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Herzogenaurach, Germany, 31 May, 2021

Sports company PUMA celebrates Pride Month with events, a collection and by raising awareness

Sports company PUMA will celebrate this year’s Pride season by hosting events, releasing a capsule collection and raising awareness of LGBTQ+ issues, as part of its continued support for the LGBTQ+ community.

To signal the company’s long-established policy of welcoming people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, the front of PUMA’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany will light up in rainbow colors during all of June. Diversity and inclusion are a core part of PUMA’s culture and the company encourages all of its employees to be their authentic self.

PUMA has also created the Forever Free Pride Collection with model and LGBTQ+ activist Cara Delevingne. This is Cara’s most personal and introspective collection, inspired by the idea that in order to exist to one’s fullest potential, we must express and show all the parts that make us unique. PUMA will donate 20% of the proceeds to the Cara Delevingne Foundation, a project of the Giving Back Fund, which supports LGBTQ+ organizations around the world.

As part of its #REFORM program, PUMA works with several LGBTQ+ charities. These partnerships include the Trevor Project, which focuses on mental health crisis and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth, UK-based charity Football v. Homophobia and BAGLY, the oldest youth-led LGBTQ+ charity in the United States, just to name a few.

In Germany, PUMA will make its headquarters available to record DJ sets, which will be streamed for virtual Pride events in Nuremberg and Erlangen in cooperation with CSD Nuremberg.

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Herzogenaurach, Germany, June 22, 2021

PUMA welcomes NHL All-Star Leon Draisaitl as brand ambassador

Global sports company PUMA has signed a long-term agreement with NHL All-Star Leon Draisaitl, who will become the first NHL ice hockey player to join the company as a brand ambassador.

Draisaitl is one of the NHL’s most successful players of his generation. In the 2019/20 season, Draisaitl firmly left his mark on the sport by becoming the first German player to win the Art Ross Trophy for scoring the most points and also being named the most valuable and most outstanding player in the NHL that year. He was also voted athlete of the year in Germany in 2020.

“Joining the PUMA Family as the first NHL player is something very special,” said Leon Draisaitl. “PUMA has teamed up with many great athletes such as Usain Bolt and Neymar Jr. and I’m excited to be part of this group.”

“Leon is a is a global star in one of the fastest and toughest sports,” said PUMA Chief Executive Officer Bjørn Gulden. “His performance, attitude and personality make him a perfect fit for PUMA!”

Draisaitl will wear PUMA’s training products including FUSE and Cloudspun apparel.

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Herzogenaurach, July 16, 2021

PUMA releases preliminary results for the second quarter 2021 and raises full-year outlook for 2021

Based on continued brand momentum, successful product launches with high sell-throughs and strong growth across all regions, especially in North America, PUMA’s currency-adjusted sales increased by approx. 96% to € 1,589 million (Q2 2020: € 831 million) and the operating result (EBIT) increased to approx. € 109 million (Q2 2020: € -115 million) in the second quarter 2021.

In light of the strong second-quarter growth in sales and profitability but also taking into consideration the continued uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic, political tensions in key markets and supply chain constraints due to container shortages and port congestion, PUMA now expects the currency-adjusted sales to increase by at least 20% (previous outlook: mid-teens currency-adjusted sales growth) in the financial year 2021. Our outlook for the operating result (EBIT) has been further specified and is now anticipated to come in between € 400 million and € 500 million (previous outlook: significant improvement). In line with the previous outlook, we do not provide a detailed outlook on our gross profit margin and OPEX-ratio. Our net earnings are still expected to improve significantly in 2021.
The achievement of our outlook is subject to continued manufacturing operations in our key sourcing countries such as Vietnam and China and no major interruptions due to COVID-19.

A complete overview of PUMA’s business development for the second quarter 2021 will be published on July 29, 2021.

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HERZOGENAURACH, GERMANY, JULY 19, 2021

Richard Teyssier appointed as PUMA’s General Manager Europe

Sports company PUMA has appointed Richard Teyssier (53) as General Manager Europe, effective September 1, 2021. In this role, Richard succeeds Arne Freundt, who was appointed as PUMA’s Chief Commercial Officer in June.

