Shareholders, shareholder representatives, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Thomas Rabe, I'm the Chair of the Supervisory Board of adidas AG. On behalf of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board, I would like to welcome you most cordially to this year's ordinary annual general meeting of adidas AG. I am in the headquarters of adidas AG today, the World of Sports in Herzogenaurach. Unfortunately, you, the shareholders, cannot be here with me today. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Executive Board resolved, with the Supervisory Board's approval, to hold the AGM as a virtual meeting, as it was the case last year. The live audio and video webcast of the AGM in German and English is available on the website of the company and the shareholder portal.
The virtual format of the annual general meeting of shareholders is mainly a measure to protect our shareholders, employees, and service providers. Health has always been a top priority of adidas. Of course, the executive board and the supervisory board would have loved to welcome you here in person. We hope that we can make up for this next year. Before we turn to the agenda, let me first introduce the persons who are present here today. As last year, with regard to the ongoing pandemic, we have deliberately kept their number to a minimum. On my right from your perspective, you can see the notary, Ms. Veronika Grimmer. Ms. Grimmer is taking the minutes of today's annual general meeting. On the left from your perspective, you see Kasper Rørsted, our CEO, and Harm Ohlmeyer, our CFO, representing the executive board.
The other members of the Executive Board have joined us via telepresence. The same applies to the members of the Supervisory Board, with the exception of Christian Klein, who is currently at the annual general meeting of SAP in his capacity as CEO. The proxies appointed by the company are also here in person, as well as Ms. Claudia Lange, who will support us during the question and answers. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you. Before concluding my introductory remarks, let me take this opportunity to briefly introduce our newly appointed Executive Board Member, Amanda Rajkumar. Amanda has been a member of the Executive Board since the beginning of this year and is responsible for global human resources, people, and culture. She was born in the U.K., and is a British national. Amanda has over 25 years of global resources experience in global organizations.
She joins adidas from BNP Paribas, where she held a number of executive HR leadership positions for different business divisions in Europe and the U.S.,. Most recently, she was head of human resources for the Americas region. Amanda, we are pleased to have you on board and would like to congratulate you once more on your appointment. Furthermore, I should like to make the following announcement. Yesterday, the supervisory board resolved to extend Martin Shankland's appointment to the executive board for 5 years until 2027. Martin Shankland has been a member of the executive board of adidas AG since 2019. He is responsible for global operations, which plays a key role in the innovation and digital transformation of our entire supply chain. Martin is also responsible for sustainability, one of our strategic focus areas. Martin, congratulations to you, too.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to briefly outline the procedure of today's virtual annual general meeting. After dealing with the formalities, we will proceed to the business to be transacted. Our CEO, Kasper Rørsted, will give his report on the performance and financial situation of the company. Next, I will present the report by the Supervisory Board. After that, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board will answer the questions that have been submitted by our shareholders before the AGM. When the questions have been answered, I will make some remarks on the voting. After the voting is closed, we will start counting the ballots. This year again, the adidas shareholder portal plays a crucial role for the exercise of your shareholder rights.
The shareholder portal allows you to cast your vote electronically, or to appoint either the proxies designated by the company or other persons to vote on your behalf. During today's AGM, you can cast your votes or appoint proxies only via the shareholder portal and only until the counting of the ballot starts. I will remind you of this in due time. Please note, however, that we cannot exclude a delay in the video and audio transmission. You should therefore cast your votes in good time and not wait until the last possible moment. You can also use the shareholder portal to lodge an objection to a decision of the general meeting of shareholders. As last year, we will not have a general debate in the way we would at an in-person AGM.
Instead, you, the shareholders, were given the possibility to submit questions and statements via the shareholder portal before the AGM. After the report by the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board, the Supervisory Board will respond to your questions. All the questions submitted concerning the agenda will then be answered. For further details on the shareholder rights, please refer to the explanations on the shareholder portal on the company's website or in the invitation. In the event of technical problems, we will provide further information on the shareholder portal. Let me now address some more formalities. This Annual General Meeting has been convened in due form and time. All the relevant statutory documents were duly published. The compulsory documents and the invitation convening the AGM are accessible on the company's website. The notary has received the printout of the notice of the Annual General Meeting.
She will attach that printout to the minutes of the meeting. No request for amendments or candidacies were submitted to the company by shareholders. The company has received two counter-motions, which it published fully and without delay on its website. Finally, please note that you are not permitted to make your own audio or video recordings. Much about the formalities. Ladies and gentlemen, I now turn to the agenda for today's meeting and bring to agenda items 1-14 before the meeting, which will be discussed together. For agenda item one, I would like to pass the floor to Kasper Rørsted. His presentation will start after a short video.
[Presentation]
Shareholders, on behalf of the Executive Board and the entire adidas team, I'd like to welcome you very warmly to our 2021 Annual General Meeting. Unfortunately, due to the COVID pandemic, this is a virtual event like last year, which I regret very much. That's why I'm once more speaking to you from our corporate headquarters, the World of Sports in Herzogenaurach. Just like Thomas Rabe, I hope that we'll be able to finally meet again in person next year. Actually, our 2020 Annual General Meeting isn't that long ago. Due to COVID, it had been postponed to August last year. At the time, I already informed you in detail about the company's development in the first half of 2020. A lot has happened since then.
Following a low point in the second quarter, our business recovered quickly, and we resumed our growth trajectory as early as Q4 2020. In March, we presented our new strategy, Own the Game. This strategy includes a clear definition of the priorities we've set to achieve above-average success in the period up to 2025. Last week, we presented our financial results for the first quarter of 2021. We got off to a good start and increased net sales by 27%. Based on this good start, we have reaffirmed our positive outlook for the current year and even increased our top-line guidance. In my speech today, I'd like to focus on the following three topics. First, how did adidas conclude the 2020 financial year? Second, what's our strategy until 2025? Third, what do we expect from the current year, 2021?
Before addressing these topics, I'd like to welcome Amanda Rajkumar to our Executive Board team. Amanda joined us at the beginning of the year and is responsible for human resources. Welcome to adidas, and Amanda, happy birthday. Congratulations also to Martin Shankland on the extension of his contract until 2027. I look forward to continuing our cooperation. I'm also pleased to inform you that Jackie Joyner-Kersee, one of the most successful adidas athletes of all time, stands as a member of our Supervisory Board. After 12 years, Herbert Kauffmann is going to retire from the Supervisory Board. Thank you, Herbert, for your longstanding and successful commitment to this company. With that, let me address the first area of focus. How did adidas conclude the 2020 financial year? 2020 was a year like no other, with the global pandemic leading to an unprecedented crisis.
The toll it has taken, and continues to take, on human lives is saddening. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. From the very beginning of the pandemic, our focus at adidas has been on two things: to protect the health and safety of our employees and to steer the company successfully through this crisis. I am pleased to report that we have achieved both. We implemented comprehensive hygiene regimes at all our locations. We closed stores and offices when required to do so by the pandemic situation or local regulations. Even today, the vast majority of our employees are working from home. In many countries, we've offered to support the government's vaccination campaigns. In Germany, our company doctors are ready to play their part.
We provided financial support to the WHO, the World Health Organization, and currently, we provide funds to India, in particular, to alleviate the hardship there. Despite the challenges we were facing, 2020 was the year when we made adidas a better company in key areas. First, we significantly increased our digital capabilities and reach. Second, we continued to invest in sustainability. Third, we've improved the company's financial flexibility. Fourth, we're putting an even stronger focus on diversity and inclusion. Please allow me to elaborate on these four topics, starting with digitalization. Digitalization was high on our agenda even in the years before COVID. The global pandemic considerably accelerated our digital transformation. Our e-com business grew by 53%. Since 2015, our online business has grown sevenfold thanks to early investments in digital know-how, resources, and technologies.
It is these digital skills that enable us to stay in touch with our consumers, even in the lockdown phase. In 2020, we launched our most successful digital campaign ever, Home Team. More than 400 million people around the world followed this campaign, and more than 3,000 of our athletes and partners were involved. With sporting events resuming in many regions in the second half of the year, we launched our next big campaign called Ready for Sport. It was great to see our athletes and teams back in action, winning titles and breaking records, and wearing innovative adidas products in the process. Peres Jepchirchir and Kibiwott Kandie set new half-marathon world records. Bayern Munich won the UEFA Champions League, and Dominic Thiem won his first Grand Slam tennis title, to name just a few successes. Another area of focus in 2020 was sustainability.
As part of our partnership with the environmental organization Parley for the Oceans, we produced more than 15 million pairs of shoes using recycled plastic waste collected from beaches and coastal regions. We've broadened our range of sustainable products with six out of 10 adidas articles already being sustainable. We also improved the company's financial flexibility. When we were hit by the COVID-19 crisis in March, we focused solely on managing our cash in and outflows. This was extremely important for successfully navigating the company through the year. The measures we took included strong control of costs and working capital, a reduction in executive board and management compensation, discontinuation of the share buyback program, and the suspension of dividend payments. In August, we received strong first-time investment-grade ratings from the two leading rating agencies, Standard & Poor's and Moody's.
Standard & Poor's gave adidas an A+ rating with a stable outlook. Moody's granted our company an A2 rating, also with a stable outlook. As a result, adidas is one of the highest-ranked companies in Germany and our industry. With these ratings, adidas is perfectly positioned to tap the international capital market at any time. An opportunity that we did, in fact, use as early as 2020. In September, adidas successfully placed two bonds with a total value of EUR 1 billion, as well as its first-ever sustainability bond worth EUR 500 million. In October, we were able to repay the drawn portion of the KfW loan of EUR 500 million. In November, we terminated the rest of the loan, including interest and fees. At the same time, we obtained a new loan of EUR 1.5 billion from several of the company's partner banks.
