n 2008, the adidas Group again delivered strong financial performance. Group sales and profitability developed in line with Management’s initial expectations. Currency-neutral sales increased 9%. Double-digit sales growth in the adidas segment had the biggest impact on this development. In euro terms, adidas Group revenues grew 5% to € 10.799 billion in 2008 from € 10.299 billion in 2007. The Group’s gross margin increased 1.3 percentage points to 48.7% in 2008 (2007: 47.4%) mainly driven by an improving regional mix, further own-retail expansion and a more favourable product mix