Richard will oversee the Areas Central Europe, France, UK & Ireland, Southern Europe, Nordics and Retail Europe. Richard will report into Arne Freundt and will be based at the company’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Prior to this new role, Richard had been General Manager PUMA France since 2010 before joining from Mars Company.

Christophe Cance (47) will succeed Richard as Area General Manager for PUMA France. He has held different sales functions since he joined PUMA in 2008. Prior to this, he worked at Adidas and New Balance. Christophe will be based in Strasbourg and report into Richard.

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herzogenaurach, germany, july 29, 2021

PUMA reports strong Growth in the second Quarter due to continued Brand Momentum and operational Flexibility

2021 Second Quarter Facts

Sales increase by 96% currency adjusted (ca) to € 1,589 million (Q2 2020: € 831 million)
Gross profit margin improves to 47.5% (Q2 2020: 43.9%)
Operating expenses (OPEX) increase to € 650 million (Q2 2020: € 484 million)
Operating result (EBIT) improves to € 109 million (Q2 2020: € -115 million)
Net earnings improve to € 49 million (Q2 2020: € -96 million)
PUMA team Italy wins the UEFA Euro 2020
In the FASTER+ programme, PUMA joins forces with MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 to create its fastest ever track & field spikes
PUMA athlete Karsten Warholm breaks the 29-year-old 400m hurdles World Record, wearing the spikes developed in the FASTER+ programme
PUMA signs a long-term partnership with Breanna “Stewie” Stewart, the most valuable player in the WNBA
PUMA athlete LaMelo Ball is NBA’s Rookie of the Year
PUMA commits to protecting forests in partnership with NGO Canopy
PUMA appoints Hubert Hinterseher as its new Chief Financial Officer and Arne Freundt as its new Chief Commercial Officer starting June 1

2021 HALF-YEAR FACTS

Sales increase by 54% (ca) to € 3,138 million (H1 2020: € 2,131 million)
Gross profit margin improves to 48.0% (H1 2020: 46.2%)
Operating expenses (OPEX) increase to € 1,252 million (H1 2020: € 1,037 million)
Operating result (EBIT) improves to € 263 million (H1 2020: € -44 million)
Net earnings improve to € 158 million (H1 2020: € -59 million)
PUMA launches new running technology NITRO PUMA launches the SHE MOVES US communication platform to celebrate women
PUMA launches new running technology NITRO PUMA launches the SHE MOVES US communication platform to celebrate women
PUMA unveils ONLY SEE GREAT brand campaign to spark optimism and self-belie
PUMA’s new multi-channel distribution center in Geiselwind, Germany, starts operations

Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE:

“The second quarter was a very good quarter for us. Despite a lot of operational issues, we saw very strong growth both in sales and profitability. Supply has been difficult with a shortage in freight capacity, harbor congestion and COVID-19 restrictions in certain sourcing countries. I am very proud of how our organization has maneuvered through all of these issues and how we managed to achieve these results in the second quarter. Demand for our products in performance, comfort and lifestyle has been strong. The cooperation with our sourcing and retail partners has become even stronger during the COVID-19 pandemic and this continued to help us in the second quarter. We are, of course, still worried about the impact COVID-19 will continue to have on our business in the short-term, now especially in the supply chain, but we continue to be very positive for the mid-term outlook for our sector in general and specifically for PUMA. We are very proud of Italy having won the European Championship in football, playing in our products, and we look forward to great Olympic Games in Tokyo.”

Second Quarter 2021

Sales increased by 95.8% (ca) to € 1,589.1 million (+91.2% reported). All regions and product divisions contributed with at least double-digit sales increases (ca). Americas reported the strongest growth of 181.8% (ca), driven by strong demand for the PUMA brand in the North American market, followed by EMEA, which improved 85.4% (ca) and Asia/Pacific being up 29.6% (ca). Footwear was the growth driver (+114.0% ca), based on continued strong performance of our Running and Training as well as Sportstyle categories. Also, Apparel (+85.5% ca) and Accessories (+72.2% ca) showed strong growth in the second quarter of 2021. Compared to the second quarter of 2019, sales were up 36.3% (ca) with all regions and product divisions delivering double-digit increases.

