BEIJING, Wednesday evening news German sportswear group Adidas fell more than 7% Wednesday intraday, the company's fourth quarter profit fell sharply, less than market expectations, the company's performance forecast for 2010 also disappointed the market. Adidas fourth-quarter net profit fell 64% from 19 million euros a year earlier to 19 million euros ($ 26 million), analysts had an average of 25 million euros. Adidas fourth-quarter sales fell 5% to 2.46 billion euros, also lower than 2.51 billion euros in market expectations. The company said the increase in marketing expenses associated with the 2010 FIFA World Cup and a reduction in the assets of China's Reebok dealership led to fourth-quarter operating profit margin dropping to 1.7% from 4.2% a year ago. The stock dropped 6% at Xetra in Frankfurt, the lowest intraday 7.5%, but the stock has risen about 55% in the past 12 months. Its rival NKE said the decline in operating costs will bring its 2010 gross margin back to around 6.5%. Nike is currently down 0.7%. Adidas said the drop in tax rates and a fall in interest on loans will raise 2010 earnings per share from 1.22 euros in 2009 to 1.90 to 2.15 euros. MM Warburg & Co. analyst said, "We are very adized adidas had a full year forecast on the performance of a detailed forecast, although the results of the disappointing results." He said "less-than-expected results and disappointing performance forecasts put pressure on the stock." Analysts on average expected earnings per share of 2.38 euros in 2010, operating margin was 7.7%. Rodolphe Ozun, a Merrill Lynch analyst at Bank of America, is more optimistic as he sees fourth-quarter results due to Adidas putting more ads for the FIFA World Cup and Reebok. In a research note, he said in a statement, "Although disappointing 2010 results forecast led to a decline in the unit, we found encouraging revenue trends in the fourth quarter and we believe that as consumer demand further recovers, Adidas's Marketing measures will be effective. "