Adidas reports annual loss after Kanye West fallout

German sportswear giant Adidas has reported an annual loss for 2023 on Wednesday, still weighed down by the fallout from the end of its tie-up with "controversial rapper" Kanye West.

The loss of $82M followed a profit of $668M the previous year. Sales fell by five percent to $23.374B, and were hit particularly hard in the United States due to the discontinuation of sales of Yeezy trainers that were designed with West.

German sportswear giant Adidas reported an annual loss for 2023 on Wednesday, still weighed down by the fallout from the end of its tie-up with Kanye West.

Sales slipped slightly in the fourth quarter, with a particularly heavy fall in North America as Adidas sold less to wholesalers as it sought to reduce excess inventory.

In 2022, Adidas broke off its contract with West after he allegedly made a series of "anti-Semitic remarks", leaving it stuck with thousands of unsold Yeezy shoes they had developed together.

Two Yeezy sales in 2023 brought in $819M well below the $1.31B of revenue the logo had generated in 2022.

In 2024, Adidas expects sales to grow at a "mid-single-digit rate". The company aims to sell the remaining Yeezy revenue at cost, which would result in sales of around $273M.