Adidas' 3Q net up 2 percent but pulls '09 guidance

FRANKFURT, Germany - Adidas AG, the world's No. 2 athletic gear and apparel maker, said Thursday its third-quarter profit rose 2 percent on higher sales and confirmed its outlook for the rest of the year. But uncertainty led it to pull its guidance for 2009, the company said.

Adidas earned 302 million euros ($390.6 million) in the July-September period compared with 298 million euros a year ago, as sales rose 5 percent to nearly 3.1 billion euros ($4 billion) compared with 2.9 billion euros last year.

Looking to the end of the year, Adidas said it still expects net profit growth of 15 percent, but "as a result of the uncertain global macroeconomic environment," it canceled its outlook for next year.

Adidas trails Nike Inc. in global sales but is bigger than rival Puma AG.

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