That means that adidas did not spend any taxpayers' money. 2020 also saw an improvement when it comes to diversity at adidas. In fact, adidas is already a diversity leader in many respects. adidas is international to its very core, with people from more than 100 nations working at our corporate headquarters in Herzogenaurach alone. The members of the adidas executive and supervisory boards also have an international background. In addition, we've increased the number of women in leadership positions. Our goal was for women to account for 32% of leadership positions by the end of 2020. At 35%, we've over-delivered on this target. However, following numerous one-on-one conversations, especially with our Black employees, we had to concede that diversity had not been embedded consistently in all areas of the company.
For us and for me, the number one priority is to make adidas even more diverse and inclusive, and that's exactly what we're doing. I informed you in detail about the measures we're taking at last year's AGM in August. Since then, we've been implementing them flat out. Here are a few examples. All adidas employees around the world have by now completed diversity and inclusion training courses. We have set targets for increased representation of Black and Latinx people with our US workforce. Every month, our US team provides us with an update on the current achievement rate. We're well on track and have almost achieved the 30% vacancy filling rate target. By 2025, we'll have invested $120 million in the U.S., to fight racism, fund university scholarships, and support Black communities.
Again, the first programs have already been kicked off successfully. For instance, in cooperation with the BeyGOOD foundation of our partner Beyoncé, we provided $2 million for small black businesses hit by the COVID pandemic. Together with Pharrell Williams, we help black entrepreneurs to successfully set up their own businesses. Digitalization, sustainability, financial flexibility, diversity, these are important areas in which we made adidas better in 2020 for the long term. For this, we enjoy worldwide recognition. The renowned Time magazine, for instance, put us on their list of the top 100 most influential companies, explaining that adidas was a pioneer in the field of sustainability with its efforts to reduce plastic waste. In the RepTrak list of the most reputable global companies, we rank seventh, far ahead of all our competitors. In employer rankings, adidas can also regularly be found among the top players.
In the short term, and this won't come as a surprise to you, last year's financial results were considerably impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, please note that, as in previous years, the revenue figures I'm going to mention in my speech are all on a currency-neutral basis. The full year saw revenues decrease by 14%. This was due to comprehensive store closures and the depressed state of the global economy. However, after a low point in the second quarter, our business recovered quickly, with Q3 already seeing a positive operating profit. In Q4, revenues also returned to a growth trajectory. Last year, many brands launched large-scale discount campaigns. We avoided such a move wherever possible, and as a result, our gross margin declined by only 2.3%- 49.7%. Due to the decline in net sales, our operating margin decreased by 7.5%- 3.8%.
Net income from continuing operations was down 78% to EUR 429 million. In 2020, all of us faced great challenges, and the only way to weather such a year is to work as a team. That's why we successfully safeguarded jobs throughout the year. At the end of the year, we thanked our employees for their hard work and dedication by giving each of them a EUR 1,000 bonus. I'd like to take this opportunity to expressly repeat this thank you to the 60,000 employees who demonstrated resilience and great commitment in 2020. I'd also like to thank you, our shareholders, for your confidence. We will continue to do everything we can do to remain worthy of your trust. Let me now tell you what exactly it is we're doing. Two months ago, we presented our new strategy for the period until 2025. It's called Own the Game.
Own the Game is an expression coined in sports. Basically, it refers to a team that sticks to a clear plan, a self-confident team, a team that wants to win, and this team is us, the adidas team. What is our self-confidence based on? It's based on two things. First, as outlined above, we made adidas a better company in 2020. Second, the success of our strategy, Creating the New, launched in 2016, enabled us to establish a strong market position. Prior to the pandemic, we increased revenues by EUR 7 billion in the four years from 2016- 2019. The operating margin increased by around 5% , reaching a record 11.3%. By 2019, net income had grown by EUR 1.2 billion. During the Creating the New period, the value of the company tripled from a baseline of EUR 18 billion.
With an increase of 231%, this was also the strongest performance in the DAX 30 index from the beginning of 2016 until the end of 2020. Just to put this into perspective, in the same period, the DAX 30 grew only moderately by 28%. In addition to the positive share price development, we paid out more than EUR 4 billion in the form of dividends and share buybacks. These achievements make us self-confident because success is the best motivator. We operate in an industry offering very attractive growth opportunities. We've thoroughly analyzed these opportunities before mapping out our new strategy. As part of the strategy development, we also concluded the assessment of strategic alternatives for Reebok. After careful consideration, we've come to the conclusion that Reebok and adidas will be more successful if they operate independently. We're therefore in the process of divesting Reebok.
Now, Reebok is a strong global brand, and the long-term growth opportunities in our industry are extremely attractive, especially for a brand like Reebok. We're working flat out on securing a good and successful future for the Reebok brand and its team. We'll keep you informed about the progress we're making here. With that, let me come back to adidas and our plans for the period until 2025. We're convinced that through sport we have the power to change lives. Therefore, we'll always strive to include and unite people in sport and to create a more sustainable world. We have a clear mission: to be the best sports brand in the world, and we'll have achieved that mission when we rank first or second in each strategic category in the long term. We have a clear attitude: Impossible is Nothing. This attitude goes back to our founder, Adi Dassler.
We see a world of possibilities where others only see the impossible. The consumer determines the trends in our industry. We currently see five big trends that, generally speaking, have become even stronger during the COVID pandemic. A sporty lifestyle, athleisure. Wearing casual sporty clothes is becoming more and more popular, especially for people working from home who set great store by functionality and style. Betterment and personal wellbeing. Over 50% of consumers exercise to stay fit and healthy. Digital. From social contacts to communication to shopping, life is getting more and more digital. Sustainable. 70% of consumers say that sustainability has a great impact on their buying decisions. Premium. High-quality products featuring new technologies, materials, and innovations are much in demand. It is exactly these trends that make the sporting goods industry so attractive.
Therefore, the global sporting goods market will continue to grow significantly in the years to come. In fact, the market is expected to grow by a mid-single-digit percentage rate in the period 2021- 2025. This means that the sporting goods market is growing approximately twice as fast as the global economy. Overall, our industry will grow by another EUR 100 billion by 2025. We have a deep understanding of the market. Running, training, and outdoor are the biggest participation sports, driving around 40% of market growth. Lifestyle will generate approximately 50% of this growth. Greater China will be the fastest-growing market over the next five years. North America will stay the biggest single market. North America, EMEA, and Greater China represent 90% of the overall market growth. EMEA comprises our home market of Europe, plus the Middle East, Africa, and Russia.
The industry is getting more and more digital. E-commerce is growing three times faster than stationary retail. In 2025, around 40% of all sporting goods will be sold online. These are the opportunities afforded by the market. Our strategy, Own the Game, is entirely geared toward using precisely these opportunities. Our strategy is deeply rooted in sport. adidas is sport, and sport is adidas. It has always been that way, and it will always be that way. See for yourselves.
The man with the silver boots who has the golden touch. We are adidas. We are sport. Messi. Oh, absolutely astounding. This is who we are. We knew then. We know now. We see possibilities. You get an opportunity in this game, you make a play. For sport. How on earth did he do that. Portia Woodman. Too much power. For all people. For the planet. Today. Salazar, [the goal]. Tomorrow. Always. We are sport.
Own the Game, that's something I really want to emphasize at this point, is a growth and investment strategy. It's not either/or. We invest to grow. Own the Game puts the consumer at the heart of everything we do and is brought to life by our people. Our strategic focus is on three topics. First, credibility. We will further strengthen the credibility of the adidas brand. Second, experience. We'll take consumer experience to the next level. Third, sustainability. adidas will be even more sustainable in 2025. Allow me to elaborate on these three strategic topics. Let's start with the credibility of the adidas brand. adidas is sharpening the edges of its market position in sport and lifestyle by implementing a clear brand architecture. In the sports segment, we will focus on the four most important product categories, football, running, training, and outdoor.
Football is the sport with the most fans globally. Running, training, and outdoor are the biggest participation sports. In the lifestyle segment, adidas is introducing the new sportswear product category, which will allow us to respond even better to the so-called athleisure trend. adidas Originals will focus even more on the premium segment. As a result, we'll have clear-cut categories and a stronger brand overall. In addition, we'll enhance our approach to women as a target group across all categories. This brings me to our second area of focus, consumer experience. Today's consumers expect a brand and shopping experience tailored to their preferences, with personalized offers, direct contact to the brand, and digital services. Our direct-to-consumer-led business will therefore play an even more important role in the future. Direct contact will be established through a global network of owned retail stores and e-commerce.
The sales share of the direct-to-consumer business is expected to achieve above-average growth by 2025 to around 50% of total sales. The company's e-commerce revenue is expected to double between EUR 8 billion and EUR 9 billion. To achieve this, we're specifically investing into e-commerce. We also increasingly equip our own retail stores with digital capabilities. In our collaboration with specialist retailers, we also put the focus on digitalization. Future success is only possible if the online and offline worlds are perfectly intertwined. This also presents great opportunities. In the football, running, outdoor, and lifestyle categories, we want to expand our collaboration with specialist retailers. We believe in competent specialist retailers and want to continue our successful collaboration with them. Across all channels, we're enhancing our membership program for our consumers. Members buy more often, they buy more, and they buy more premium products.
