(Yicai) Dec. 5 -- The closure of Adidas' flagship store in Shenzhen was a normal adjustment, according to a source at the German sports brand.

Adidas has actively opened new stores this year, which resulted in the closure of existing stores, a manager at the company told Yicai yesterday. This year, Adidas opened new outlets in Chinese cities, such as Xuzhou and Chongqing.

Adidas' flagship store in Shenzhen's Futian central business district announced it would shut down on Nov. 30. The 3,200-square-meter store was opened in December 2021 with a total investment of CNY50 million (USD7 million).

Adidas' financial results in China have picked up since the second quarter of this year, with eased inventory pressure, after declining for eight straight fiscal quarters because of the impact of Covid-19, changes in consumer preferences, and competition.

Adidas’ revenue from the Chinese market rose 6 percent without accounting for exchange rates or 10 percent excluding the impact of brand Yeezy to EUR870 million (USD942.8 million) in the third quarter from a year earlier, according to the company’s latest financial results.

For the global market, Adidas achieved a net profit of EUR259 million and revenue of EUR6 billion (USD6.5 billion), down 25 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, in the period.

But calculating the figures without taking exchange rates into account, Adidas' global revenue rose 1 percent, or 3 percent excluding the impact of its brand Yeezy, which can reflect the company's actual performance, according to industry insiders.

Adidas also raised its performance expectations for the whole year, raising its global operating profit forecast to EUR100 million from the break-even expectation early this year.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione