Adidas AG announced Dec. 13 that it has completed the first tranche of its €3 billion share repurchase program.

The German shoemaker said it bought back 5.1 million shares, or 2.5% of its share capital, for €1 billion between March 22 and Dec. 4 at an average price of €196.45 per share.

The program, along with the company's fiscal 2017 dividend payment of €528 million, enabled Adidas to deliver a total cash return of over €1.5 billion to shareholders in 2018.

Adidas aims to repurchase up to €3 billion worth of shares until May 11, 2021. It plans to commence the second tranche in January 2019.