PUMA’s Wholesale business grew by 114.2% (ca) to € 1,200.0 million. The Direct to Consumer business (DTC) increased by 54.7% (ca) to € 389.1 million with growth in owned & operated retail stores (+107.0% ca) and e-commerce (+8.5% ca). After stores gradually reopened in the second quarter, demand shifted partially from the e-commerce channel to retail stores, while the overall underlying demand for the PUMA brand was strong.

The gross profit margin in the second quarter improved by 360 basis points to 47.5% (Q2 2020: 43.9% / Q2 2019: 49.3%). The improvement in gross profit margin was driven by better sell-through and less promotional activity, while inefficiencies in the supply chain including inbound freight had a negative impact.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 34.5% to € 650.4 million (Q2 2020: € 483.5 million / Q2 2019: € 531.6 million) due to higher marketing expenses as well as sales-related distribution and warehousing costs. As a result of COVID-19, we continued to face operating inefficiencies in our business. The OPEX ratio in percent of total sales decreased from 58.2% in the second quarter of 2020 to 40.9% in the second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2019: 43.3%).

The operating result (EBIT) in the second quarter increased to € 108.9 million (Q2 2020: € -114.8 million / Q2 2019: € 80.3 million) due to strong sales growth, higher gross profit margin and continued OPEX control. This resulted in an improved EBIT margin of 6.9% in the second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2020: -13.8% / Q2 2019: 6.5%).

Net earnings increased from € -95.6 million to € 48.7 million and earnings per share improved from € -0.64 in the second quarter of 2020 to € 0.33 in the second quarter of 2021.

First Half-Year 2021

Sales increased by 53.6% (ca) to € 3,137.9 million (+47.3% reported). The strong sales development was driven by double-digit growth rates in all regions and product divisions. Compared to the first half of 2019, PUMA’s sales grew 30.0% (ca).

The Wholesale business was up 57.3% (ca) to € 2,402.0 million while the Direct to Consumer business (DTC) increased by 42.7% (ca) to € 735.9 million with growth in owned & operated retails stores (+49.2% ca) as well as e-commerce (+33.5% ca).

The gross profit margin in the first half of 2021 improved by 180 basis points to 48.0% (H1 2020: 46.2% / H1 2019: 49.2%). The improvement in gross profit margin was driven by better sell-through, less promotional activity and a low base in 2020 due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 20.7% to € 1,251.5 million (H1 2020: € 1,036.8 million / H1 2019: € 1,042.3 million) due to higher marketing expenses, sales-related distribution and warehousing costs as well as operating inefficiencies due to COVID-19. The respective OPEX ratio in percent of total sales decreased from 48.7% in the first half of 2020 to 39.9% in the first half of 2021 (H1 2019: 40.9%).

The operating result (EBIT) in the first half of 2021 increased significantly to € 263.2 million (H1 2020: € -43.6 million / H1 2019: € 222.8 million) due to strong sales growth, higher gross profit margin and continued OPEX control. This resulted in an improved EBIT margin of 8.4% in the first half of 2021 (H1 2020: -2.0% / H1 2019: 8.8%).

Net earnings increased from € -59.4 million to € 157.8 million and earnings per share were up from € -0.40 in the first half of 2020 to € 1.06 in the first half of 2021.

Working Capital

The working capital increased by 6.1% to € 691.9 million (June 30, 2020: 652.1 million). Inventories were up by 7.7% at € 1,388.7 million despite the supply chain constraints due to container shortages and port congestion. As a result of the strong sales development in the second quarter, trade receivables rose by 62.6% to € 931.1 million and on the liabilities side, trade payables were up by 39.9% to € 1,270.6 million.

Cash Flow and Liquidity Situation

The free cash flow in the first half of 2021 improved significantly to € 24.6 million (H1 2020: € -206.0 million). This development was a result of the strong increase of earnings before taxes (EBT), while cash outflows for working capital and capital expenditures increased. PUMA’s cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2021 amounted to € 755.2 million (June 30, 2020: € 437.0 million). In addition, at the end of the second quarter, PUMA had unutilized credit facilities amounting to a total of € 934 million (June 30, 2020: € 1,263 million).

