Adidas 2001 Annual Report Download - page 10

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5
Dear Shareholders,
I am very proud to be writing to you for the first time since I officially became CEO of adidas-
Salomon in March 2001. Since that time, our Company has made significant progress in a
number of key areas.
Ever since we put forward our new plans for adidas-Salomon nearly two years ago, we have
received tremendous support for our strategy and our new management style from employees,
customers, suppliers, investors, analysts and journalists. But they also wanted hard proof that
we could deliver on our stated objectives.
This year’s report, which we call “Evidence”, outlines our achievements in 2001 and our goals
and objectives for 2002. We chose this theme because we now have facts and figures which
validate the strategy we have put in place for adidas-Salomon.
In 2001, we delivered on our targets and here are a few of the highlights:
• We achieved record-breaking sales of €6.1 billion.
• We drove growth in all of our brands.
• We delivered positive overall backlogs in North America for the first time in three years.
• We maintained an industry-leading gross margin of 42.6% .
• Through strict cost control, we lowered operating expenses as a percentage of sales for the
first time in five years.
• We reduced our inventories despite increasing our orders at year-end.
• We reduced our net debt position by €112 million.
• We boosted investor confidence, helping our share to outperform the DAX by 48% .
• And most importantly, we grew our earnings 15% .
Herbert Hainer,47
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer,
German
Letter to the Shareholders