September 30 - Great Britain's Tom Daley was one of more than 3000 athletes sponsored by Adidas at the London 2012 Olympic GamesThe UK arm of sportswear brand Adidas has reported a more than 10 per cent increase in sales revenue up until the end of 2012, boosted by its sponsorship of the London Olympic Games last year.
Adidas (UK) Limited, which has its headquarters in Hazel Grove near Stockport, revealed that its revenues had increased from £487.9 million ($791.8 million/€584.7 million) in 2011 to £540.7 million ($877.4 million/€648 million) up until December 31 2012.
But, although sales are up, the company reported that pre-tax profits have fallen from £23.4 million ($37.9 million/€28 million) in 2011 to £19.6 million ($31.8 million/€23.4 million).
In 2007, Adidas - which has a long association with the Olympic Games going back to the 1928 Amsterdam Games when founder Adolf Dassler designed his first track spiked running shoes for athletes - signed a deal to become the official sportswear provider of London 2012, which was worth an estimated £80 million ($130 million/€96 million).
That agreement saw the company, which employs 1,100 people in the UK, provide more than 80,000 Games Makers, Olympic Torch bearers and officials with about two million pieces of apparel.
In addition, more than 3,000 athletes from 11 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) including Great Britain, France, Germany, Cuba, Belgium, Australia, Ethiopia, Trinidad and Tobago, Hungary, Greece, and the Bahamas, were supplied with Adidas kit and equipment.
In its directors' report, Adidas said: "The growth has been aided by the company's sponsorship of the Olympic Games in London despite the difficult economic climate that has been facing all businesses in the UK and globally.
"We have maintained good relationships with our customers and continued to develop the business with them.
"We continue to place new product and marketing initiatives into the UK and follow their success."
Earlier this year, parent company Adidas AG, which is based in the Bavarian region of Germany and is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, estimated that its 2013 turnover would be between £742 million (£1.2 billion/€890 million) to £767 million ($1.25 billion/€920 million).
However, due to what it describes as "negative market developments" and the weakening of certain currencies against the Euro, these figures were revised down earlier this month to between £684 million ($1.11 billion/€820 million) to £709 million ($1.15 billion/€850 million).