Outlook 2021

2021 started with an all-time high of COVID-19 cases globally and continued restrictions for our operations in numerous markets as well as supply chain constraints due to container shortages and port congestion. In addition to the implications from the COVID-19 pandemic, political tensions in some of our key markets also had a significant impact on our business. Despite the uncertainty, PUMA has maneuvered well throughout the first half of the year based on continued brand momentum, successful product launches with high sell-through and a strong focus on flexibility in our operations.

In light of the sales and profitability growth, especially in the second quarter, PUMA now expects the currency-adjusted sales to increase at least 20% (previous outlook: mid-teens currency-adjusted sales growth) in the financial year 2021. The outlook for the operating result (EBIT) has been further specified and is now anticipated to come in between € 400 million and € 500 million (previous outlook: significant improvement). In line with the previous outlook, we do not provide a detailed outlook on our gross profit margin and OPEX-ratio. Our net earnings are still expected to improve significantly in 2021.

As COVID-19 cases are rapidly growing in key sourcing countries in Asia, securing the supply of our products remains a high priority for us. The recent lockdown measures taken by the government in Vietnam result in suspended production at some of our suppliers in South Vietnam. As the duration, intensity and a potential extension of the lockdown measures to other countries remains uncertain, the achievement of our outlook will be subject to continued manufacturing without further major interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PUMA will continue to mitigate the negative short-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic by building on its brand momentum and the strong relationships which it gained from being a reliable partner, especially throughout 2020. Our strong and profitable growth in the first half of 2021, a strong product line-up for the rest of the year and very good feedback from retail partners and consumers make us confident for the mid-term success and growth of PUMA.

Brand and Strategy Update

Following a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, PUMA started 2021 with a strong orderbook across all regions. Despite first positive signs regarding the development of the pandemic, especially in the second quarter, we had to manage the implications of lockdowns and restrictions in different markets and sourcing countries. Wherever needed, we focused on working together with all of our partners to manage the short-term challenges, such as store and factory closures, without hindering our mid-term momentum.

The health and safety of our partners, customers and employees remained a top priority in the first half. Where it was possible, we offered COVID-19 vaccines to our employees. At our headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, PUMA vaccinated more than 1,000 employees and 90 percent of our staff was fully vaccinated by mid-July. In India, which was hit exceptionally hard by COVID-19 in the second quarter, we offered a vaccination program for all of our employees and also assisted employees and their families in getting access to medical care when necessary.

For our efforts to provide an attractive workplace, we were named Top Employer Europe for the second time in a row.

We continued to focus on our eight strategic priorities: brand heat, product ranges that are right for our consumers, a comprehensive offer for women, the quality of our distribution, the speed and efficiency of our organizational infrastructure, focus on the North American market by re-entering into basketball and focus on local relevance and sustainability.

To drive brand heat, we signed several new partners such as French DJ and record producer DJ Snake. In Teamsport, we signed long-term agreements with the French national team players Raphaël Varane and Kingsley Coman. We also partnered with NHL All-Star Leon Draisaitl, who will become the first NHL ice hockey player to join the company as a brand ambassador for training and fitness. In Basketball, we were joined by the most valuable player in the WNBA Breanna “Stewie” Stewart and PUMA player LaMelo Ball was voted Rookie of the Year in the NBA.

Signing some of the best athletes and teams in the world gives PUMA credibility as a sports brand and makes it stay true to its roots in performance. The success of our athletes and teams also reflects positively on us as a brand and improves our brand heat.

PUMA team Italy won the UEFA Euro 2020, which was held in 2021, and with Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Giorgio Chiellini, Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker and Jordan Pickford we had five players wearing PUMA’s latest football boots in the final. All four PUMA federations (Austria, Czech Republic, Italy and Switzerland) had progressed to the knock-out stages and we had three teams in the quarterfinals - more than any other sports brand.

On a club level, Manchester City won the Premier League for the third time in four years and reached the Champions League final. In Germany, Borussia Dortmund won the DFB Cup and our Brazilian team Palmeiras won the Copa Libertadores. We also signed additional top clubs including Fenerbahce Istanbul in Turkey or Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine.