At the end of 2020, we had over 150 million members. The plan is for this number to triple to around 500 million by 2025. When it comes to attracting new members, our so-called key cities play an essential role. The fact is that global trends are created in the world's major metropolises. That's why we're doubling the number of key cities from six to 12, as well as Tokyo, Shanghai, Paris, London, New York, and L.A. They now also include Mexico City, Berlin, Moscow, Dubai, Beijing, and Seoul. Last but not least, the third focus area of our strategy, sustainability. Sustainability has in fact been an integral part of the adidas corporate philosophy for more than 20 years. We were among the first companies in our industry to establish their own standards to ensure fair and safe working conditions for all employees along the entire supply chain.
In addition, we've been making our product range increasingly sustainable over the years. In the years to come, we'll expand this commitment significantly. Already, six out of 10 adidas articles are made from sustainable materials. The plan is for this ratio to rise to nine out of 10 by 2025. These articles are made from recycled materials, among others. As early as 2024, we'll use recycled polyester only. In addition, we're exploring completely new environmentally friendly materials, and that's how we continue to fight against plastic waste. By 2025, we want to reduce our CO2 footprint per product by 15%. This will be possible if we reduce energy and material consumption in the global supply chain and increasingly use green energy sources. At our own locations, we'll be carbon neutral by 2025, and by 2050, we want to achieve overall carbon neutrality.
To successfully deliver on our strategy, we'll continue to invest in our people. In fact, over the last few years, we invested more than EUR 500 million in the development of our key locations. At the moment, we're expanding our North American Headquarters in Portland, Oregon, where we're creating a state-of-the-art working environment, just like we did in Herzogenaurach and Shanghai. The company's digital transformation will be driven by investments of more than EUR 1 billion in the period until 2025. This year alone, we're hiring more than 1,000 IT specialists. Mind you, digitalization at adidas goes far beyond e-commerce. We drive digitalization along the entire value chain, from 3D design to online sales to consumers. By 2025, the majority of our net sales will be generated by products that were developed and sold digitally. Our own stores are also becoming ever more digital.
A few weeks ago, we opened a new flagship store in our new key city of Dubai. It's got 66 digital touchpoints, and we expect 2 million consumers there per year. Another two stores are set to open in Moscow and Shanghai later this year. Another extremely important part of Own the Game is to be innovative across the entire company. In fact, we already have a strong pipeline of innovative products. In 2021, we'll launch dozens of exciting new products every month. Let me give you just three examples of innovative products. Several world records have already been set with the Adizero Adios Pro running shoe. For the Olympic Games in Tokyo, we have improved this shoe even further. Another newly launched shoe is the adidas 4D FWD, a running shoe featuring a 3D-printed sole. We've released our iconic Stan Smith in several versions containing sustainable materials.
In 2025, our total investments into the adidas brand will be around EUR 1 billion higher than they were in 2021. This will make adidas even stronger and even more credible. A good example is our current campaign, Impossible is Nothing. With its 50 million-plus budget, it's one of the biggest brand campaigns adidas has ever had. Moreover, we're investing into new partnerships. For example, with Peloton, a fast-growing supplier of home workout equipment, and we're signing successful athletes such as Bayern Munich's international player, Leon Goretzka, or up-and-coming American football star Trevor Lawrence. During the Own the Game strategy cycle, we'll invest EUR 10 billion more than we did during the Creating the New period. We've clearly defined our global strategy.
It is in the markets where it will be brought to life, with the markets North America, EMEA, and Greater China becoming ever more important from a regional perspective.
This is where we're going to focus our investments and gain market share because we invest to grow. The growth we want to achieve by 2025 will be a direct consequence of the strategic priorities we have set for ourselves. 5 categories, football, running, training, outdoor, and lifestyle will account for more than 95% of revenue growth. Three markets, North America, EMEA, and Greater China, will account for around 90% of revenue growth. Direct-to-consumer business will contribute more than 80%, driven by e-commerce. With Own the Game, we have a clearly defined plan, and we have clear targets. By 2025, we want to grow sales profitability and cash flow significantly and gain market share. In this context, please note that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020 financial year, all our targets use the 2021 financial year as a baseline rather than 2020.
Also, the targets no longer include any Reebok financials due to the ongoing divestment process. Our intention is to increase adidas net sales by an average rate of between 8% and 10% per annum between 2021 and 2025. The operating margin is forecast to grow to a level of between 12% and 14%. Net income from continuing operations is also projected to increase substantially by an average of between 16% and 18% per annum. The projected growth in revenue and profitability will generate a substantial aggregate free cash flow. Much of that, between EUR 8 billion and EUR 9 billion, will be paid out to you, our shareholders. We want to share the company's success with you by paying dividends of between 30% and 50% of the net income from continuing operations, complemented by share buybacks.
Our e-com business is expected to double, reaching between EUR 8 billion and EUR 9 billion.
Our overall direct consumer business will then represent around 50% of our business. Our growth is sustainable in every sense of the word, with nine out of 10 adidas articles being sustainable by 2025. Now, those are ambitious targets, but only those who set themselves ambitious targets will succeed in the end. This is true in business and in sport, and it goes without saying that this is the benchmark against which we'll be measured. With management compensation being closely linked to the actual target achievement levels. Together with the entire adidas team, I'm looking forward to implementing our new strategy. In an attractive industry, we will continue to grow and invest in the years to come. We'll gain market share and create sustainable value for all our stakeholders. In 2025, adidas will be stronger, more sustainable, and more digital than ever.
Of course, we want to be fast out of the gate with the launch of our new strategy, which brings me to the third and last part of my speech, our expectations for the current year, 2021. I can give you a positive outlook. Although global challenges will remain, 2021 will be a successful year for adidas. We're looking forward to a great sports year with the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the UEFA European Championship, and the Latin American football championship, Copa América. These sports events give us the opportunity to present our brand and products to billions of spectators. In June, we'll be hosting the German national football team on our campus, where they can prepare for their games. With Home Ground, we built a sustainable camp for them, surrounded by nature, and after the UEFA Euro, we'll use it as temporary accommodation for employees and partners.
Our campaigns are up and running, and our products are much in demand, which is why we expect strong revenue growth across all market segments. In fact, last week, we even increased our top-line guidance for the full year. Specifically, we expect sales to increase in the high teens. The gross margin will reach around 52%. The operating margin is expected to increase to between 9% and 10%. Net income from continuing operations is projected to increase to a level between EUR 1.25 billion and EUR 1.45 billion. This is a strong performance that's already reflected in the Q1 results we released last week. We got off to a good start indeed, with Q1 seeing an increase in net sales of 27%. Despite the fact that many stores, particularly in Europe, were still closed and the global supply chains were not yet running smoothly.
Our e-com business grew by 43%, the overall direct-to-consumer business by over 30%. Our operating margin reached over 13% and net income from continuing operations increased to EUR 502 million. Based on our positive outlook and the strengthened financial profile, we want to resume dividend payments. Last year, you had agreed to suspend dividend payouts for the 2019 financial year. For 2020, we're therefore proposing a dividend of EUR 3 per share. This translates into a total dividend payout of EUR 585 million. Shareholders, I hope I've been able to give you a good overview on where Adidas is standing today. Let me summarize. Despite all the challenges we were facing, we made Adidas a better company in 2020. With a strong strategy in place, we are very well positioned for the years ahead. Own the Game is a growth and investment strategy rooted in sport.
By 2025, we'll have made the adidas brand even stronger and more credible. We'll take consumer experience to a new level, online and offline. We'll become even more sustainable. Based on these focus points, we want to significantly grow sales, profitability, and cash flow. We got off to a good start into the current year. We therefore increased our top-line guidance last week. 2021 will be a successful year for adidas. It's the first year in which we're consistently implementing our new strategy, and we hope it's going to be the year in which the world defeats the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you very much for your attention and for your trust. Please take care and stay healthy.
Thank you for your remarks, Kasper. At this point, allow me to give my report on the Supervisory Board's activities during the 2020 financial year. Based on the reports given by the Executive Board, the Supervisory Board had in-depth discussions on the most essential topics concerning the company. It supported the Executive Board by providing advice and monitored its management activities. For more details on the issues addressed by the Supervisory Board and its committees, I would refer you to the Supervisory Board report in the 2020 annual report. Allow me to present some key areas of our work. We all, and adidas too, have had a challenging 2020, marked in particular by the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Supervisory Board has closely supported the Executive Board in meeting these challenges that the company has been faced with.
We intensified the dialogue and advised the executive board on all measures taken. These measures were always aimed at ensuring the long-term well-being of adidas, as well as employees, consumers, and partners. In this context, we dealt with the significant decline of revenue, profit, and cash flow, and the related liquidity management. In so doing, we placed our emphasis on the fast acceleration of top-line growth in the area of e-commerce and on the company's digital transformation. Another focus area of the supervisory board's activities was the development process for our new Own the Game strategy, whose core elements Kasper has just finished outlining. The supervisory board firmly believes that in adopting the Own the Game strategy, adidas has laid the foundations for another very successful five-year period.
Based on our new strategy, the Supervisory Board has also revised the system of Executive Board compensation, for which we ask your approval today. I will provide you with more detailed information in a moment. Promoting a corporate culture based on diversity and inclusion has been one of our central priorities in the past financial year. The Supervisory Board actively supported the necessary change processes and closely accompanied the Executive Board in the implementation of its measures. Diversity, inclusion, and equality will be decisive for the long-term success of our company. The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board will continue the path taken and consistently pursue the processes that have been initiated. Another focal area of the Supervisory Board were Executive Board matters, notably the renewed appointment of Kasper Rørsted as Chief Executive Officer for another five-year term, and the appointment of Amanda Rajkumar as Executive Board Member.
