LONDON (Reuters) -Adidas reported what it said were better than expected preliminary fourth-quarter results on Tuesday, with strong sales and profitability for the important holiday shopping period, sealing a successful turnaround year.

The German sportswear brand focused in the past year on fuelling a trend for its retro multicoloured, three-striped shoes like the Samba and Gazelle to reboot its brand and boost sales, and has benefited from weaker performance at its bigger rival Nike (NYSE:).

It said revenue was up 19% year on year in currency-neutral terms in the fourth quarter, while its gross margin increased by 5.2 percentage points to 49.8%.

Adidas (OTC:) reported sales of 5.956 billion euros ($6.2 billion), up from 4.812 billion a year ago.

For the full year, revenue was up 12% in currency-neutral terms, hitting 23.683 billion euros ($24.7 billion). Profitability improved with the gross margin rising by 3.3 percentage points to 50.8%.

The results mark a significant recovery for Adidas from an annual loss in 2023 for the first time in more than 30 years, bruised by cutting ties with disgraced rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, leading to the abrupt ending of its lucrative Yeezy shoe line.

Operating profit for 2024 increased to 1.337 billion euros, from 268 million euros in 2023.

($1 = 0.9593 euros)

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – ABB (ST:) is increasing its investments in the United States as a way to deal with tariff hikes expected from the new Trump administration and to benefit from the country’s economic growth, Chief Financial Officer Timo Ihamuotila said on Tuesday.

“We will be investing more to compensate for this,” Ihamuotila told Reuters when asked about the impact of higher import duties.

“We will be investing more because it’s a good growth market,” the CFO said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

During his election campaign, new U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to impose steep tariffs of 10% to 20% on global imports into the U.S. and 60% on goods from China to help reduce a U.S. trade deficit that now tops $1 trillion annually.

Ihamuotila said local production for local customers was the best way to deal with the situation, noting that ABB currently produces around 80% of its products completely in the U.S., the engineering company’s biggest market.

“We have about 30 manufacturing locations in the U.S. and we will continue to expand these and probably even add something,” Ihamuotila said.

As well as spending more on its factories and facilities, ABB would also consider U.S.-based acquisitions, although many potential targets had high valuations at present, he said.

Outside the United States, Ihamuotila said about 90% of ABB’s products sold in Europe are produced there, while China has about 85% local production.

“It doesn’t fully insulate you, but it helps a lot,” Ihamuotila said. “In general, we are for free trade; we would like to see no tariffs, but it is what it is.”

(Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday it was forming a new cryptocurrency task force “dedicated to developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.”

The task force’s focuses “will be to help the Commission draw clear regulatory lines, provide realistic paths to registration, craft sensible disclosure frameworks, and deploy enforcement resources judiciously,” the SEC said in a statement.