REVEALED: How much Adidas has lost since Yeezy stoppage

Adidas saw operating earnings dwindle in the first three months of the year as the German sportswear company’s break-up with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West and his popular Yeezy shoe brand cost it 400 million euro in lost sales.

Profit was down to 60 million euro from 437 million euro in the same quarter a year ago, while the firm’s profit margin shrank to a bare 1.1%.

Net sales declined 1%, to 5.27 billion euro, and would have risen 9% with the Yeezy line, the company said on Friday.

Losing the Yeezy brand is “of course hurting us”, new CEO Bjorn Gulden said in a statement, which did not explain what Adidas would do with 1.2 billion euro worth of unsold Yeezy shoes after the company cut ties with the rapper now known as Ye in October.

The break-up, which followed Ye’s antisemitic comments on social media and in interviews, will reduce earnings by 500 million euro in the coming year, the Herzogenaurach-based company has said.

Mr Gulden did say the results for the Herzogenaurach-based company were “a little better than we had expected” as the company seeks to restart growth and move beyond the breakup with Ye.