Finally, we addressed matters concerning the supervisory board itself. In particular, we prepared our candidate proposal for a new supervisory board member to be elected at today's AGM and dealt with the changed legal framework in the area of corporate governance. Ladies and gentlemen, before we proceed to the Q&A session on all items of the agenda, I would like to make three more statements. No resolution needs to be passed under agenda item one. The supervisory board approved the annual financial statements and consolidated financial statements prepared by the executive board. The annual financial statements have thus been adopted. Item five of the agenda concerns the election of a new supervisory board member representing the shareholder side. The election is necessary because Herbert Kauffmann's term of office will expire at the close of today's AGM.
Herbert Kauffmann has been a member of the supervisory board for the last 12 years and served as the chairman of its audit committee until last year's AGM. On behalf of the executive and supervisory boards and our shareholders, I would like to seize this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks for his longstanding and successful commitment to adidas. The supervisory board is very pleased that Miss Jackie Joyner-Kersee is standing as candidate to succeed Herbert Kauffmann, and proposes to elect her to the supervisory board of adidas AG. The proposal is based on the recommendation of the nomination committee, taking into account the profile of skills and expertise and the supervisory board's targets on its composition. Many of you will know Jackie Joyner-Kersee as a former world-class athlete and multiple Olympic champion.
Since the end of her active sporting career, Jackie has been particularly committed to promoting diversity and inclusion. Just like sporting excellence, these values are part of the DNA of adidas. This is why the supervisory board is very pleased to propose Jackie, a legend of sport with many years of experience in the US sports market, as candidate for the supervisory board. Jackie would like to introduce herself to you in a video message, which we recorded prior to the AGM.
Hello, my name is Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and it is an honor and a privilege to be selected to the adidas Supervisory Board. The adidas brand is something that I hold very dear to my heart, and I have been a proud ambassador for many years, and I look forward to contributing to the board moving forward. Let me take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself. I am a six-time Olympic medalist, a four-time world champion. I am the current world record holder in the heptathlon, and the current American record holder in the long jump. My athletic accomplishments are something that I hold very dear, but my life is defined by advocacy and the work around children's education and development, health issue, racial equality, and social reform, and women's rights.
I established the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation in 1988 to provide families in East St. Louis area with resources to improve their quality of life. We provide a safe place to play and learn, help with schoolwork to accelerate in the classroom, hot meals, and quality adult leadership so that our youth have the best chance of succeeding in life. Two words that I live by are respect and accountability. These are very important to me because I respect myself as well as others. I am accountable for my action. As a leader and a role model, I want to show that empathy and compassion for the things that I strongly believe in. My contribution to the adidas Supervisory Board will be my humility, business acumen, and leadership abilities. Thank you very much for this selection. I am extremely excited to contribute, and I look forward to meet you all soon.
Thank you, Jackie. As already announced, I would now like to turn to agenda item six, resolution on the approval of the Executive Board Compensation System developed by the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board comprehensively revised and approved the system for the compensation of Executive Board members in keeping with the new long-term strategy, Own the Game. The new compensation system incorporates any insights gained from our in-depth dialogue with our shareholders, as well as the change requirements of the German Stock Corporation Act and the German Corporate Governance Code. It was the goal of the Supervisory Board to make sure the compensation system promotes the implementation of the new long-term strategy, including the sustainability targets that we deem important. We followed a strong pay-for-performance approach and long-term orientation with a strong focus on shareholder interests.
Finally, it was important to us to make the compensation system intuitive, transparent, and easy to understand. Let me briefly highlight the main changes in the new compensation system. First, we significantly increased the transparency of the executive board members' targets. We introduced a maximum compensation for each executive board member, increased the share of the variable compensation in relation to the fixed compensation, and extended the term of the long-term variable compensation. In addition, and in line with our strategic sustainability focus, we added an ESG, that is environmental, social, and governance target, to the long-term compensation component. At the same time, we adapted the executive board compensation system to reflect the most recent corporate governance requirements. For instance, we introduced customary market conditions for share lock-up periods and so-called malus and clawback mechanisms for both the short and long-term variable compensation.
Finally, we completely eliminated the possibility to grant a special bonus, a follow-up bonus, and a severance payment in connection with a change of control. For further details on the compensation system, please refer to the invitation to this meeting and my message to the shareholders, which was published in the run-up to this AGM and is still available on the company's website. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to use this opportunity to express the special thanks of the supervisory board, and I am sure I can also speak for the shareholders here, to the executive board and all adidas employees for their great commitment in what continues to be a very challenging time.
Your motivation, your resolve to stand together, your willingness to embrace change, and your stamina are a vital element in the success of adidas weathering the COVID-19 pandemic and its profound impacts on health, society, and the economy. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to now turn to the responses to the questions on all agenda items. As stated in the notice of meeting, you, the shareholders, had the opportunity to submit questions until 10th May, midnight. Many of you have done so. Thank you. The company has duly received a total of 104 questions, which the executive and supervisory boards will now respond to. We will first address the questions submitted by shareholder associations. After that, we will answer the questions asked by our institutional investors, Deka, Union Investment, and DWS. All the other questions shall be dealt with grouped by topic.
Questions covering the same content have been merged. I will now hand over the floor to Ms. Claudia Lange, Head of adidas External Communication, who will take us through the questions and answers.
Thank you very much, Thomas. Thank you for your numerous questions which have reached us via the shareholder portal. Within the three blocks of questions that Thomas Rabe has outlined, shareholder associations, institutional investors, and other questions, we shall deal with the questions chronologically. That is, we will start with the questions or catalogs of questions that have reached us via the shareholder portal. Questions covering the same topic shall be grouped together. Let us start with the questions handed in by the representatives of retail investors, specifically the set of questions submitted by Ms. Daniela Bergdolt on behalf of the DSW, German Association of Retail Investors.
Ms. Bergdolt starts with a few questions relating to our new strategy, which I would ask you, Kasper, to answer now. Ms. Bergdolt would like to know whether the 2025 growth targets are to be achieved through organic growth or through acquisitions. Are you planning to discontinue certain product areas or sell parts of the portfolio?
Our strategic focus categories will account for over 95% of our growth by the year 2025. Along lifestyle, we will concentrate on the most important sport categories, football, training, running, and outdoor. Football is the most important sport with regard to spectator numbers. Running, training, and outdoor, on the other hand, have the highest participation rates. In addition, we will remain active in other sports, which underpin our credibility as a sports brand, like tennis or American football. At the same time, we will withdraw from individual categories that neither support our brand credibility nor our growth targets. Significant acquisitions do not form part of our strategy.
Thank you. The next question is also for you, Kasper. Ms. Bergdolt asks, you also intend to achieve your ambitious 2025 revenue and profit targets through effective cost management. What do you mean by that?
I have mentioned it in my remarks earlier. Own the Game is a growth and investment strategy. We invest in order to grow, but we will continue to strictly prioritize our spending and invest mostly in our strategic focus areas. This rigorous prioritization will enable us to increase our marketing spend by approximately EUR 1 billion by the year 2025. At the same time, total operating expenditure as a percentage of sales will grow relatively moderately.
Thank you. Next question is also for you, Kasper. Ms. Bergdolt would like to know when the new sportswear line will come out, that is, to support the lifestyle category.
As I've already explained in my speech, we will continue to optimize our brand architecture and introduce a new product category, sportswear, in the lifestyle segment next year. This will support us in addressing the athleisure trend, that is, the trend towards athletically inspired casual wear. The products in this category are rooted in sports but are worn for lifestyle purposes. Thus, we will achieve a clearer differentiation from sport performance products while strengthening the position of adidas Originals in the premium segment. A special logo and numerous marketing activities are to guarantee that our consumer concept becomes clear. From 2021- 2025, sportswear will make a significant contribution of 8%-10% on average to our planned annual top-line growth.
Thank you, Kasper. Now I have some more questions from Ms. Bergdolt for you, Harm. The first one concerns our outlook for the current financial year. Ms. Bergdolt would like to know what will happen to the 2021 forecast should interest rate trends strengthen the US dollar.
We are extremely confident about 2021. Currency fluctuations are part of our daily business and are reflected in our outlook. In Q1, we experienced some currency headwinds, both with regard to revenues and gross margin development. However, this has not kept us from starting the year even better than expected.
Thank you. Next question also to you, Harm. Ms. Bergdolt addresses the issue of sustainability. She'd like to know if the margins generated with sustainably produced products can be just as attractive as the margins generated with conventional products.
Already, six out of 10 articles are made of sustainable materials. By 2025, this ratio will have risen to nine out of 10. We're planning to use only recycled polyester in our products as early as 2024. The scale-up of sustainable materials and products is thus already in full swing, and we do know how to mitigate the high production costs usually associated with this kind of innovation, as you can see from the expected increase in gross margin over the next few years.
Ms. Bergdolt would also like to know whether adidas has still got employees on short-time working.
As mentioned before, the company and its employees managed to weather this crisis safely. We did not cut any jobs because of COVID-19. In Germany, we concluded a working time reduction agreement last year for our retail business and our sites in Scheinfeld and Uffenheim. For a couple of months, this agreement included paid leave, the use of accumulated overtime, and short-time working. In accordance with the collective agreement, adidas raised the net salary of the affected employees to at least 80%. In this context, we received EUR 1 million in reimbursement for short-time working payments and social welfare contributions. The ongoing lockdown in Germany prompted us to once more offer short-time working in 2021, with the payments being topped up by adidas. These circumstances were reflected in all our entrepreneurial decisions.
Thank you. Next question to you, Harm, with regard to Reebok, Ms. Bergdolt asked whether the divestment will be concluded this year. She also wants to know whether she's right in saying that a sale in 2021 will have a EUR 2 million negative impact on adidas' results, and she also wants to know what the Reebok acquisition has meant for adidas financially from beginning to end.
