North America sales including Yeezy fall 8 in Q2
Inventories shrink 18 yearonyear as of June 30
Apparel sales boosted by international soccer tournaments

July 31 Reuters Adidas said on Wednesday its secondquarter 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 currencyneutral sales in North America Adidas39; secondbiggest 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 breakup 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 doubledigit percentage growth in soccer as the company sold jerseys related to the Euro Cup and Copa America tournaments, it said.

In Europe, Adidas39; currencyneutral sales rose 19 from a year earlier to 1.9 billion euros in the second quarter.

New in the quarter was…