Adidas apologises for deferring store rent, will pay up

German sportswear maker Adidas apologized on Wednesday for saying it would stop paying rent for stores forced to close by coronavirus lockdowns after a storm of criticism, saying it would pay up for April after all.

Adidas added that the closure of stores around the world was painful even for a healthy company like itself and it would need credit even after staff cut their working hours, executives waived part of their pay and the company stopped share buybacks.