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Adidas begins marathon turnaround in North America

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The logo of Adidas, the world's second largest sports apparel firm, is pictured in a store in Munich …

BERLIN (Reuters) - German sportswear company Adidas <ADSGn.DE> turned around its sales in North America in the first quarter, helped by a marketing campaign designed to win business from dominant rival Nike<NKE.N>.

Adidas said group sales rose 17 percent to 4.08 billion euros ($4.54 billion), or 9 percent excluding the impact of currencies, beating an average analyst forecast for 3.91 billion and lifting its shares more than 1 percent.

Despite the hike in marketing spending, Adidas increased its operating margin by 10 basis points to 8.