* Adidas says aims to save more than 100 mln euros per year
* To shut regional offices, may close some retail stores
* Q1 operating profit 58 mln euros, vs estimate 179 mln
* Says sees earnings per share breaking even in H1
* Shares fall 10 percent
(Adds analyst comment, share price)
By Maria Sheahan
FRANKFURT, May 5 (Reuters) - Adidas will shut down regional offices in Europe and Asia to help save 100 million euros ($132.4 million) after mounting costs and more troubles at its Reebok brand caused first-quarter earnings to miss expectations.
The world's second-biggest sporting goods maker after Nike could also close underperforming retail stores, it said on Tuesday.
Adidas shares fell more than 10 percent after the announcement and were down 9.6 percent at 26.68 euros by 0825 GMT, making them the worst performer on Germany's blue-chip index, which was 0.7 percent lower.
The company's first-quarter operating profit fell nearly 80 percent to 58 million euros, hurt by higher costs in emerging markets and rising restructuring costs at U.S. brand Reebok, and missing the 179 million average of analyst forecasts in a Reuters poll.
The operating margin narrowed to 2.2 percent from 10.8 percent a year earlier.
Adidas bought Reebok in 2006 to boost its position in classic sportswear and help it better compete against Nike. But Reebok still struggles, particularly in North America, where Adidas suffered a 14 percent drop in 2008 net sales.
"We believe our estimates and consensus for the full year 2009 will need some revision to reflect the first-quarter results picture and the company's own expectations for the first half," Standard & Poor's analyst Alessandra Coppola said.
BREAKEVEN
Adidas said it saw full-year 2009 earnings per share around break-even in the first half of the year and in the second half, earnings would turn significantly positive, although remaining lower than a year earlier.
In light of crumbling consumer demand, U.S. bellwether Nike said in March it planned to halt production at three shoe factories in China and one in Vietnam.
Overall, Adidas said 2009 margins, net income and earnings per share (EPS) would decline due to higher operating costs. Group sales would drop at up to mid-single-digit rates.
First-quarter sales eased to 2.58 billion euros, slightly better than the average forecast of 2.54 billion euros in the Reuters poll.
Adidas' German home market is facing its most severe recession since World War Two, with the government forecasting a 6 percent contraction this year. Retail sales there fell a more-than-expected 1.5 percent in March.
Germany's Metro, the world's fourth-largest retailer, predicted a sales slowdown this year after what it hailed as the worst slump since the Great Depression halved profit in the first quarter. Adidas shares trade at about 11 times 12-month forward earnings, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine, which weighs analysts' forecasts according to their track record.
It is a discount to Nike, which trades at a multiple of about 14.5, as investors remain wary of weak performance at Adidas' U.S. brand Reebok. ($1 = 0.7554 euro) (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; editing by Karen Foster)