Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said that he expects '19 will be a "good year for our company." Appearing on Wednesday on CNBC's "Closing Bell" from the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Rorsted said adidas "saw a slowdown in the consumer spend last year" in Europe and its "single biggest concern is really the European impact of a potential Brexit." Rorsted: "It's very often discussed as an isolated event, but it will have an overall impact of the European economy." While Rorsted said Europe is "about 30% of our business," he noted adidas is "getting most or entirely all of our growth outside Europe, so for us as a company it's less relevant." Meanwhile, Rorsted said adidas continues to "see a very strong uptick of our products in China." Rorsted: "We believe that China still, for us, represents a huge opportunity." Rorsted also said he does not "believe that our numbers in the U.S. will be impacted" by the partial government shutdown in the U.S. CNBC's Mike Santoli said that adidas is "clearly benefiting" from the fact that the sporting goods category in general is "doing so well everywhere in the world." Santoli noted adidas stock relative to Nike's has "lagged, but it's been the same trajectory." However, the company is "vastly outperforming the rest of the German and European markets, so it seems as if it's just the right place, right time with the product as opposed to anything else going on brand-wise" ("Closing Bell," CNBC, 1/22).
