“The third quarter was another very strong quarter for us. Despite a lot of operational problems, we grew our sales by 20% and were able to increase our EBIT from 190 million euros to 229 million euros in the quarter. A COVID-19 related lockdown of production in South Vietnam, an overheated global freight market with high rates and a lack of capacity, port congestion and a very difficult market situation in China were hurdles we had to overcome in the quarter. Demand for our products was high, our teams worked very hard to deliver as much product as possible and we continued to be as flexible and service-minded for our partners as we could be”, commented Bjørn Guld, Chief Executive Officer of Puma.

Third Quarter Results

In the third quarter of 2021, sales increased by 20.4%, reaching 1.9 billion euros (growth of 20.0% as reported), on a comparable basis to the same quarter of 2020. The America region reported growth of 31.2%, driven by continued high demand in the North American and Latin American markets. Sales in the EMEA* region rose by 22.3%, pushed by strong demand in Europe and emerging markets, such as Russia, Turkey, and South Africa. Asia/Pacific grew by 1.7% amidst a difficult market environment in Greater China and COVID-19 related lockdowns in markets such as Japan, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Concerning product divisions, footwear revenue was up by 21.6%, supported by the sustained demand for Puma’s performance and sport style categories. The apparel division grew by 21.3% and accessories segment by 15.2%.

In the third quarter of the current fiscal year, Puma’s wholesale business increased by 22.6%, amounting to 1.47 billion euros, as compared to the same period last year. Direct-to-consumer business improved by 13.3%, reaching 429.9 million euros, with growth across owned & operated retail stores (up by 18%) and e-commerce (up by 4%).

Net earnings rose from 113.6 million euros to 143.8 million euros, and earnings per share improved from 0.76 euros in the third quarter of 2020 to 0.96 euros in this quarter.

Year to Date Results

In the first nine months of 2021, sales increased by 39.1%, totalling 5.04 billion euros (growing by 35.6% as reported), on a comparable basis to the same period of 2020. Overall, this growth was driven by double-digit growth rates in all regions and product divisions.

Wholesale business grew by 42% to 3.87 billion euros and direct-to-consumer business rose by 30.3% to 1.17 million euros, with growth in owned & operated retail stores (up by 35%) as well as e-commerce (up by 22.5%), as compared to the first nine months of 2020.

Net earnings grew from 54.2 million euros to 301.7 million euros, and earnings per share were up from 0.36 euros in the first nine months of 2020 to 2.02 euros in the first nine months of 2021.

“We foresee high demand for our products to continue, but we also see supply constraints continue to be a problem for the rest of the year. We will continue to manoeuvre through the operational problems as well as possible, but we will also continue to invest in our brand, products and infrastructure for the mid and long term”, added Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of Puma.

Therefore, Puma has raised its outlook for the financial year of 2021, expecting now sales growth of at least 25% (previous outlook, at least 20% currency-adjusted sales growth).

* Europe, Middle East and Africa