Going forward, our focus will be on further strengthening the leading position of the adidas brand in the global sporting goods market. As a result of this decision, we resolved to divest Reebok, and this process is making good progress. There is strong interest in Reebok, and we expect to close the transaction before the end of the year. We can only look at the full impact of the Reebok acquisition once we know the details of the divestment transaction.
As far as its current performance is concerned, Reebok did well in Q1 with double-digit revenue growth driven by a strong order book. Since we're already in the process of establishing Reebok as a standalone company, some of the shared capacities and resources, including the related costs, are going to remain with adidas for the time being until they can be eliminated sometime over the next couple of years. In 2021, we expect these stranded costs to be around EUR 250 million at the operating profit level. However, this does not impact our medium-term forecasts. By 2023, these costs will have been completely eliminated. The underlying structures will either be used to drive our own growth momentum or will pass on most of these costs or will reduce them proactively. Overall, we operate in an attractive industry, which, by its very nature, experiences a lot of competitive pressure.
For decades, we've been successful in this industry. Given the strength of the adidas brand and its planned expansion going forward, we are very confident of gaining market share by 2025.
Thank you. Next, two e-com related questions for you, Kasper. Why is it that despite a growth rate of 53%, e-com was unable to offset the 2020 revenue shortfall in your retail stores? What can you do to once more double e-com revenues in the period up to 2025?
To double our e-com revenues by 2025, we're going to make further improvements to our online platform, adidas.com, and to the adidas app. In this context, our membership program plays a central role.
We want to take this program to the next level and have around 500 million members by 2025 because we know that members buy more often, buy more in terms of volume, and they buy more premium products. To us, e-com logistics is a core competency in which we're making continuous investments. As a result, we have an excellent infrastructure in place that allowed us to ramp up our 2020 e-com business to well above €4 billion. Although our e-com business grew substantially, and although we have this infrastructure in place, it was impossible for e-com to fully offset the retail revenue shortfall due to sudden far-reaching and long-lasting store closures around the world.
Thank you. Next question also to you. Looking back at the past financial year, Ms. Bergdolt is wondering why adidas was so hard hit by the pandemic and why apparently it lost some of its popularity last year. As a follow-up question, she'd like to know what adidas is doing to make sure its products resonate with customers going forward.
We postponed a number of product launches, especially in the first half of 2020, so that we can launch these innovations under more favorable conditions. Our focus was on healthy inventory levels, profitable sell-throughs, and disciplined deliveries to our wholesale partners, and these measures paid off. Thanks to our disciplined approach, price reductions clearly decreased in the course of the year, as did our inventory levels. This allowed us to launch numerous innovations as early as the second half of last year. In the first quarter, we've seen how well our products resonate with consumers. We therefore increased our guidance for the full year and are convinced that our consumer-focused strategy, Own the Game, is going to score above average successes in the years to come.
Thank you. Next question also to you, Kasper. Last but not least, just like other shareholders, Ms. Bergdolt is interested in the situation in China. She's asking whether we are currently experiencing a decline in sales in China.
Due to existing challenges, the traffic in our Chinese stores dropped significantly in late March. Over the past few weeks, we've seen a continuous improvement. We expect that this positive trend will continue. For the full year, we expect strong growth in China. Even beyond 2021, China will be a fast-growing market and one of our long-term growth drivers.
Thank you, Ms. Bergdolt, for the questions you submitted on behalf of DSW. We will now come to the questions submitted by Mr. Gerhard Jager for the Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger, SDK. Please note that questions concerning e-commerce, Own the Game, Sportswear and Reebok were covered in Kasper's speech as well as in the previous answers and will not be discussed again. Let us start with a question for you, Kasper, concerning digital transformation. The entire company is to become more digital. What are the focus areas here in terms of investments?
Until 2025, we will invest in more than EUR 1 billion of the digital transformation of the company. Core processes across the entire value chain will be digitalized, from the creation process in 3D, by the entire supply chain, to selling our products to consumers and customers. We will expand our in-house data and tech expertise and increase the size of our tech team. This year alone, we will hire more than 1,000 new employees for this area. The company is also investing in the new ERP system, S/4HANA.
Thank you. Mr. Jager would also like to know which measures will be taken to increase the women's business over proportionately. How high is the current share of women's products in terms of total sales?
We will implement a cross-category plan for the development of first-class products for women. With our membership program, we will offer our female consumers even better experiences. Our goal is to grow currency-neutral net sales for our women's business at a mid-teens rate until 2025, and thereby significantly increase women's share of total business, which is today at 4%.
Thank you very much. A question concerning our business in North America, also for you, Kasper. What is the company doing to increase sales in North America in order to catch up with the industry leader?
We are very pleased with our progress in North America since our business there has more than doubled between 2015 and 2019. We significantly gained market share over the past years. At the same time, there is still high growth potential. We therefore made North America one of our three 2025 strategic markets. We are applying a tailor-made approach, acting on local trends in order to maintain our success in the region and gain further market share by investing in our key cities, which are Los Angeles and New York. In order to further strengthen our brand credibility in North America, we are involved in sports that are relevant in the U.S.,.
We signed some of the most recognized players from the US American Football and Basketball leagues, such as Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Trevor Lawrence or James Harden. Our partnerships with Jerry Lorenzo, founder of the American luxury streetwear label Fear of God, will help us to make great strides in basketball. There are currently no plans of signing a new sponsoring contract with the NBA.
Thank you. Two questions relating to production innovation, also for you, Kasper. What's adidas planning to do to pioneer in innovation again? Which new innovations and products will be launched to increase sales?
In the years to come, we are going to strengthen our innovation mindset across all categories to enable groundbreaking innovations as we did in the past with Parley for the Oceans or the Boost technology. We have a well-filled innovation pipeline. I touched upon a couple of examples in my speech, such as the adidas Adizero Adios Pro or the 4DFWD or the fully sustainable Stan Smith franchise.
Thank you. Next question from Mr. Jager. What will adidas do to support its physical customers as a reliable partner?
DTC, comprising both our e-commerce business as well as physical spaces, is projected to account for around half of the company's total net sales by 2025. On top of that, we will build on our strong relations to our handpicked wholesale partners to create holistic consumer experiences no matter where they want to shop. Especially in our strategic categories, we want to cooperate more closely with specialist retail partners. We are already in close exchange. We believe in specialized retailers and want to continue our success story together.
Thank you, Kasper. Mr. Jager also has some question I would like to put to you, Harm. Are there any concrete plans as to when and to which amount share buybacks will be resumed?
Based on our growth in sales and profitability, we plan to generate a significant cumulative free cash flow before 2025. A large part of this, between EUR 8 billion-EUR 9 billion, will be paid out to our shareholders in the form of annual dividends to the tunes of 30%-50% of net income from continuing operations and share buybacks. The decision regarding share buybacks is mainly determined by the business outlook and liquidity. The exact starting point of the buybacks has not yet been decided on, but we will inform you promptly.
Thank you. One last question for you, Harm. What is adidas doing to make it back into the Dow Jones Sustainability Index?
Sustainability has top priority at adidas in all areas. The clear focus on this topic in our new strategy makes that very clear. Our 2020 rating in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index was stable in comparison to the previous year. We are still leaders in the sporting goods industry. In the areas brand management, supply chain management, reporting on environmental and social matters, eco-efficiency, and duty of diligence, we again achieved very high ratings and asserted our leading position. Compared to the previous year, there have been changes in the weighting of the evaluation standards, which had an impact on the overall result and our ranking in particular. We carefully analyzed last year's result and the further development of the evaluation criteria and continually work to improve our rating.
The topic was also discussed in the Supervisory Board, and the Supervisory Board supports the efforts made by the Executive Board in this regard. On the whole, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index is a relevant benchmark among various standards which we focus on when evaluating our performance in the area of sustainability. In the 2020 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, for instance, we were able to affirm our positioning as industry leaders and took fourth place in the overall ranking of all industries. This benchmark evaluates the company's performances in assuming their human rights responsibilities. This assessment also reflects the extensive risk management in our supply chain. We want to make sure that all suppliers produce in a social and environmentally friendly way.
Among other things, we use data provided by governments, regular exchange with organizations from civil society, trade unions, and employers associations, as well as the direct dialogue with our people. We create country and factory profiles that show which problem areas need to be prioritized and in which intervals controls and risk mitigation activities need to take place. Strict requirements for potential new suppliers ensure that we do not work together with manufacturers where working conditions are poor.
The last question also goes to you, Harm. Mr. Jager focuses on his last question on investments. To which scale and in which areas have investments been planned for 2021?
We expect capital expenditures to increase to EUR 700 million by 2021. Investments in our own stores as well as in the digital transformation of the company, including e-commerce, will account for the majority of capital expenditures.
Thank you and t hanks, Mr. Jager, for your questions. As announced before, following the questions raised by retail shareholder representatives, we're now moving on to the questions posed by other institutional investors with Ms. Cornelia Zimmermann of Deka Investment going first. Before we move on to her questions, let me point out that some of the questions asked by Ms. Zimmermann on sustainability, the supply chain in Reebok, have already been addressed either in Kasper's speech or in previous answers. Question to you, Kasper. In her first question, Ms. Zimmermann is asking why some experienced employees have left the company and if cost-cutting measures are making it less attractive to work for adidas.
The 2020 attrition rate among senior executives was below the general attrition rate experienced by the company and below the industry average. Furthermore, it wasn't any higher than the year before. As mentioned in my speech, we just invested EUR 500 million to create a unique work environment at our most important locations. In both global and national employer rankings, adidas regularly finishes among the top players. For example, we finished third in the 2021 LinkedIn Top Companies ranking. Furthermore, the results of the employee survey conducted in late 2020 were very positive.
