By Linda Pasquini and Helen Reid
April 29 (Reuters) - Germany's Adidas on Wednesday reported better-than-expected operating profit in the first quarter, helped by strong demand despite what CEO Bjorn Gulden described as a "very volatile and heavily discounted" retail environment, especially in sneakers.
Sales grew 14% in currency-neutral terms to 6.6 billion euros ($7.7 billion) in the quarter, Adidas said, even though several countries in the Middle East reported sales declines due to the Iran war.
Having lost around 20% of their value since the start of this year, Adidas shares were up 2% in pre-market trading as the company stuck to its 2026 outlook for high-single-digit sales growth and operating profit of 2.3 billion euros.
Adidas said "discipline" in not selling too much to retailers was crucial to avoid sneakers having to be discounted.
U.S. rival Nike said earlier this month it was being "aggressive" with markdowns as it tries to clear unsold stock.
Adidas makes just under two-thirds of its revenue via third-party retailers, but Gulden pointed to sales via Adidas' own website up 25% and its own store sales growing 19%, compared with wholesale growth of 8%.
First-quarter operating profit rose by 16% to 705 million euros, above the 647 million euros projected by analysts in a company-compiled poll, up from 610 million euros a year earlier.
Sales were helped by increased demand for football gear ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 starting in June, though Gulden said Adidas had faced "many supply and transportation issues" getting World Cup products into its markets.
Like many European retailers with significant sales in the United States, Adidas said it was negatively impacted by a stronger euro -- taking around 350 million euros off its overall sales result in the quarter.
Among growth drivers, Adidas said sales in running shoes were up more than 10%, as the brand again congratulated Kenyan athlete Sabastian Sawe who broke the marathon world record on Sunday in London, wearing the brand's newest ultra-light racing shoes.
($1 = 0.8546 euros)
(Reporting by Linda Pasquini in Gdansk and by Helen Reid in London, editing by Ludwig Burger, Thomas Seythal and Shri Navaratnam)
