Adidas gets trainers to lift unfit Reebok

FRANKFURT: Reebok is turning to sponsorship deals with prominent fitness groups to try to revive a venerable name that has faded since it became part of Germany’s Adidas sportswear group eight years ago.

The sports shoe and clothing brand is winning converts among hardcore sports enthusiasts and aims to build on this support to make up ground it has lost to rivals such as global market leader Nike.

“They had a sticky patch, but now the shoes and gear are good,” said former triathlete Steve Antcliff who runs a gym in the German city of Frankfurt offering Crossfit classes, forwhich Reebok produces training shorts, shoes and shirts.

Adidas hopes to revive Reebok after paying $3.8 billion for the company in 2005 in order to take a larger slice of business in the US, the world’s largest sportswear market with sales of $80 billion.

But Us-headquartered Reebok has struggled. Its toning shoes fell out of favour, and it was the victim of fraud in India.

Total turnover rose to ₹1,894 crore from ₹1,501 crore on Tuesday.

Investors are now gearing up for the September-quarter earnings season with Infosys reporting its results on October 11.

“Management commentary and signs of green shoots in the earnings season would be more important than the actual earnings,” said Phani Sekhar, fund manager of portfolio management services at Angel Broking.

Experts, however, advise investors to invest only with a long-term perspective. “We would recommend a selective approach for sectors and companies likely to benefit from currency depreciation such as IT,” says Dipen Shah, head, private client group research, Kotak Securities.

Skoda hopes the Octavia will usher in a period of success for the company after its small-car Fabia and small sports utility vehicle (SUV) Yeti bombed in the market.

“Octavia’s arrival in India also kicks off a five-year strategy for Skoda, which will make customers the brand’s primary focus in addition to our long-standing reputation for making great products,” said Sudhir Rao, managing director, Skoda India.

Based on parent firm Volkswagen’s MQB platform that will become the bullwark of all its future products and globally encompass all cars, Octavia is offered in three engine options —1.4 and 1.8 litre petrol and a 2-litre diesel — and has both manual and automatic variants.