Thank you. Next question also to you. Ms. Zimmermann would like to know, how do you strengthen team spirit, and how do you address individual requirements?
We work very closely with our senior executives. The full executive board meets with the most senior managers at least once a month, and in addition, I have personal meetings with all senior managers on a regular basis.
Thank you. Next question. Do you have enough time to talk to your senior managers, and do you provide sufficient leeway for creative people? Kasper?
Yes, I meet with all senior managers on a regular basis. The promotion of creativity is, in fact, a central part of the management culture we defined for ourselves in 2017 and which is summarized by the three Cs: collaboration, confidence and creativity.
Thank you. Moving on. Another question for you by Ms. Zimmermann. What innovations are you planning to launch in running, team sports and lifestyle?
In my speech and previous answers, I've already highlighted various product innovations and also described our plans for the new sportswear category in lifestyle. In team sports, we're going to increase our presence, especially in football. To this end, we've extended our contract with the UEFA Champions League and also secured the UEFA women's contract. At the same time, we're opening up completely new paths in football. For instance, with our Football Collective. Here, we've already equipped 10,000 amateur teams free of charge and will continue to roll out this program.
Thanks, Kasper. A couple of questions for you, Harm. Concerning the company's goal to be carbon neutral by 2050, Ms. Zimmermann would like to know if suppliers will be fully integrated in the climate targets and to what extent the company can actually get its suppliers to support its climate targets.
As one of the signatories to the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, adidas is aiming to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions and those of its suppliers by 30% against 2017 between now and 2030, and to strive for carbon neutrality by 2050. These targets are in line with the 1.5 degree target laid down in the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, we joined the Science Based Targets initiative in 2020 and successfully received confirmation of our targets in March of this year. For quite a while now, we've been driving comprehensive programs and measures that contribute to a reduction of CO2 emissions at our own locations and in our supply chain. For instance, in 2020, we were able to reduce aggregate net emissions at our own locations by more than half against 2015.
Key areas of focus in our supply chain include further improvements in energy efficiency, wider use of solar energy, better access to renewable sources of energy in the manufacturing countries, and the decommissioning of coal-fired boiler systems. In addition, we increasingly use resource-optimized materials such as recycled polyester and promote the development and use of water and energy-saving dyeing processes.
Thanks, Harm. Next question also for you. In view of new requirements in the United States, Ms. Zimmermann would like to know how adidas checks the origin of its cotton and what methods and technologies the company uses to this end.
Adidas complies with all national and international export regulations, import and export, of course, without exception and irrespective of the type of material or product. This is standard procedure of our holistic supply chain and procurement management systems, and also applies to the U.S. market. We use various internal and external IT-based tracking systems to trace back materials to their origins. We keep a very close eye on any new technologies and methods that support the traceability of materials and might make the existing methods even more efficient.
Thank you. The last questions raised by Deka are addressed to you, Thomas. Ms. Zimmermann would like to know if, given his Supervisory Board activities, Mr. Rørsted actually has enough time for his management tasks at adidas. She'd like to know if you're talking to board members to reduce over-boarding in the Supervisory and Executive Boards.
Last year, the Supervisory Board had an in-depth discussion on a potential Supervisory Board mandate for Mr. Rørsted at Siemens. Mr. Rørsted assured the Supervisory Board that he would have enough time for his management tasks at adidas, even if he were to take on a second Supervisory Board mandate.
In the past, Mr. Rørsted, in fact, already had two supervisory board mandates in addition to his job at adidas. In the opinion of the supervisory board, there is therefore no reason to worry that Mr. Rørsted might not have enough time for his role as adidas CEO. The members of the supervisory board who hold other supervisory board mandates in addition to the supervisory board mandate at adidas have also assured the supervisory board that they have enough time for their mandates. This is, in fact, confirmed by last year's very high attendance rate, a year that saw an exceptionally high number of supervisory board meetings due to the pandemic. From the supervisory board's perspective, insights into and management expertise in other companies can make an important contribution when it comes to managing and overseeing adidas.
It is this experience, in particular, that currently helps us to navigate adidas through the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. To conclude, I can assure you that the supervisory board has regular discussions on the important topic of the availability of executive and supervisory board members.
Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Zimmermann, for asking questions on behalf of Deka. Moving on to Union Investment. The questions were submitted by Dr. Vanda Rothacker. Some of those questions have, in fact, also already been answered. They refer to sportswear, Reebok, and sustainable products. First, two questions for you, Kasper. They are as follows: What are you doing specifically to promote diversity? What specifically are you planning to do going forward?
In my speech, I already made it clear that for us, and for me personally, the number one priority is to make adidas even more diverse and inclusive, and that's exactly what we're doing. I informed you in detail about the measures we're taking at last year's AGM in August, and today I reported about the progress we've made so far. We'll continue to inform you regularly and transparently about the future progress. I'm convinced that we've drawn the right conclusions and initiated the right measures. We'll implement them consistently and on an ongoing basis.
Thank you. Next question also for you, Kasper. Question concerning our marketing spend. How do you ensure that the increase in the marketing budget does not come at the expense of investments in sustainable products?
The planned increase in our marketing budget of around EUR 1 billion by 2025 is not going to slow down our sustainability initiatives. On the contrary. In my speech, I already pointed out that we're going to inform our consumers about our sustainable product offering more than ever before. In our view, that's definitely a competitive advantage.
Thanks, Kasper. One final question by Union Investment for you, Thomas. When will the shareholder representatives on the supervisory board also be composed of at least 30% women?
Well, I'm happy to report that should Jackie Joyner-Kersee be elected, the percentage of female supervisory board members on the shareholder side will be almost 40%.
Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Rothacker, for the question submitted by Union Investment. Let's now move on to the question submitted by Mr. Hendrik Schmidt on behalf of DWS Investment. Before we start, please note that questions related to sportswear, share buybacks, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the Science Based Targets initiative, North America, as well as Reebok, have already been addressed in full detail. We stay with you, Thomas, since the first questions regard the supervisory board. Herr Schmidt would like to know which role the steering committee has in the company and in what way its meetings are usually prepared. He also would like to know if merging the steering committee with the general committee would be reasonable.
The steering committee is made up of three members, the chair of the supervisory board, and his two deputies.
The steering committee can take decisions on urgent matters on behalf of the supervisory board. The general committee has equal representation in terms of employees and prepares decisions for the supervisory board concerning the appointment of board members, their service contracts, and all compensation-related matters. There were no steering committee meetings at adidas over the past year, so that no preparation was needed. Even though there is a high number of people representing both bodies, that can be useful in urgent situations that a decision be taken by the steering committee rather than the entire supervisory board. There are no changes planned at this point.
Thank you. Mr. Schmidt also asked which supervisory board committee is responsible for sustainability and which skills the individual supervisory board members represent.
Sustainability is an integral part of our strategy, Own the Game.
Therefore, the entire supervisory board works on this topic on a regular basis. Above that, our audit committee is responsible for sustainability as far as questions are concerned that are in the remit of the committee, which would be, in particular, financial and non-financial reporting. Concerning the skills of the supervisory board members, let me say the following. The supervisory board is of the opinion that it has all the skills necessary regarding the business activities of adidas. We decided upon these skills together with the targets concerning the composition of the supervisory board and published them on our website. I am also pleased that we have Jackie Joyner-Kersee as candidate to the supervisory board, who will add greatly to the skills represented on the supervisory board. I hope you understand that we cannot report here in detail on individual skills and competencies.
Thank you. Next, Mr. Schmidt has a question on the ESG component in the new compensation system. What is the basis of the growth rate of eight percentage points in the share of sustainable products? How high is this base value at the moment?
Well, the basis for calculating the growth rate is the share of sustainable articles we offer that is at the so-called point of sale. Kasper said it in his speech. Today, six out of 10 adidas articles are sustainable. By 2025, we want to be at nine out of 10 articles. This increase in the next five years is significantly higher than the eight percentage points you mentioned. That value merely represents the increase we are aiming for in 2021.
Thank you. This brings us to the last question for you in this block, Thomas, which is, how many questions did you receive for today's AGM? How many will you answer? What are the criteria for those answers?
We received 104 questions. We answer all of them, provided this does not lead to a significant disadvantage for the company or any organization related to it. In the run-up to the AGM, certain questions were combined to prevent double answers and to provide a good structure in the interest of our shareholders.
Thank you, Thomas. The following question from Mr. Schmidt are for you, Harm. First, on to sustainability and supply chains. Which criteria will adidas apply when evaluating its more than 520 suppliers according to social KPIs?
We regularly evaluate if suppliers provide fair, healthy and environmentally friendly working conditions. To this end, audits with and without announcement are conducted by our employees or recognized external auditors. In the future, we will focus even more on efficient management systems and responsibility on the part of the suppliers regarding safety and employee satisfaction.
Thank you, Harm. How many of these 520 production sites will be audited within the first 24 months, and in which interval will these audits take place? In what way does the supervisory board assess the results?
As a rule, all production sites in high-risk countries are included in the audits, which means that an audit takes place once a year. There are longer intervals for suppliers with a very high compliance level or manufacturers in low-risk countries. Results from due diligence and scrutiny measures in our supply chain, as well as information on relevant developments in the sourcing countries, are regularly and directly communicated to global operations, the general counsel, as well as the sourcing management department. In our supervisory board meetings, we regularly address both progress and targets set out in our sustainability program. These meetings also include discussions on the results of sustainability assessments.
