kasper: that would be a gross misstatement.t think anybody in the world would have predicted that the world would close down within three days. had that been the case, everybody would have acted differently. that the world would close down over three days, we did not foresee, and i don't think anybody else foresees. i don't think you can put that on the shoulders of adidas. we have put our balance sheet in place, that will withstand the issues. matt: i have to disagree. i had a flight back home march 15 that i knew the week previous i was going to have to cancel because i was afraid i would not be able to get back to germany. we were still buying back shares at that point, and that has made a lot of germans pretty angry, that you are buying back shares into march when we all knew the world was going to shut down, and then you are borrowing money from the government, from government programs the next month. that is a real concern for germans, and i think for shareholders as well. our share stopped buyback on march 16, and that w

kasper: i think that would be a gross misstatement if you were to say that.o the second week or third week of march, i don't think anyone would predict that the world would close down within three days. then everybody would have reacted differently. but that the world would close down over three days, we didn't foresee, and i don't think anybody else foresees, so i don't you could put that on the shoulders of adidas. we have put a balance sheet in place will withstand the issues. matt: i have to disagree. i had a flight on march 15 that i knew the week previous i was going to have to cancel because i was afraid i wouldn't be able to get back to germany. you were still buying back shares at that point, and that has made a lot of germans pretty angry, that you are buying back shares into march, when we all knew the world was going to shut down. then you are borrowing money from the government, from government programs in that month. that is a real concern for germans, and i think for shareholders as well. kasper: we stopped our share buyback on march 16, the we

we sat down this morning with kasper rorsted >> in the first two months of the quarter, everything waseally normal and then we saw a dramatic basically falling off a cliff early mid march. it led to the 70% to 80% of our businesses closed down if china and -- in a global company, that's a huge change in our business model and that meant we had to move to a balance sheet. the biggest change any of us have ever seen in running a business >> china is back online, you said, after being closed far good portion of february what are you seeing in terms of resumption of normal buying activity in stores >> we're seeing it's moral for our side before they open. we're seeing lower traffic in the store, a lower conversion rate we're seeing online by the end of the quarter was higher than normal retail was on path and our franchise partners people are slowing coming back to the stores but the conversion rate is lower an the average transaction is lower but we are seeing a dramatic improvement. >> the average transaction is lower. are you saying there's a lasting impact you're anticipating for consu

kasper: first and foremost we need to get the business back on track.rstowth quarter, 55% in march, increasing also moving into april. on the operational side, then -- oure are torn it if alternative financial vehicles. first, the operational business has to get back on track. the primary vehicle in the short-term is online business. you have not had discussions about raising money with private debt in the coming months? frankly these are internal matters i would not put in a press interview. we have every intent to repair state backed loans. very very natural. i don't think it would be appropriate to discuss our balance sheet strategy in an interview. anna: you mentioned the first line of defense to get the business back up and running. how quickly can you go digital? what kind of for placement can digital become in this era where you have 70% of your shops closed? what we are seeing is 35 percent growth in the first quarter and 55% in the last month. we are reallocating resources across the board into digital channels. we are reallocating products. we

coming up, we will talk the earnings with kasper rorsted, the ceo of adidas.ss that interview just after half past seven this morning london time. let's get to the chemical side of the business. sales for the first quarter, 12.5 billion. ebitda, theed estimate was for 4.17. to the statement, talking about covid, talking about employee safety. globalll about the synchronized recovery. that is going to be quite disjointed. we have a conversation with the bayer ceo. let's see how that interview runs in terms of guidance in regards to what kind of recovery he expects. themmed l rian warns of risks of an unsynchronized recovery. you have chinese prophets imploding. dollar-yen unimpressed by the movement. deutsche bank wanted to see caleb with more meat on the phone -- wanted to see a little bit more meat on the bone. capacity, stores will run out in the next 3-4 weeks. nobody told the aussie that profits and china had crashed. on a splendid run. 10 year government bond yields at 0.62. the deflation debate, down by 0.4%. good morning. nejra: goldman saying there is