BERLIN, Germany: After recording better than expected first quarter results, German sportswear giant Adidas upgraded its 2024 profit forecast this week.

The company added that it now expects a full-year operating profit of some 700 million euros (US$744 million), up from the previously forecasted 500 million euros.

Amid high inventories affecting sportswear retailers, Adidas posted its first annual loss in more than three decades, stressing last month that sales in North America potentially fell again.

The company said that currency-neutral sales could rise by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage in 2024, up from a mid-single-digit rate, adding that its quarterly operating profit totaled 336 million euros compared with 60 million euros a year earlier.

Last year, the company terminated its relationship with controversial rapper Kanye West and discontinued his Yeezy brand.

However, it still expects unfavorable currency effects to affect its profitability this year, a trend that will hit “both reported revenues and the gross margin development in 2024,” Adidas explained.