retail environment and quickly take appropriate action such as closing or remodeling our own stores. We constantly adjust our segmentation strategies to ensure that the right product is sold at the right point of sale to the right consumer at an appropriate price. Continuous investment in research and development ensures that we remain innovative and distinct from competitors. We also pursue a strategy of entering into long-term agreements with key promotion partners such as FC Bayern Munich, James Harden, or Mikaela Shiffrin. In addition, our product and communication initiatives are designed to increase brand desire, drive market share growth, and strengthen our brands’ market position.

Business partner risks

adidas interacts and enters into partnerships with various third parties, such as athletes, creative partners, innovation partners, retail partners or suppliers of goods or services. As a result, the company is exposed to a multitude of business partner risks.

We work with strategic partners in various areas of our business (e.g. product creation, manufacturing, research, and development) or distributors in a few selected markets whose approach might differ from our own business practices and standards, which could also negatively impact the company’s business performance and reputation. Similarly, failure to maintain strong relationships with our partners could negatively impact the company’s sales and profitability. Risks may also arise from a dependence on particular partners. For example, the overdependence on a supplier or customer increases the company’s vulnerability to delivery and sales shortfalls and could lead to significant margin pressure. Business partner default (including insolvency) or other disruptive events such as strikes may negatively affect the company’s business activities and result in additional costs and liabilities as well as lower sales for the company. Unethical business practices on the part of business partners or improper behavior of individual athletes, influencers or partners in the entertainment industry could have a negative spill-over effect on the company’s reputation, lead to higher costs or liabilities or even disrupt business activities.

To mitigate business partner risks, adidas has implemented various measures. For example, we generally include clauses in contractual agreements with partners that allow us to suspend or even terminate our partnership in case of improper or unethical conduct. In addition, we work with a broad portfolio of promotion partners to reduce the dependency on the success and popularity of a few individual partners. We utilize a broad distribution strategy which includes further expansion of our direct-to-consumer business to reduce the risk of overreliance on key customers. Specifically, no single customer accounted for more than 5% of the company’s sales in 2020. To reduce risk in the supply chain, we work with suppliers who demonstrate reliability, quality and innovation. Furthermore, in order to minimize any potential negative consequences such as a violation of our Workplace Standards by our suppliers, we enforce strict control and inspection procedures at our suppliers and also demand adherence to social and environmental standards throughout our supply chain. In addition, we have selectively bought insurance coverage for the risk of business interruptions caused by physical damage to suppliers’ premises. To reduce supplier dependency, the company follows a strategy of diversification. In this context, adidas works with a broad network of suppliers in different countries and, for the vast majority of its products, does not have a single-sourcing model.

Personnel risks

Achieving the company’s strategic and financial objectives is highly dependent on our employees and their talents. In this respect, strong leadership and a performance-enhancing culture are critical to the company’s success. Therefore, ineffective leadership as well as the failure to install and maintain a performance-oriented culture that fosters diversity and inclusion and strong employee engagement amongst our workforce could also substantially impede our ability to achieve our goals. An ineffective, unbalanced, or insufficient allocation of resources to business activities could cause operational inefficiencies and result in lower employee engagement. In addition, global competition for highly qualified personnel remains fierce. As a result, the loss of key personnel in strategic positions and the inability to identify, recruit and retain highly qualified and skilled talent who best meet the specific needs of our company pose risks to our business performance.

To ensure that we maintain a culture that fosters diversity and inclusion, we redefined our framework for diversity and inclusion and launched a global policy on anti-harassment and anti-discrimination in 2020. Our workforce also takes part in global anti-racism and unconscious bias training in diversity and inclusion . To ensure effective leadership across the company, we have established a global Leadership Framework that is inclusive and articulates the behaviors expected of our leaders.

To optimize staffing levels and resource allocation (i.e. having the right people with the right skillsets in the right roles at the right time), we have a dedicated workforce management process in place. We continuously invest in improving employer branding activities and have built a global recruiting organization to enhance our internal and external recruiting services and capabilities. Our global succession management helps create internal talent pipelines for critical leadership positions and therefore reduces succession risk.

Risks related to media and stakeholder activities

The company faces considerable risk if we are unable to uphold high levels of consumer awareness, affiliation, and purchase intent for our products. Adverse or inaccurate media coverage on our products or business practices as well as negative social media discussion may significantly harm the adidas’ reputation and brand image, lead to public misperception of the company’s business performance and eventually result in a sales slowdown. Similarly, certain activities on the part of key stakeholders (e.g. non-governmental organizations, governmental institutions) could cause reputational damage, distract top management, and disrupt business activities.

To mitigate these risks, we pursue proactive, open communication and engagement with key stakeholders (e.g. consumers, media, the financial community, non-governmental organizations, governmental institutions ) on a continuous basis. In addition, we have established clear crisis communication processes to ensure a quick and effective response to adverse developments. We have also strengthened social media capabilities and created various digital newsrooms around the globe that enable continuous monitoring of social media content related to the company’s products and activities and allow early management of potentially damaging social media discussion. On a case-by-case basis, we seek external advice from experts in communication and stakeholder management.

IT and cyber security risks

Theft, leakage, corruption, or unavailability of critical information (e.g. consumer data, employee data, product data) and systems could lead to reputational damage, regulatory penalties or the inability to perform key business processes. Key business processes, including product marketing, order management, warehouse management, invoice processing, customer support and financial reporting, are all dependent on IT systems. Significant outages, application failures or cyber security threats to our infrastructure, or that of our business partners, could therefore result in in reputational damage, regulatory penalties or cause considerable business disruption or impact to business-critical data.

To mitigate these risks, our IT organization proactively engages in system preventive maintenance, service continuity planning, adherence to IT policies and maintenance of a comprehensive information security program. Information security governance, data security, security architecture design, continuity management and employee awareness programs help us to protect the company adequately. We have also secured limited insurance coverage for damage resulting from cyber security incidents.

Project risks

To effectively support further business growth and improve efficiency, adidas continuously invests in new projects such as the creation, implementation, expansion, harmonization or modernization of IT systems, distribution centers or office buildings. Ineffective project management could delay the execution of critical projects and lead to higher expenditures. Inadequate project planning and controlling as well as executional mistakes or ineffective change management could cause inefficiencies, delays, or business disruption, resulting in higher costs and sales shortfalls. Inappropriate project governance, prioritization and oversight of the project portfolio may lead to suboptimal resource allocation and undesired project results.

We manage projects utilizing reviews by project teams as well as project steering committees to evaluate the progress, quality, and costs of those projects on a regular basis. This approach allows early detection of project risks and quick implementation of corrective action or timely cancelation of projects with a low chance of success. To ensure true end-to-end management of key projects we have established a network of program and project management departments across all main functions (i.e. Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance, IT and Human Resources). We also work with external partners for project management support in areas where we do not have the required expertise or experience in-house.

Risks related to tax and customs regulations

Numerous laws and regulations regarding customs and taxes as well as changes in such laws and regulations affect the company’s business practices worldwide. Non-compliance with regulations concerning product imports (including calculation of customs values), intercompany transactions or income taxes could lead to substantial financial penalties and additional costs as well as negative media coverage and therefore reputational damage, for example in case of understatements or underpayments of corporate income taxes or customs duties. Changes in regulations regarding customs and taxes may also have a substantial impact on the company’s sourcing costs or income taxes. Therefore, we also create provisions in accordance with the relevant accounting regulations to account for potential disputes with customs or tax authorities. Increasingly aggressive positions taken by tax and customs authorities in audits could increase the potential impact of such risks and the likelihood that they materialize.

We seek to manage tax and customs risks in a balanced way that bears an appropriate relationship to the operating structure, commercial and economic substance, and other business risks. To proactively manage such risks, we constantly seek expert advice from specialized independent law and tax advisory firms in areas such as process design, transaction advisory, compliance and tax or customs audits. Processes are in place requiring that attention is regularly directed to potential areas of tax or customs risk (e.g. a quarterly tax risk questionnaire) and the corporate tax and customs teams are involved in critical business transactions. Compliance with global tax and customs policies and controls is monitored by the Corporate Tax and Customs teams, internal controls experts and the Internal Audit department. We closely monitor changes in legislation to properly adopt regulatory requirements regarding customs and taxes, apply any available and applicable guidance from tax authorities and organizations such as the OECD, the World Customs Organization and the World Trade Organization and seek guidance from individual authorities, as appropriate, which for example may include requesting tax rulings from a tax authority. In addition, our internal legal, customs and tax teams advise our operational management teams to ensure appropriate and compliant business practices. Our specialized staff receive adequate training for their role and non-tax or non-customs staff are made aware of potential tax and customs matters relevant to their roles. Furthermore, we work closely with customs authorities and governments worldwide to make sure we adhere to customs and trade regulations at import and export to ensure the availability and obtain the required clearance of products to fulfill sales demand. See Sustainability

Compliance risks

As a globally operating company, adidas is subject to various laws and regulations. Non-compliance with such laws and regulations could lead to penalties and fines and cause reputational damage. For example, non-compliance with laws and regulations concerning data protection and privacy, such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation, may result in substantial fines. In addition, publication of failure to comply with data protection and privacy regulations could cause reputational damage and result in a loss of consumer trust in our brands. We also face the risk that members of top management as well as our employees breach rules and standards that guide appropriate and responsible business behavior. This includes the risks of fraud, financial misstatements or manipulation, anti-competitive business practices, bribery, corruption, discrimination, and harassment in the workplace.

Our Fair Play Compliance Framework helps us to prevent, detect and adequately respond to these risks. Our Global Policy Manual provides a framework for basic work procedures and processes and our Fair Play Code of Conduct stipulates that every employee and our business partners shall act ethically in compliance with the laws and regulations of the legal systems where they conduct company business. In addition, our Regional Compliance Managers and Local Compliance Officers guide and advise our operating managers regarding fraud and corruption topics. Furthermore, we utilize controls such as segregation of duties in IT systems and data analytics technology to prevent or detect fraudulent activities. We are also working with external partners and law firms to ensure we are informed about legal requirements across the globe, and we take appropriate action to ensure compliance. To mitigate the risk of non-compliance with laws and regulations concerning data protection and privacy, we developed a global privacy management framework that introduces the company’s privacy principles and provides guidance for the use and deletion of personal information. This framework applies to all adidas businesses worldwide and also sets our expectations of third-party business partners for managing personal information for or on behalf of adidas. Our Global Privacy Officer and the Global Privacy department drive the operational establishment of the framework and monitoring capabilities to track and report its implementation. During the implementation, they are continuously providing further implementation guidance and training.