German sporting goods retailer Puma SE closed the second quarter of 2022 with record sales and a strong increase in profit. The Herzogenaurach-based company raised its sales forecast for the full fiscal year on Wednesday in light of the strong numbers, which beat market expectations.
In the months of April to June, group sales amounted to around EUR 2.00 billion and thus exceeded the level of the same quarter of the previous year by 26.0 percent. Adjusted for exchange rate changes, revenues grew by 18.4 percent. The company has thus “achieved quarterly sales of over two billion euros for the first time in Puma’s history,” emphasized CEO Bjørn Gulden in a statement.
The sports goods company is benefiting from strong growth in America and Europe
The sporting goods retailer was able to grow most strongly in America, which is already its strongest sales region: Quarterly sales there increased by 39.2 percent (currency-adjusted +25.6 percent) to 940.6 million euros. In the EMEA region, which includes Europe, the Middle East and Africa, sales grew by 23.4 percent (currency-adjusted +21.5 percent) to EUR 706.2 million. The development in the Asia-Pacific region was weaker, where revenues grew by just 4.1 percent to EUR 355.1 million and, adjusted for currency effects, were even 1.8 percent below the corresponding prior-year level. The group attributed the damper “to the Covid-19-related restrictions in Greater China”, but emphasized that “other core markets” in the Asia/Pacific region had “strong growth”.
Despite higher freight costs, “higher expenses for marketing, a higher number of own retail stores as well as higher sales-related selling and warehousing costs” and “continued operational inefficiencies due to Covid-19, particularly in the supply chain”, the expense ratio was reduced thanks to the strong sales growth. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose by 34.4 percent to EUR 146.3 million. The net profit even jumped by 73.2 percent to 84.3 million euros.
In the entire first half of the year, group sales reached EUR 3.91 billion, which means an increase of 24.7 percent (currency-adjusted +19.0 percent) compared to the same period of the previous year. The EBIT grew by 30.1 percent to 342.2 million euros, the consolidated result increased by 30.3 percent to 205.6 million euros.
Despite numerous uncertainties: CEO Gulden is “still optimistic”
Given the numbers available, management set higher targets for the full year. It now expects “mid-teens currency-neutral sales growth” in 2022. A currency-adjusted increase of “at least ten percent” with “upside potential” had previously been forecast. In terms of EBIT, the company continues to expect an increase to between EUR 600 and 700 million, following the operating profit of EUR 557 million last year.
Group CEO Gulden was – unlike industry competitor Adidas, who had lowered their forecasts for the year on Tuesday evening – overall confident: “I’m still optimistic about our industry in general and for the Puma brand in particular, so we can give our sales forecast for the full year 2022 increase,” he explained, but at the same time referred to the continuing difficult framework conditions: “Of course we also see that there are increasing uncertainties worldwide: Covid-19 is still present, the crisis in Ukraine is more serious than ever and in almost everyone high inflationary pressure can be observed in our markets,” says Gulden.