Adidas CEO says Red Sea disruptions cause delays and higher costs

LONDON: Shipping disruptions in the Red Sea are negative for gross margins, Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said on Thursday in a call with analysts, adding that "exploding" freight rates are driving up costs and shipping delays are causing some delivery issues.

"Currently the spot rates are exploding again," Gulden said. "We have contracts that go through the summer but if we need to ship more than what the contract says or we need to accelerate something, that now has a pretty high premium."