Leaping
Further
and Further
PUMA’s business grows again stronger than expected
October 24, 2017PUMA’s business grows again stronger than expected
October 24, 2017PUMA’s footwear growth string is solid as steel.
For three years now, we have had a consecutive rise in shoe sales each quarter, posting a 23% sales growth in the period from July to September this year compared with 2016.
Footwear sales amounted to 545 million Euro in the third quarter and 1.507 billion Euros in the nine months (+ 25%) since the beginning of this year. Especially the Platform, Suede, Basket Heart, Fierce and IGNITE Limitless were popular and continued to fly off the shelves.
Selling
like
Hotcakes
Total sales rose by 17% currency adjusted to 1.122 billion Euros in the third quarter, while Apparel increased by 8 percent to 392 million Euros and Accessories jumped by 24% to 185 million Euros. All regions – EMEA, Americas and Asia/ Pacific – grew by double-digit rates.
Third-quarter earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased from 60 million Euros to 101 million Euros, while net earnings jumped from 40 million Euros to 62 million. For the nine-month period, net earnings even doubled from 67 million Euros last year to 134 million this year and EBIT improved from 114 million Euros last year to 215 million Euros.
The third quarter was another good quarter for us with double-digit growth in all regions and strong growth in all product segments. With gross profit margin exceeding our expectations and a continued focus on operating expenses, we were able to deliver a very positive and better than expected operating result (EBIT).
Our gross profit margin increased by 230 basis points to 48.1% in the third quarter and was up 120 basis points at 47.3% for the nine-month period.
Even better is that this performance was again stronger than our management had foreseen – for the third time this year. As a consequence, we again upgraded our forecast for sales and earnings for the full year 2017. PUMA’s Management expects now that annual sales for 2017 will increase between 14 and 16 percent rather than between 12 and 14 percent. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) are now expected to range between 235 and 245 million Euros. Previously, we had anticipated an EBIT between 205 and 215 million Euros.
