Departure of CEO to cost Adidas 16 million euros

BERLIN (Reuters) - The early departure of CEO Kasper Rorsted will cost Adidas nearly 16 million euros ($16.86 million), according to an annual report released on Wednesday.

The Danish national, who left the German sportswear maker in November almost four years before the end of his contract, will receive a severance payment of 12 million euros.

In addition, he will receive around 3.6 million euros as compensation for not joining a competitor within the next 18 months, as well as his remaining salary of around 300,000 euros for November and December.

Rorsted's contract was extended by five years in 2021, but he stepped down earlier than planned last year amid mounting problems at the company including an over-reliance on business in China.

In November, the company said that Bjorn Gulden, who led Puma since 2013, would replace Rorsted from January 1.

Rorsted and his fellow board members saw salary reductions in 2022 in view of the slump in profits. They received neither a performance-related bonus for 2022 nor share-based long-term bonuses. The latter totaled 14.2 million euros a year earlier.

($1 = 0.9490 euros)

(Reporting by Alexander Huebner, Writing by Friederike Heine, Editing by Paul Carrel)