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North America sales including Yeezy fall 8% in Q2

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Inventories shrink 18% year-on-year as of June 30

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Apparel sales boosted by international soccer tournaments

(Adds inventories in paragraphs 5-6, detail on sales in

paragraphs 7-9, outlook comment in paragraph 11)

By Linda Pasquini and Paolo Laudani

July 31 (Reuters) - Adidas said on Wednesday

its second-quarter revenues in North America, excluding sales of

the Yeezy line, rose from last year driven by growth in both

wholesale and its own retail.

Including Yeezy, the currency-neutral sales in North America

- Adidas' second-biggest market behind Europe - fell by 8% to

1.3 billion euros ($1.51 billion) in the April to June quarter.

"The decline was solely related to the significantly smaller

Yeezy business," the company said, without specifying how much

the sales increased excluding the product line.

In a turnaround led by CEO Bjorn Gulden, Adidas has sought

to clear the remaining Yeezy stock after a bruising break-up

with rapper Kanye West, who goes by Ye, while striving to boost

its brand through its popular retro styles.

In the first quarter of the year, its business in North

America had still been impacted by high inventory levels.

However, Adidas said its overall inventories shrunk 18% to

4.5 billion euros as of June 30, compared to a year earlier.

Quarterly apparel sales were up 6%, helped by strong

double-digit percentage growth in soccer as the company sold

jerseys related to the Euro Cup and Copa America tournaments, it

said.

In Europe, Adidas' currency-neutral sales rose 19% from a

year earlier to 1.9 billion euros in the second quarter.

"New in the quarter was to see a positive development also

for apparel," Gulden said in a statement.

Adidas had hiked its full-year guidance and reported

preliminary second-quarter results above expectations in

mid-July, helped by the popularity of its low-rise

multi-coloured Samba and Gazelle sneakers, and weaker sales at

rival Nike ( NKE ).

It still expects currency effects to weigh significantly on

its profitability this year, but said its mid-term target for a

10% operating profit margin was achievable nonetheless.

($1 = 0.9244 euros)