Adidas CEO sees 2012 sales exceed 14.5 billion euros

FRANKFURT Dec 27 (Reuters) - Adidas, the world's No. 2 sportswear group, expects sales to be "higher than 14.5 billion euros ($19.2 billion)" this year, Chief Executive Herbert Hainer told German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Adidas has so far forecast sales of about 14.5 billion euros in 2012, up from 13.3 billion in 2011. According to Thomson Reuters database Starmine, Adidas is expected to achieve 14.9 billion euros in sales this year.

Hainer also said, without elaborating, that Adidas would launch a new running shoe that would "revolutionise the market."

($1 = 0.7563 euros) (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Richard Chang)