I could say that made the layoffs easier for everybody. It didn’t.



As for challenges, the biggest one was the global economy, and we’ll continue to manage through it during fiscal year 2010. I think we can expect consumers and investors to remain cautious while economies reset around the world.



Despite these economic challenges, Nike delivered a solid year:



We generated $19.2 billion in revenue – up 3 percent year over year.

Earnings per share declined 19 percent for the year. Excluding non-comparable items earnings per share would have been up 10 percent.

The Nike brand generated $16.7 billion in revenue, another record performance, as footwear sales topped $10 billion and apparel sales topped $5 billion. Sales for the Jordan Brand exceeded $1 billion.



Converse and Hurley delivered record revenues as those brands continue to resonate with consumers in the U.S. and around the world. And while Cole Haan and Nike Golf faced very tough conditions in their market sectors, they continue to deliver innovative products and consumer experiences.

In FY09, we completed our first full year with Umbro as part of our portfolio. Financially, the business performed slightly better than we expected. Nevertheless, Umbro was significantly affected by the decline in global consumer and financial markets, reducing the value of our investment, which required us to take a charge for impairment of those assets. While we’re certainly disappointed in that result, we continue to view Umbro as a vehicle for long-term growth within the Nike portfolio.



On balance, we had a challenging year that we managed through with conviction and optimism. For many companies, success over the past 12 months was defined as simply surviving. As we’ve said in the past, we intend to do more than just survive. We plan to emerge from this downturn competitively stronger. We will do this by delivering appropriate financial performance while positioning Nike for sustainable, profitable growth over the long term.



That means we’ll continue to do the things that keep us healthy and opportunistic:



Deliver compelling product,

Maintain the integrity of our brands while building even stronger relationships with consumers,

Strengthen and leverage our operational capability, and

Create compelling retail experiences – both in our owned retail and with wholesale partners.

We remain laser-focused on the highest potential opportunities:



Seven key markets – Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia, U.K. and U.S.

Seven key performance and lifestyle categories – action sports, basketball, football, men’s training, running, sportswear and women’s training.

This category focus helps us connect in really meaningful ways with consumers. Overlay these consumer insights across our key markets and you get a very clear picture of what it takes to deliver relevant products and drive growth into the marketplace. That’s our growth strategy. Our job is to do that better than anyone else. And I certainly wouldn’t bet against us.



While we see glimmers of economic recovery, we still have a challenging road ahead. We are well-positioned for the future, with our fundamentals as strong as