(Reuters) - Adidas expects sales growth of up to 10% this year, slowing slightly after a strong 2024, as it sees continued double-digit growth for the adidas brand.

Under CEO Bjorn Gulden, Adidas has typically managed the market's expectations to deliver stronger results than forecast each quarter.

It expects annual revenues to increase at a high single-digit rate in currency-neutral terms, lower than the 12% growth it delivered last year.

In the key holiday shopping quarter, Adidas sales grew by 15% in North America, a key battleground in its attempt to take market share from bigger rival Nike ( NKE ). Revenues were up 25% in Europe, 31% in Latin America, and 16% in Greater China in the quarter.

Adidas expects North America and Greater China, among others, to deliver double-digit rate growth in brand sales in the current year.

Its operating profit should reach a level of between 1.7 billion euros and 1.8 billion euros ($1.8 billion and $1.9 billion) this year, Adidas said in a statement, up from 1.34 billion in 2024.

($1 = 0.9411 euros)