Production output in the United Kingdom decreased by 0.2% in January compared to the previous month, the Office for National Statistics revealed in a report on Wednesday. On an annual level, the reading rose by 0.5%. The main contributors to the monthly decline were water supply sewerage, which dropped 2.2%, and mining and quarrying, which went down 1.3%. On the other hand, electricity and gas increased by 0.5%, while manufacturing output remained flat. In the three months to January 2024, production output dropped 0.2% compared to the previous three-month period.
Adidas net sales fall 7.6% to €4.8B in Q4
Adidas AG reported on Wednesday that its net sales declined by 7.6% to €4.8 billion during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. The company’s operating loss landed at €377 million compared to the €724 million loss from the fourth quarter a year earlier. Net loss attributable to shareholders stood at €379 million in comparison to the year before when it came to €512 million, while diluted earnings per share from continuing and discontinued operations were at €2.13, increasing 25.9% in comparison to the same three-month period a year prior. For the full 2024, Adidas projects its operating profit to be around €500 million. “Although by far not good enough, 2023 ended better than what I had expected at the beginning of the year. Despite losing a lot of Yeezy revenue and a very conservative sell-in strategy, we managed to have flat revenues […] With the exception of the US, we now have healthy inventories everywhere,” CEO Bjorn Gulden mentioned. NN: : they went all in China. BIGE MISTAKE
Eurozone’s industrial production down by 3.2% in January
Industrial production decreased 3.2% in the Eurozone and 2.1% in the European Union in January, the bloc’s statistical office, Eurostat, revealed in a preliminary report issued on Wednesday. Year-on-year, the figure went down by 6.7% in the euro area and 5.7% in the EU.
In the euro area, there was a pronounced decrease in the production of capital goods by 14.5%, alongside smaller declines in durable and non-durable consumer goods. However, the intermediate goods and energy sectors saw increases of 2.6% and 0.5%, respectively. The EU mirrored these trends closely, with similar shifts in sectoral production levels. At the national level, Ireland, Malta, and Estonia experienced the most significant monthly decreases in industrial production, while Poland, Slovenia, and Lithuania recorded the highest increases. On an annual basis, the largest declines were observed in Ireland, Estonia, and Bulgaria, contrasting with notable gains in Slovenia, Greece, and Denmark.