Adidas took a €265 million impairment charge because of weakness at its Reebok brand, but Europe’s largest sports goods maker forecast solid growth in 2013.

The German group was pushed into a small quarterly loss, but said earnings per share should grow by between 12 per cent and 16 per cent this year, after underlying earnings grew 29 per cent in 2012. Sales, which climbed 6 per cent last year to €14.9 billion, should also grow by a mid-single-digit amount, Adidas said.

The group, number two in global sales of sports goods behind Nike, said it would raise its dividend for last year by 35 per cent. Its shares climbed more than 4 per cent in Frankfurt to €75.07.

Adidas has mapped out a plan to raise sales to €17 billion in 2015. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013