Adidas plans to ditch golf unit including TaylorMade clubs

Adidas plans to sell most of its golf unit and will start negotiations with potential buyers, abandoning brands that had been dragging on profitability.

The sportswear maker will keep its Adidas Golf shoe and apparel business while seeking a purchaser for its TaylorMade clubs division and Adams and Ashworth clothing brands, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Adidas reiterated group earnings and revenue forecasts for the year.

"TaylorMade is a very viable business," chief executive Herbert Hainer said.

“We decided that now is the time to focus even more on our core strength in the athletic footwear and apparel market.”

The sneaker maker boosted its sales and profit forecast on April 27th for the second time this year amid demand for athletic gear ahead of two global soccer tournaments and a fashion shift that has put Adidas models back in style.

Net income from continuing operations will rise 15 per cent to 18 per cent this year, more than a prior range of 10 per cent to 12 per cent, Adidas said last week.

Currency adjusted sales will rise about 15 per cent.

The company said on Wednesday that the first-quarter operating margin widened to 10.3 per cent of revenue from 8.9 per cent a year earlier.

Adidas has been reviewing the golf operations since last year and hired Guggenheim Partners to look at options.

Revenue of TaylorMade-Adidas Golf dropped 13 per cent excluding currency shifts in 2015.

- Bloomberg