Nike, the largest sportswear manufacturer reported an increase in profits after the FIFA World Cup boosted sales. Sharp growth was recorded right after the end of the event. Net income rose 23% to $962 million in the quarter ended August. Total sales increased 15% to $8 billion for the same period. The company noted it spent considerable amounts sponsoring famous football players like Brazil’s Neymar and Portugal’s Ronaldo.
Record results were also influenced by the sharing of Brazil's sports equipment market among the sports giants. Nike has a more powerful brand influence in Brazil than Adidas. Thus, Nike had a 12.1% share of the Brazilian market compared to Adidas’ 5% in 2013. “Fiscal year 2015 is off to a strong start. Our connection to consumers and ability to innovate, combined with our powerful global portfolio, is a complete offense,” Mark Parker, Nike president and CEO, said.
Western Europe saw an increase in sales too. Nike's profit from the region surged 15% excluding the impact of currency fluctuations. Experts note that Nike started to pay special attention to the football segment of the global market only since 2014 and managed to achieve significant results there. “There are only two players in the field of football; there is us as No. 1 and Nike as the challenger,” said Markus Baumann, the head of Adidas Global Football. “Nike is definitely making some steps forward.”