In track and field, PUMA athlete Karsten Warholm made history when he broke the 29-year-old 400m hurdles World Record, wearing PUMA’s new EvoSPEED Future FASTER+ spike, which we developed together with Formula 1 team MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS. Karsten’s success adds to the list of track and field World Records set in PUMA performance footwear: Men 100m, 200m (both Usain Bolt, Jamaica), 1000m (Noah Ngeny, Kenya), 3000m steeple chase (Saif Shaheen, Qatar), triple jump (Jonathan Edwards, GB), pole vault (Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, Sweden) and now 400m hurdles. Our highly innovative performance products and the roster of world-leading athletes make us look forward to this year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo. We will have 13 PUMA-sponsored federations and more than 200 individual athletes from 35 different countries in track and field as well as many more athletes in other sports competing in Tokyo this summer.

In Golf, PUMA player Bryson DeChambeau won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, while in Motorsport, PUMA teams Red Bull Racing Honda and MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS are dominating the season.

To amplify the successes of our athletes and to spread a message of hope, optimism and self-belief, following what many consider to be one of the most challenging years, PUMA launched the ONLY SEE GREAT campaign. As part of this campaign, which is inspired by cultural icon, entrepreneur and philanthropist Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, PUMA ambassadors such as Neymar Jr. have told their story of how they achieved greatness in a series of media interviews and content on PUMA’s digital channels.

On the product side, we presented a completely new line-up of performance running shoes featuring our cushioning technology NITRO. The DEVIATE, DEVIATE ELITE, VELOCITY, LIBERATE, and ETERNITY offer an effortless run and received very positive reviews from runners and the media alike.

Our PUMA classics continued to resonate well with consumers in line with the retro trend in the market. One of our latest styles for women, the MAYZE also took inspiration from the past and mixed it with modern elements and playful colors. The MAYZE is worn by the global pop star Dua Lipa and selling very well across all key markets.

We reiterated our commitment to creating a leading product offer for women with our SHE MOVES US platform. SHE MOVES US brings together our top female brand ambassadors such as Dua Lipa, Cara Delevingne, Magdalena Eriksson and Jodie Williams to celebrate the women who have moved culture and sports forward and inspire other women around the world. As part of SHE MOVES US, PUMA also teamed up with “Women Win”, an organization which gives women and girls around the world the possibility to compete in sports. In June, PUMA announced that it would have its own team in the W Series, the international motor racing championship for female drivers only.

We took an important step towards strengthening our distribution and logistics network by starting operations at our new logistics center in Geiselwind, Germany. The center is being ramped up gradually and we expect it to be fully operational towards the end of 2021. We also increased the reach of our Direct to Consumer business by launching new PUMA.com stores in the United Arab Emirates and Mexico.

In the first half of 2021, the pandemic impacted different regions differently. This once again affirmed our belief in local relevance and local decision-making, giving local management the tools to react quickly to changes in the market they know best.

PUMA continued to establish itself as a credible brand in Basketball, following its re-entry into the sport in 2018, an important move to stay relevant as a sports brand, especially in the North American market. After last year’s success of the RS-DREAMER Basketball sneaker, designed by J.Cole, PUMA launched the RS-DREAMER 2, a mid-silhouette intended to be worn on and off the court. The Basketball business also launched several successful collaborations this year, from nostalgic cartoon Rugrats to popular video game NBA 2K. The next highlight will be the introduction of the LaMelo Ball signature shoe which is planned for Q4 2021.

This year, PUMA announced further steps to make its products and its supply chain more sustainable, both from an environmental and social point of view. With our 10FOR25 sustainability targets, we ensure that whenever our consumers buy a PUMA product, they are buying a sustainably sourced product. That is why we set ourselves the goal of making nine out of ten PUMA products with more sustainable materials by 2025. We also signed an agreement with not-for-profit environmental organization Canopy and committed to protect forests around the world when sourcing paper, cardboard and viscose. We communicate these efforts to our consumers through our FOREVER BETTER platform.

To further strengthen our organization, we have created the new role of Chief Commercial Officer within the Board of Management, increasing the number of board members from three to four. Arne Freundt took on this new role on June 1 and he oversees Sales, including Retail & E-Commerce, and Logistics. Also, effective June 1, Hubert Hinterseher was named as the new Chief Financial Officer, taking over from Michael Lämmermann who retired after 28 years with the company. Hubert is responsible for Finance, Legal, IT and Business Solutions.

