Puma reports profit slump in first quarter
Puma flagship store in New York City Credits: Puma SE German sportswear provider Puma SE experienced declines in revenue and earnings in the first quarter of the 2025 financial year. The sobering figures, which the company released on Thursday, were not surprising. In mid-March, Puma had already warned of weak business performance in the first weeks of the year and shortly afterwards announced the departure of its CEO Arne Freundt. Former Adidas manager Arthur Hoeld is scheduled to lead the company from the beginning of July. Weak business in China and the US weighs on development According to the figures now published, group sales in the months from January to March amounted to 2.08 billion euros. This corresponded to a fall of 1.3 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Adjusted for exchange rate fluctuations, however, revenues rose slightly (plus 0.1 percent). In the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, sales rose by 4.2 percent (currency-adjusted plus 5.1 percent) to 891.7 million euros. However, this was not enough to offset losses in other important markets. In the Asia-Pacific region, revenues fell by 5.7 percent (currency-adjusted minus 4.7 percent) to 430.5 million euros due to the “continuing weakness in Greater China”. In the Americas, they fell by 4.6 percent (currency-adjusted minus 2.7 percent) to 753.7 million euros, particularly due to declining figures in the US. A lower gross margin and one-off charges as part of the ongoing ‘Nextlevel’ savings programme ensured that the reported operating profit (EBIT) fell by 63.7 percent to 57.7 million euros. Adjusted for special effects, it fell by 52.4 percent to 75.7 million euros. The group result, which had reached a level of 87.3 million euros in the first quarter of the previous year, shrank to just 0.5 million euros (minus 99.5 percent). Chief financial officer Markus Neubrand sees Puma ‘on track’ with ongoing cost-cutting efforts Chief financial officer (CFO) Markus Neubrand, who has been managing the company on an interim basis with his fellow board members since Freundt’s departure, pointed to initial progress with the ongoing reform measures in view of the sobering figures. “Despite the challenges in this quarter, such as a slightly declining gross profit margin and higher operating expenses, we are focused on implementing our ‘Nextlevel’ cost efficiency programme, which is progressing as planned. We are on track to cut 500 jobs worldwide by the end of the second quarter of 2025,” he explained in a statement. “In the current trading environment and in view of the macroeconomic volatility, we are focusing on factors that we can control and on being the best business partners for our wholesale partners, consumers and brand ambassadors,” Neubrand emphasised. US government tariff policy creates uncertainty After the results in the first quarter were “largely in line with expectations”, the management stuck to its forecasts for the year. For 2025, it continues to expect currency-adjusted sales growth in the low to mid-single-digit percentage range. The EBIT adjusted for special effects is expected to reach a level of between 520 and 600 million euros. However, the forecast does not take into account potential consequences of US tariff policy. “As the impact of US tariffs is very uncertain, we are not quantifying the possible consequences at this time,” CFO Neubrand emphasised. “We have already reduced imports from China into the US and we will continue to be agile in order to manage the increased volatility in the market and react quickly to a changing external environment.” This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@fashionunited.com
German sportswear provider Puma SE experienced declines in revenue and earnings in the first quarter of the 2025 financial year.
The sobering figures, which the company released on Thursday, were not surprising. In mid-March, Puma had already warned of weak business performance in the first weeks of the year and shortly afterwards announced the departure of its CEO Arne Freundt. Former Adidas manager Arthur Hoeld is scheduled to lead the company from the beginning of July.
Weak business in China and the US weighs on development
According to the figures now published, group sales in the months from January to March amounted to 2.08 billion euros. This corresponded to a fall of 1.3 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Adjusted for exchange rate fluctuations, however, revenues rose slightly (plus 0.1 percent).
In the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, sales rose by 4.2 percent (currency-adjusted plus 5.1 percent) to 891.7 million euros. However, this was not enough to offset losses in other important markets. In the Asia-Pacific region, revenues fell by 5.7 percent (currency-adjusted minus 4.7 percent) to 430.5 million euros due to the “continuing weakness in Greater China”. In the Americas, they fell by 4.6 percent (currency-adjusted minus 2.7 percent) to 753.7 million euros, particularly due to declining figures in the US.
A lower gross margin and one-off charges as part of the ongoing ‘Nextlevel’ savings programme ensured that the reported operating profit (EBIT) fell by 63.7 percent to 57.7 million euros. Adjusted for special effects, it fell by 52.4 percent to 75.7 million euros. The group result, which had reached a level of 87.3 million euros in the first quarter of the previous year, shrank to just 0.5 million euros (minus 99.5 percent).
Chief financial officer Markus Neubrand sees Puma ‘on track’ with ongoing cost-cutting efforts
Chief financial officer (CFO) Markus Neubrand, who has been managing the company on an interim basis with his fellow board members since Freundt’s departure, pointed to initial progress with the ongoing reform measures in view of the sobering figures. “Despite the challenges in this quarter, such as a slightly declining gross profit margin and higher operating expenses, we are focused on implementing our ‘Nextlevel’ cost efficiency programme, which is progressing as planned. We are on track to cut 500 jobs worldwide by the end of the second quarter of 2025,” he explained in a statement.
“In the current trading environment and in view of the macroeconomic volatility, we are focusing on factors that we can control and on being the best business partners for our wholesale partners, consumers and brand ambassadors,” Neubrand emphasised.
US government tariff policy creates uncertainty
After the results in the first quarter were “largely in line with expectations”, the management stuck to its forecasts for the year. For 2025, it continues to expect currency-adjusted sales growth in the low to mid-single-digit percentage range. The EBIT adjusted for special effects is expected to reach a level of between 520 and 600 million euros.
However, the forecast does not take into account potential consequences of US tariff policy. “As the impact of US tariffs is very uncertain, we are not quantifying the possible consequences at this time,” CFO Neubrand emphasised. “We have already reduced imports from China into the US and we will continue to be agile in order to manage the increased volatility in the market and react quickly to a changing external environment.”
FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@fashionunited.com
This article was translated to English using an AI tool.
