Even though Puma recorded a first-quarter dip in sales revenues, the German sportswear brand still beat market expectations. And at a press conference revealing the results Wednesday morning, Puma executives emphasized that things were going just as planned.
Puma sales dipped 3.9 percent over the first quarter of this year to 2.1 billion euros. When adjusted for currency effects, sales grew 0.5 percent.
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“This is exactly what we said at the beginning of the year,” Puma chief executive officer Arne Freundt told journalists. “We expected a flattish Q1 and we are happy to report slight growth.”
January was soft for demand, Freundt noted, but March and April have been “very strong.”
“We are off to a good start in Q2,” he explained. “And that’s fully in line with our strategy.”
Analysts from the likes of Jefferies, DZ Bank and Barclays confirmed that Puma’s first-quarter results beat market expectations. They had forecast sales revenues of 2.09 billion euros. It was a “less labored start to 2024 than feared,” Jefferies analyst James Grzinic wrote. As a result, Puma shares rose by 4 percent in Wednesday morning trading.
Puma’s revenues in Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell 3.2 percent to 855.7 million euros. But Freundt said sales in the region were actually better than expected with further improvement already happening in the second quarter.
In the Americas, sales fell 4.6 percent to 790 million euros. In currency adjusted terms, that translated to a small increase of 1 percent.
The situation in North America should be seen as a positive, Freundt pointed out. Over all four quarters of last year, sales in North America dropped by double-digit percentages. The fact that they only decreased 2.7 percent, in currency adjusted terms, in the first quarter this year indicated a steady improvement, the executive argued. Puma expects to be on a “very good trajectory” in North America by the second half of this year, he added.
In Asia-Pacific, Puma sales dropped by 4.1 percent to 456.6 million euros. In currency adjusted terms, that translated to a 0.6 percent increase in Asia-Pacific. Much of this came out of growth in Greater China, the company explained in a statement.
In terms of product categories, footwear sales rose 3.1 percent, currency adjusted, to hit 1.18 billion euros. Apparel fell by 2.4 percent to 608.1 million euros, while accessory sales decreased 3.2 percent to 312.7 million euros.