Thank you. We stay with you, Harm. Moving on to financial matters. Mr. Schmidt would like to know our assessment of the 2020 dividend of EUR 3 per share and which dividends we expect to see in the coming three years. He also wonders which ideas lie behind the proposed capital to the AGM and what that capital will be used for.
The proposed dividend for 2020 reflects the stronger financial situation of the company, as well as our positive outlook for 2021. In the coming years, we expect to be able to pay out a dividend that is 30%-50% of income from continuing operations as it was the case in the past. Executive board and supervisory board have proposed the approval to issue an authorized capital as it is stipulated in our articles of association. This is merely an anticipatory resolution. We have no definite intention to increase the company's capital by making use of these authorizations.
Thank you, Harm. Mr. Schmidt has one final question for you, Kasper. How could you achieve longer life cycles for successful product families, and how can product returns be reduced following a high level of distribution?
For important product families, we have so-called franchise life cycle plans, according to which we do our volume planning. Proactively managed returns are an important part of life cycles since it prevents oversaturation and maximizes the long-term value of the product family.
We have received a few questions that have already been addressed in depth in Kasper's speech and our answers so far. These were questions on North America, China, Reebok, and short-time work. We shall not repeat the answers to these questions. We have combined all related questions on the topics of supply chains, procurement, emissions, and external communication. Let us first take a look back on 2020, Kasper. What have you done to readjust the public opinion following the announcement to partially defer rent payments during the COVID-19 pandemic? From the point of view of the executive board, has this process come to a close? Has this led to an adjustment of internal processes?
I already commented on this question in detail at our AGM last August. Please allow me to be relatively brief today. The COVID pandemic presented us and many other companies with unprecedented challenges.
Our first priority was to protect the health of our employees, it was also a question of getting the company through this crisis unharmed. We succeeded in doing both, many of our measures were necessary and correct, some were not. The aforementioned rent deferral decision was quickly revised and we apologized. Similarly, we responded to comments we received from our shareholders and customers. As a result, our image quickly and fully recovered in the summer of last year. In mid-2020, adidas was picked as Germany's most popular sneaker brand, the trend continued. I mentioned in my remarks that Time included us in their list of the top 100 companies worldwide. In RepTrak's ranking of companies with the best global reputation, we take the seventh place, in employer rankings, adidas regularly takes top positions. All of this shows that the majority of our decisions are approved by the public.
Thank you. The next question is also for you, Kasper. A general question relating to our industry and the consequences of the pandemic. What changes in trading structures has adidas observed as a consequence of COVID-19, and what impact did they have on the most important markets?
In 2020, our e-com sales saw an extremely dynamic development globally, with a currency neutral increase of 53%. Across the different regions, e-commerce is a highly profitable sales channel for us, offering a margin above that of the company as a whole. We are convinced that besides e-commerce, numerous other structural drivers of the sporting goods industry, which I addressed in my remarks earlier, were accelerated by the pandemic.
Thank you. Now we have a few more questions on the online business for you, Kasper. What is the share of your e-com business in total revenues and what are these e-commerce sales made up of?
In 2020, e-commerce sales generated significantly more than EUR 4 billion and thus accounted for over 20% of our total revenues. These were revenues generated through our own online store and our apps. What is more, an increasing share of our wholesale revenues is created online through the webshops of our partners like Zalando or JD Sports.
Thank you. One more question for you, Kasper. What was the share of online advertising in total advertising spend in 2020? What are these expenses composed of?
Most campaigns that shine a spotlight on our products and brand ambassadors happen online. In our online spending, we focus on those social media and channels that are most suited to reaching our customers.
Thank you. Let us now come to another set of questions for you, Harm. First, a few questions relating to HR and the workplace. What are the characteristics of the HR strategy that you're planning to pursue in the coming years?
Our Own the Game strategy puts the consumer at the heart of everything we do and is brought to life by our people. In order to implement our five-year strategy successfully, we will invest consistently in our employees. We will make sure to possess the required skills to make use of strategic opportunities. To do that, we will win, develop and maintain talents for the company. In addition, we will ensure equal opportunities for all our people as part of our endeavor to become an even more inclusive and diverse company. Besides, we will make use of our unique work environment to promote having a sense of community among our people and to unite them behind our purpose.
How many people work at the adidas headquarters in Herzogenaurach? How are employees distributed globally across corporate functions and regions?
In Herzogenaurach, we have a workforce of approximately 5,300. As of December 31st, 2020, our global workforce was split up as follows: own retail 58%, logistics 14%, marketing 10%, central administration 8%, sales 6%, research and development 2%, IT 2%, and production 1%. By region, people are distributed as follows: EMEA 30%, Asia-Pacific 26%, North America 15%, Latin America 7%, and global corporate functions 23%.
Thank you. Another question for you, Harm. Will adidas continue to show a strong presence in Herzogenaurach and support the location with more environmentally friendly alternatives to individual car transport?
It is our goal to continue making the world of sports, our company headquarters in Herzogenaurach, more sustainable. Most buildings on our campus have been developed according to the most demanding sustainability standards. In order to make employee mobility more environmently friendly, we generally welcome infrastructure solutions by the municipalities. In addition, we already use private bus lines and encourage our employees to switch to cycling.
One more question for you, Harm. The final question in this context, why does adidas refuse to grant the competent trade union digital access rights to the company's workforce?
As these proceedings are pending, we ask for your understanding that we can only comment to a limited extent. It goes without saying that we comply with the constitutional access rights of the IG BCE, recognizing case law so far. With the pandemic in mind, we have also put forward some digital offers, such as participation in virtual staff events. IG BCE presents itself on the works council's internet site, including a permanent link and thus direct access to its website. These types of digital access were deemed insufficient by the trade union. We do not believe that it is admissible under data protection law to hand over all personalized email addresses of our employees, regardless whether they are trade union members or not, as requested by the IG BCE, alongside other comparable measures.
Thank you. We continue with a question to you, Harm. We will now return to the topic of sustainability, or more precisely, emissions. One question reads: By how much did adidas lower its CO₂ emissions in 2020 against 1990 and 2001, respectively?
We are implementing comprehensive programs and measures that contribute to reducing CO₂ emissions at our own sites and within our supply chain. As already mentioned, at our own sites, we were able to cut aggregate combined net emissions in 2020 by more than half against 2015. Our strategic suppliers were able to reduce energy consumption by 23% since 2014.
Thank you. A follow-up question to you again, Harm. What other measures is adidas planning to implement in the coming decade to lower CO₂ emissions? Are you exploring ways to make your climate targets more ambitious with regard to Scope 3?
I have already commented on this when we dealt with Ms. Zimmermann's question on our climate targets. Let me just add that our targets and measures to reduce greenhouse gases are in line with the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Agreement. As mentioned, they have been confirmed by the Science-Based Targets initiative.
Thank you, Harm. The next question is for you, Kasper. It is on our strategy for 2025. Which categories does the Executive Board consider as growth areas?
The company has a clear definition of growth areas. As mentioned already, by 2025 over 95% of top line growth should be generated by the 5 strategically most important product categories of football, running, training, outdoor, and lifestyle. Direct consumer is to generate over 80% of top line growth by 2025. As far as the different markets are concerned, the company will mainly grow in China, EMEA, and North America. These 3 markets are to contribute some 90% of top line growth.
Thank you. We continue with a question for you, Kasper. Next, we have a question on upcoming sporting events. Considering the current circumstances, do you expect a positive top-line effect coming from major sport events like the Euro and the Olympic Games?
We are very happy that sport events can once again take place in front of at least partially filled stands. As a partner and supplier, we are using the global awareness at these events to shine a spotlight on our brand and our products. In terms of revenue and because of the diversification of our business, these individual events should, on the other hand, not be overestimated in the course of an entire financial year.
Thank you. We continue with questions on the theme of partnerships for you, Kasper. Are you planning to continue your cooperation with the LEGO brand? Are we going to see a larger collection of products from this cooperation, including products for adults?
It is true that we are indeed very successful with our cooperations generally, and with LEGO in particular. At the beginning of this month, we have launched the ZX 8000 LEGO as a limited edition, and more such products will follow, both for adults and children.
Thank you. One more question for you, Kasper. Are you seeking out partnerships with teams in the ELF, the European League of Football?
We continue to build our partner and athlete portfolio in American football and have just concluded a contract with the number one draft pick of the NFL, Trevor Lawrence. For the time being, we're not planning any sponsoring activities with the ELF.
Thank you. What is the current status regarding sponsorship in the e-sports sector?
We have been active in e-sports for quite a while and will continue to be in the future. Our activities include the sponsorship of leading teams and close cooperation with game developers. Since 2019, we've also had a partnership with Ninja, one of the most high-profile e-sports players of the world, who acts as our brand ambassador and with whom we market jointly develop products.
This leads us to the last question on partnerships and the very last question for you, Kasper. Why doesn't adidas try to enter into a cooperation with the Fashion Design Institut in Düsseldorf?
Through our HR strategy, we already make sure to win, develop, and maintain the skills and talents necessary for our future corporate success.
Thank you. Let us now return to supply chain issues. Harm, a question for you. How do you ensure that your products are manufactured under fair conditions?
Adidas is committed to its corporate social responsibility with regard to the protection of human rights and is subscribed to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights from the very start. At the core of our activities to protect human and labor rights is our commitment to fair, safe, and environmentally sound working conditions and fair wages in the production companies throughout our supply chain. This is why we have developed our adidas workplace standards. They prohibit all forms of forced and prison labor and apply globally to all companies in the supply chain. To monitor compliance, adidas employs a team of 50 experts globally, working towards the application of more sustainable business practices throughout our supply chain. Our action and successes are recognized.
