NEW YORK, Dec 21 — Nike reported increased quarterly profits on higher sales in North America on Monday even as supply chain woes in Asia dented results in China and other markets.

The sports giant, which had warned previously of a drag from elevated shipping costs as well as outages at key Asian factories due to Covid-19 restrictions, said results in North America and the Europe-Middle East-Africa region benefited from higher levels of inventory already in transit at the start of the quarter.

Results were also boosted by stronger pricing as the company ramps up direct sales to consumers.

But sales fell in both Greater China and the Asia Pacific & Latin America divisions, with Nike citing "lower levels of available inventory resulting from Covid-19 factory closures.”

Net income rose seven per cent to US$1.3 billion (RM5.5 billion) on a one per cent increase in revenues to US$11.3 billion for the quarter ending November 30. 

Shares rose 3.5 per cent to US$162.42 in after-hours trading. — AFP