Sportswear producer Adidas-Salomon AG on Wednesday posted a 27 per cent jump in second quarter net profit from the year-ago period but reaffirmed its full year profit and sales outlook despite tough conditions in the US.

The company reported net earnings for the quarter of 32 million euros as it was boosted by better performances from emerging markets such as Argentina, Turkey and Brazil.

But total sales fell eight per cent to 1.4 billion euros from 1.5 billion euros in the same period of last year, although on a currency-neutral basis they edged up three per cent.

European currency-neutral sales rose10 per cent in the first half year reflecting particularly strong development in Italy, France, Germany and the UK as well as the emerging markets.

Underlying group sales in Asia climbed eight per cent year-over-year thanks to a strong performance by its brands in Japan, South Korea and China as well as double-digit growth at Salomon in the second quarter.

In North America, underlying 2003 first half year sales edged up one per cent despite the very difficult retail environment, with Latin American currency-neutral sales up 41 per cent versus the previous year due to higher sales in Argentina and Brazil.

The company added in a press release US order backlogs in the US slumped 23 per cent in the latest quarter, while in Europe, its largest market, the order backlog rose eight per cent from the year prior.

Chairman and CEO, Herbert Hainer, said: "In the first half year, markets changed fast and got tougher. This challenged us to respond quickly and to push even harder in all our markets. All of our operating measurements moved visibly in the right direction.

"The positive underlying sales developments coupled with a strong reduction in our financial expenses helped drive our earnings for the first half of the year up significantly."

He added: "The first half of 2003 is a good demonstration that our group is capable of delivering strong results even as the markets get tougher. I can again confirm that we are on track to meet our full year sales, margin and earnings targets."