Reebok blow for Adidas

Adidas, supplier of Olympic kit for Team GB athletes – including cyclist Laura Trott, pictured – yesterday slashed sales forecasts for its Reebok brand after it lost to rival Nike the rights to supply all NFL American football jerseys. The company also discovered fraud in its Indian business.

While Adidas tweaked up forecasts for sales of its own brand by 5% to €12.8bn (£801m) in 2015, it chopped Reebok's targets by €1bn to just €2bn. The German company bought Reebok in August 2005 for $3.8bn.

Reebok sales slumped 26 per cent in the second quarter, and annual revenue is expected to fall from 2011's €1.96bn.

That contrasts with the rest of Adidas, where overall sales are expected to rise by almost 10 per cent this year. Chief executive Herbert Hainer is pushing Reebok away from a sports brand to a fitness brand, targeting areas such as gyms, yoga and dance.

He said: "While the first two years of our five-year plan were marked by exceptional sales momentum, we will now focus on improving the profitability of the group."