Sales in the fourth quarter of 2020 increased by 9.1 percent at Puma Se to 1,520.1 million euros or increased 2.8 percent reported. The company said, this growth was led by 11.8 percent sales increase in Asia/Pacific, driven by Greater China. The company added that the positive development was also supported by 9.8 percent sales growth in EMEA, despite COVID-19-related lockdown measures in Europe as of November. In addition, sales in the Americas rose by 6.1 percent with growth across North and Latin America.
Commenting on the positive performance, Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of Puma said in a statement: “We grew our sales in the fourth quarter, despite lockdown measures, by 9 percent to 1,520 million euros and our EBIT by 15 percent to 63 million euros. This together with our strong performance in the third quarter, where our sales grew 13 percent, underlines the strength of both PUMA and the whole sports industry, and makes me look positively to the future. We do expect the negative impact to continue through the first and parts of the second quarter, but expect to see an improvement in the second half of the year.
I am convinced that 2021 will be a better year for us than 2020.”
Q4 highlights of Puma’s performance
All product divisions also contributed to the growth. Apparel grew 15.7 percent, accessories were up 7.3 percent, mainly due to a strong golf, leg- and bodywear business, while footwear increased 3.8 percent including sustained momentum in Basketball.
Puma’s wholesale business increased by 4.6 percent to 1,018.1 million euros, while the direct to consumer business (DTC), which includes owned and operated retail stores as well as e-commerce, increased by 19.3 percent to 502 million euros, driven by 57.2 percent growth in e-commerce.
The gross profit margin improved in the fourth quarter by 70 basis points to 48 percent despite negative currency effects. The operating result (EBIT) in the quarter increased by 14.6 percent to 63.3 million euros resulting in an improved EBIT margin of 4.2 percent. Net earnings increased by 38.8 percent from 17.8 million euros to 24.7 million euros and earnings per share were up from 0.12 euro in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 0.16 euros in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Puma posts sales increase in fiscal year 2020
Puma’s sales in the financial year 2020 decreased by 1.4 percent to 5,234.4 million euros but declined 4.9 percent reported due to the negative Covid-19 impact. In the EMEA region, sales grew by 1.5 percent but dropped 0.9 percent reported to 1,982.9 million euros. In the Americas region, sales declined by 3 percent or 8.7 percent reported to 1,775.2 million euros. The company said, despite growth in Greater China, sales in the Asia/Pacific region declined by 3.2 percent to 1,476.3 million euros.
Sales in footwear were down by 3.1 percent, in apparel by 1.5 percent, while sales in Accessories grew by 3.5 percent.
Puma’s wholesale business in the financial year 2020 decreased by 4 percent to 3,809.9 million euros, while direct to consumer business (DTC), increased by 6.4 percent to 1,424.5 million euros and the ecommerce business increased strongly by more than 60 percent.
The company’s gross profit margin declined by 180 basis points from 48.8 percent to 47 percent in the financial year 2020. The operating result (EBIT) decreased from to 209.2 million euros, the financial result decreased from negative 22.6 million euros last year to negative 46.8 million euros in 2020.
In the financial year 2020, Puma generated a pre-tax profit of 162.3 million euros compared to 417.6 million euros last year. Net earnings declined to 78.9 million euros compared to 262.4 million euros last year, translating into earnings per share of 0.53 euros compared to 1.76 euros in 2019.
Puma to propose dividend at AGM, reveals positive outlook
Based on the positive net earnings in 2020, Puma said, the management board and supervisory board will propose to the annual general meeting on May 5, 2021 to distribute a dividend of 0.16 euros per share for the financial year 2020.
The company added that it foresees a negative impact of Covid-19 on business especially in the first half of 2021 and believes that the first quarter and also the beginning of the second quarter will be heavily impacted. However, it expects to see a recovery until the end of the second quarter and strong improvements throughout the third and fourth quarter.
For the full year 2021, Puma expects at least a moderate increase in sales in constant currency and significant improvement in operating result and net earnings compared to 2020.
