{"text":[[{"start":7.85,"text":"Nike set out plans to cut jobs and forecast a decline in revenue in the coming year as its shoes and sportswear sales stall in markets from the US to China."}],[{"start":18.7,"text":"Sales in the current fiscal year, which began in June, would probably fall by billions of dollars, the company said as it released its first-quarter results on Thursday."}],[{"start":28.7,"text":"The US company intends to reduce its 73,000-employee headcount as part of a new $2.5bn cost drive. Nike also plans to open a new campus in Bengaluru, India, and consolidate its geographic divisions to three from four."}],[{"start":45.099999999999994,"text":"“The future will belong to companies that can move faster, serve athletes and consumers more locally, and invest more aggressively in innovation. To do that, Nike must make changes to become a more agile, efficient and athlete-focused company,” chief executive Elliott Hill said in a note to employees."}],[{"start":63.99999999999999,"text":"Shares fell by 6.6 per cent to their lowest since 2013 in after-market trading, deepening a decline that has taken Nike down by more than half over the past year."}],[{"start":74.44999999999999,"text":"The results come as Hill is about to mark two years in the job pursuing a turnaround strategy after the company had suffered from an over-reliance on classic brands and lost shelf space in retail stores after emphasising direct sales. "}],[{"start":88.74999999999999,"text":"It has been slow to catch fire. Revenue in the first quarter that ended in August totalled $11.2bn, down 4 per cent year on year and worse than consensus estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Net income fell by 2 per cent to $712mn."}],[{"start":107.29999999999998,"text":"Sales plunged by 22 per cent in China, where competing local brands, with origins as manufacturers for western labels, have squeezed Nike’s market share. "}],[{"start":117.69999999999999,"text":"Nike’s sportswear revenue also shrank by double digits, Hill told analysts. Another source of weakness was its Jordan basketball shoe and apparel brand, named after the former NBA star."}],[{"start":128.54999999999998,"text":"“With Jordan brand footwear, we’re going to get back to leading the scarcity model that we created. Simply put, we’ve been oversupplying our iconic retro product, asking them to do too much,” Hill told analysts."}],[{"start":141.89999999999998,"text":"Nike said the new cost-cutting programme, called Pace, is expected to save $2.5bn over the next five years. It did not disclose how many or where jobs will be cut. On the campus in Bengaluru, Hill described India as “an important growth market and manufacturing hub for Nike, with strong capabilities and access to talent”."}],[{"start":163.64999999999998,"text":"“As we change how and where we work, Nike will require fewer roles over time,” Hill said in his note. “These decisions are about redirecting investment toward the areas most critical to winning: product innovation, brand storytelling, consumer connection, sport and growth.”"}],[{"start":185.34999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790893063_6302.mp3"}