By Cecilia Butini

Adidas AG said Thursday that it swung to a loss in the second quarter, citing unprecedented challenges brought by lockdowns in large parts of the world.

The German sporting-goods company posted a net loss of 295 million euros ($350 million) in the quarter, down from a profit of EUR531 million a year earlier. Net sales dropped 35% to EUR3.58 billion from EUR5.5 billion a year prior, as the company closed stores due to the pandemic.

Adidas said, however, that sales through its e-commerce channel increased 93% during the quarter.

"We are now seeing then light at the end of the tunnel as the normalization of the physical business continues," Chief Executive Kasper Rorsted said.

Adidas expects an improvement in operating profit of around EUR1 billion in the third quarter compared with the second quarter, when it had an operating loss of EUR333 million. The expectation is based on the assumption that traffic in physical stores continues to improve in the absence of major lockdowns.

The company said it wasn't able to provide full-year outlook due to uncertainties around the further development of the coronavirus pandemic. 



  Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com