Adidas Group CEO Herbert Hainer explains whats happening in 2008..

Umbro has cut the number of new England replica away shirts that it planned to make over the next year by two thirds to one million – the lowest production run since 2001.

The company, which holds a nine-year deal to supply kit to the England football team, said that it had taken the "brave" decision to help high street retailers coping with the fallout from England’s defeat to Croatia on Wednesday.

Nine Months 2007 Results:

Net income attributable to shareholders up 22% in the third quarter. Q3 gross margin increases strongly by 3.6 percentage points to 48.6%. Adidas currency-neutral backlogs increase 16%, highest growth rate in over nine years.

1- Currency-neutral Group sales increase 5% in the first nine months
2- First nine months net income attributable to shareholders grows 13%
3= Reebok currency-neutral backlogs down 2% versus prior year with strong sequential improvement in footwear
4-Full year guidance reconfirmed

Nike said the deal would allow it to "significantly expand" its presence in "a key growth category" for the firm. As well as providing kit for the England team, Umbro also supplies the kit for six Premier League clubs. The Football Association said Nike had assured it that the FA's relationship with Umbro would be protected. Manchester-based Umbro said last month that sales of England tops had been "disappointing", and analysts are concerned that sales could suffer if England fail to qualify for next year's European Championship.

Nike, the $32 billion American sports-wear giant, is believed to be close to launching a bid for Umbro, the official England football kit maker.

Umbro shares soared 27.5 per cent yesterday, valuing the company at £220 million as it revealed that it had received an approach from an unnamed suitor. Despite fervent speculation of a move by Mike Ashley, the Sports Direct billionaire who has built a 15.04 per cent stake in Umbro over the past two months, sources close to the deal ruled out the tycoon and said Nike was the interested party. Sources insisted that the two sides had been in discussions for some time and details of a preliminary offer could be announced “in days rather than weeks”.

Manufacturers of replica football shirts have been taking steps to discourage supermarkets from stocking their products, a BBC investigation has discovered. Nike, which makes shirts for the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Celtic, has a long list of criteria that retailers wanting to stock its products must meet.

BBC News has obtained a copy of Nike's 12-point document, which - among other stipulations - gives Nike the right to approve fixtures and fittings and to have its products displayed in areas "which are distinctly separate and differentiated from fixtures displaying different types of products".