(BFM Stock Exchange) – The sports equipment supplier published a surprise increase in his income for the first quarter of his offbeat financial year. The sign that the turn of its managing director Elliot Hill begins to take shape.

Nike finds some of his lost momentum after many difficult quarters. The comma group has suffered in recent years, penalized in particular by the decisions of its previous direction.

The sports equipment supplier had decided to redirect its sales of generalist distributors (“Wholesale”) to its own distribution channels. This turn went very far, bringing the company to alienate certain historical partners, such as Macy’s.

Society’s revenues have suffered. On the last full financial year closed last May, Nike’s turnover fell by 10%. The action has suffered. Over three years, the Nike action is unscrewed by 18% when the German rival Adidas bondi more than 50%.

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A progress in progress

Taken from his retirement about a year ago to release the group from the rut, the director general, Elliott Hill, a veteran of the company, set out to rectify the shot.

Under his leadership, Nike has, for example, resumed the direct sale on Amazon. Last August, the Sneakers of the US company resurfaced at the head of the gondola at Foot Locker, which had not happened for two years, according to Matthew Boss, a JPMorgan analyst quoted by Bloomberg.

He also decided to reduce stocks to make room for new ranges and decided to refocus the company on sport, especially running, after Nike went too far in lifestyle.

Cited by Bloomberg, Elliott Hill explained that the company had resumed its three categories of flagship products in running, namely the Vomero, Pegasus and structure franchises.

The initiatives launched by the director general of Nike seem to begin to pay. This is at least what the quarterly accounts delivered by the Adidas rival on Tuesday evening after the closure of Wall Street suggests.

“Nike has shown progress in its transition, with sales in the first quarter superior to forecasts,” sums up UBS.

In the quarter from June to the end of August, income increased by 1% in published data, and fell from 1% in comparable data to 11.7 billion. The company has clearly exceeded the consensus (the average forecast of analysts) visible Alpha cited by Bank of America and housed at $ 11 billion.

Still progress to be made

The company suffered in China where its sales fell 9%, when they believed 4% in North America and 6% in the region “Europe, Africa and Middle East”.

The profit per share fell 30% to 49 cents, however, significantly exceeding the 28 cents of the consensus.

“Nike has obtained better results, largely thanks to a closer collaboration and the strengthening of its relations with its distributor partners,” said CEO of GlobalData.

“However, there is still a lot to do to optimize sales and erode the close relations that competitors have established,” he added.

David Swarz, analyst at Morningstar, sees “the signs of a come back” but adds that “the finish line is still far”.

Elliott Hill does not say the opposite. “Even if we record victories, we still have work to be done to put all sports, all geographic areas and all channels on the same path, while we manage a dynamic operational environment,” said the manager quoted in a press release.

In Wall Street, investors welcome publication. Nike action takes 4.5%this Wednesday in preview.

Nike also noted its estimate of impact on customs duties, to bring it to $ 1.5 billion for the current financial year, compared to $ 1 billion. A large part of the production of the company is located in Vietnam and China.