Nike share price climbs as strong China sales offset drag from strong dollar
Bumper sales in China are boosting revenues at sportswear giant Nike.
Global sales reached $7.7bn (£5.2bn) in the three months ending 30 November, a rise of four per cent compared with the same period last year, the company said today.
Footwear sales in China were up 30 per cent to $600m, lifting total revenues from the country by 24 per cent. North American sales increased nine per cent to $3.2bn.
The rise in sales took the company’s earnings per share up 22 per cent to $0.90, with shares rising 2.25 per cent in after-hours trading to $134.60.
However, revenues dropped across Europe and emerging markets, hit by currency fluctuations.
The dollar has risen in value against the euro and a wide range of emerging market currencies in the past 18 months. This reduces the number of dollars Nike receives when it converts it foreign sales revenue.
The biggest exchange rate hit came from emerging markets, where sales revenue would have climbed 11 per cent were it not for exchange rate movements – dollar revenues contracted by eight per cent.
Fluctuating exchange rates also knocked five percentage points off futures orders – Nike goods ordered in advance. At the end of the three month period futures orders for Nike goods for delivery from December 2015 to April 2016 were 15 per cent higher than for the same period last year. They would have been 20 per cent higher if exchange rates had not moved.