In 2020, adidas participated once again in the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, analyzing and evaluating comprehensively to what degree companies implement human rights due diligence. We were able to confirm our leading position in our industry in 2020, ranking fourth in the overall ranking across all industries assessed.
Thank you, and the next question is also for you, Harm. In this context, we were also asked how we support our supply chain at times of crisis, like a global pandemic, and whether we are aware of any cases of wage loss in production facilities.
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, adidas took action to mitigate the effects of the crisis on the workforce along the company's global supply chain, among them guidelines on the control of infectious diseases and occupational safety and workers' welfare. We helped suppliers to secure financial support from banks in order to weather the COVID-19 crisis.
By safeguarding business continuity and a functioning supply chain, the company saved many workers from losing their jobs. In addition, the great majority of supplier factories were able to keep their workforce, albeit with reduced hours due to lockdowns or suspension of work. adidas has worked to ensure ongoing compliance with all legal requirements regarding compensation and benefits for all workers. Where production facilities had to cut jobs, we ensured that redundant workers received their full statutory severance pay and other benefits to which they were entitled.
Thank you, and we continue with you, Harm. Next, we were asked to elaborate on our position regarding the German Supply Chain Act.
For over 20 years, adidas has followed a comprehensive program to maintain human rights due diligence within its supply chain and mostly complies with the elements of the German draft bill. We generally support harmonized standards in the monitoring of supply chains because they create a level playing field and help to raise and align working and environmental conditions in supply chains across different sectors. Having said that, such standards should at least be created at European level and should, as far as possible, be based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD guidelines.
We continue with you, Harm. Finally, a few questions regarding geographical aspects of our supply chain. Why are most of the products produced in Asia? Where does adidas procure raw materials for production like cotton or leather?
Over the past few decades, Asia has built up comprehensive expertise in the area of manufacturing sports shoes and apparel. Local manufacturers invested in innovative and efficient manufacturing capacities and technologies. Many innovative material manufacturers today operate from Asia and are part of efficient procurement networks. We value long-term relationships. 61% of our independent manufacturers have worked with us for at least 10 years, and 30% for more than 20 years. Our suppliers primarily source cotton from the following countries, India, the U.S., Pakistan, and China. Leather is primarily sourced from Argentina, the U.S., Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Japan.
Thank you. The last question for you, Harm: Where does adidas procure the material to recycle polyester, nylon, and polystyrene? How and where are these materials recycled?
Most of the recycled polyester comes from Taiwan and Korea and is produced from recycled PET bottles. Parley Ocean Plastic materials, which are also processed into recycled polyester, come from the Philippines, the Maldives, and the Dominican Republic.
Thank you, Harm and Kasper. Thank you, Thomas. This brings us to the end of the Q&A session. Over to you, Thomas.
Thanks, Claudia. Thanks, Kasper and Harm. This concludes the Q&A session. I'd like to thank our shareholders for their numerous questions and the executive board for its detailed and in-depth answers. I'll now walk you through the agenda and make a few remarks before we proceed to the voting and the counting of the votes. Please bear in mind that you can only vote, appoint proxies, or give voting instructions via the shareholder portal until the counting of the votes begins. The same applies to changing or revoking any votes you've already cast, proxies appointed, or instructions given.
Today's AGM is going to vote on the resolutions proposed by the executive and supervisory boards under agenda items two to four and seven to 13, respectively, and on the resolutions proposed by the supervisory board only under agenda items five, six, and 14 as published in the German Federal Gazette on the 25th of March 2021. You'll also see these agenda items on your screens. The wording of the proposed resolutions was published in the notice of meeting and is available on the company's website. I'll therefore refrain from rereading the resolutions at this point. Regarding agenda item two, the company received a counter motion calling for the rejection of the resolution on the appropriation of retained earnings. Furthermore, the company received a counter motion concerning agenda item three, that ratification of the actions of the executive board should be withheld.
These counter motions focus solely on rejecting proposals represented by the boards. I will therefore not put them to the vote separately. Should you wish to second one or both of these counter motions, you'll have to vote no under agenda items two and three, respectively. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll shortly proceed to the vote. Let me point out that under Section 136, Paragraph one of the German Stock Corporation Act, no member of either the executive board or the supervisory board may exercise any voting rights on their own behalf or on behalf of any other person when the resolution on the ratification of the actions is passed. For shares which are subject to the exclusion of voting rights under said Section 136, no voting rights may be exercised by a third party either.
The voting will be carried out using the addition procedure, which means that we're only going to count the yes and no votes that are actually cast. Since abstentions would not change the voting result, they will not be counted. The resolutions on agenda items two to eight and 11 to 14 require a simple majority. The resolutions on agenda items nine and 10, and 12 and 13 respectively, require a three-quarters majority of the nominal capital represented at the time of the vote. I've received the register of the nominal capital represented today and of the number of participants who are following today's annual general meeting online.
The company's nominal capital amounts to EUR 200,416,186 and is divided into 200,416,186 no-par value shares. The proxies present here today represent a total of 132,875,969 no-par value shares carrying the same amount of votes. This translates into 66.3% of the nominal capital.
In addition, 15,311,387 no-par value shares carrying the same amount of votes are represented by postal vote. This translates into 7.64% of the nominal capital. In total, 148,187,813 no-par value shares carrying the same number of votes or 73.94% of the nominal capital are presented. Ladies and gentlemen, all business has been dealt with. It is now 11:58 A.M. You now have time until 12:02 P.M. to cast or change your votes, appoint proxies, or give voting instructions through the shareholder portal. Ladies and gentlemen, it's now two minutes past 12:00 P.M. From this moment on, you can no longer cast votes, appoint proxies, or give voting instructions. Changes are no longer possible. Our technicians have been instructed to set the system accordingly and asked the notary that this be minuted.
The proxies designated by the company will now release the votes on the individual agenda items as stored in the system according to the instructions given by shareholders and shareholder representatives. The votes submitted by regular mail are also stored in the system. This concludes the vote. Your votes will now be counted. The counting of the votes will be supervised by the notary. I'll announce the results of the vote as soon as they are available. I expect this to take between 15 and 20 minutes and would ask you for a little patience. Please bear with us. Thank you.
[Presentation]
Ladies and gentlemen, I now have the results of the votes. I will announce the results of the vote on the resolutions proposed under agenda items two through 14. Let me point out here that this AGM will end immediately after the results of the vote on the proposed resolutions have been announced. After that, you will no longer be able to lodge objections to any resolutions passed by this AGM through the shareholder portal. I now announce the results of the vote on the resolution proposed. In a minute, we'll show the results on screen. This AGM has just voted on the resolutions proposed by the Executive and Supervisory Board, so by the Supervisory Board only, as published in the Federal Gazette on March 25th, 2021. For the record, the voting results and resolutions for the items on the agenda are as follows.
Under agenda item two, 146,006,943 valid votes were cast, representing 72.85% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 145,215,195, representing a majority of 99.46%. The number of no votes was 791,748. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. Under agenda item three, 147,164,048 valid votes were cast, representing 73.43% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 146,999,099, representing a majority of 99.89%. The number of no votes was 164,949. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. Under agenda item four, 146,665,199 valid votes were cast, representing 73.81% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 131,445,433, representing a majority of 89.62%. The number of no votes was 15,219,766. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. The executive and supervisory boards would like to thank you for your confidence.
Under agenda item five, 143,321,189 valid votes were cast, representing 71.51% of nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 142,906,384, representing a majority of 99.71%. The number of no votes was 414,805. Jackie Joyner-Kersee has thus been elected to the Supervisory Board with the required majority. Congratulations, Jackie. We look forward to working with you. Under agenda item six, 147,598,898 valid votes were cast, representing 73.65% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 123,116,325, representing a majority of 83.41%. The number of no votes was 24,482,573. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. Under agenda item seven, 148,098,086 valid votes were cast, representing 73.9% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 147,212,971, representing a majority of 99.4%. The number of no votes was 885,115. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority.
Under agenda item eight, 148,113,857 valid votes were cast, representing 73.9% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 148,093,590, representing a majority of 99.99%. The number of no votes was 20,267. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. Under agenda item nine, 144,287,883 valid votes were cast, representing 71.99% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 133,206,538, representing a majority of 92.32%. The number of no votes was 11,081,345. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. Under agenda item 10, 144,289,310 valid votes were cast, representing 71.99% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 125,492,489, representing a majority of 86.97%. The number of no votes was 18,796,821. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. Under agenda item 11, 148,129,377 valid votes were cast, representing 73.9% of the nominal capital.
The number of yes votes was 148,107,799, representing a majority of 99.99%. The number of no votes was 21,578. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. Under agenda item 12, 148,082,511 valid votes were cast, representing 73.89% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 135,375,911, representing a majority of 91.42%. The number of no votes was 12,706,600. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. Under agenda item 13, 148,078,975 valid votes were cast, representing 73.89% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 137,384,942, representing a majority of 92.78%. The number of no votes was 10,694,033. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. Under agenda item 14, 147,467,545 valid votes were cast, representing 73.58% of the nominal capital. The number of yes votes was 135,192,490, representing a majority of 91.68%.
The number of no votes was 12,275,055. This AGM has thus carried the resolution with the required majority. The company will publish these results on its website in the next few days. This concludes the business of this year's annual general meeting. Thank you for following this meeting, and thank you for your questions. I'd like to thank everyone for their support in successfully conducting this annual general meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, I'd like to inform you that the next AGM of adidas AG will take place on May the 12th, 2022. I declare the meeting closed. Stay safe and goodbye.