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Herzogenaurach, Germany, September 14, 2021

PUMA redesigns its shoeboxes to make a positive environmental impact

Sports company PUMA has introduced a new shoebox design which will save 2800 tonnes of cardboard every year, as part of its sustainability strategy to make a positive environmental impact across its product range.

The new shoeboxes, which have been rolled out in 2021, are just one element of PUMA’s commitment to make its retail supplies more sustainable. By 2023, the company will also no longer use plastic bags in its stores and will also switch other retail supplies, such as hangers and shoe trees, to more sustainable alternatives.

“If we consider that it takes about 12 trees to make a tonne of cardboard, we are saving 33,600 trees every year. That is more than the number of trees in Central Park in New York,” said Stefan Seidel, Head of Corporate Sustainability at PUMA. “Such initiatives, which are part of our 10FOR25 Sustainability Strategy, help us make a positive impact at scale.”

The new shoeboxes are just as sturdy as their predecessors and are made of more than 95 % recycled cardboard.

Earlier this year, PUMA announced a partnership with not-for-profit environmental organization Canopy and said it would source all of its cardboard and paper packaging from recycled or certified sources to ensure they are not derived from the world’s most egral forests.

PUMA’s 10FOR25 targets cover a wide range of sustainability topics including Climate Action, Human Rights, Circularity as well as Plastics and the Ocean. The targets are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable development goals and ensure that PUMA works on making its core business more sustainable.

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SomervillE, Massachusetts, September 29th, 2021

PUMA AND CARA DELEVINGNE CLEAN UP BEACH IN HAWAII

Last week, global sports company PUMA hosted a beach cleanup in Oahu, Hawaii, following a photo shoot with PUMA ambassador and activist Cara Delevingne.

Cara and members of a local organization teamed up to clean Kahana Bay Beach. Together, Cara and the volunteers removed debris including microplastics, fishing nets, ropes and more.

“We were lucky to use this beautiful island for our photoshoot,” said Cara. “It felt natural to give back and leave the beach cleaner than we found.”

PUMA is committed to make its entire product range better by using more sustainable and innovative materials across all of its products. The company has set itself ambitious targets, the 10FOR25, to constantly improve its sustainability performance in all areas including climate action, circularity and plastic and oceans.

During the beach cleanup, Cara showed off pieces from her Exhale collection, created in partnership with PUMA. The Exhale collection uses eco-conscious materials, such as at least 70% recycle polyester, and by fully offsetting any unavoidable emissions. The collection is available now on PUMA.com, PUMA stores, and retailers worldwide.

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Herzogenaurach, germany, october 27, 2021

PUMA’s continued Brand Momentum and operational Flexibility resulted in strong Sales and EBIT growth in the third Quarter

2021 Third Quarter Facts

Sales increase by 20% currency adjusted (ca) to € 1,900 million (Q3 2020: € 1,583 million)
Gross profit margin improves to 47.4% (Q3 2020: 47.0%)
Operating expenses (OPEX) increase to € 678 million (Q3 2020: € 560 million)
Operating result (EBIT) improves to € 229 million (Q3 2020: € 190 million)
Net earnings improve to € 144 million (Q3 2020: € 114 million)
PUMA athletes win 75 medals at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games
PUMA athlete Karsten Warholm wins Gold medal and sets new 400m hurdles World Record
PUMA athlete Molly Seidel wins marathon Bronze medal in Tokyo wearing the new PUMA DEVIATE NITRO running shoe
PUMA athlete LaMelo Ball debuts his PUMA MB.01 signature basketball shoe, which is set to launch in December
PUMA announces the signing of French NBA player Killian Hayes
PUMA announces a long-term partnership with U.S. soccer player Christian Pulisic
PUMA launches first lifestyle collection with Neymar Jr.
PUMA introduces a new shoebox design which will save 2,800 tons of cardboard every year
PUMA included in DAX40, Germany’s stock market index of largest companies

2021 Nine Months Facts

Sales increase by 39% (ca) to € 5,038 million (9M 2020: € 3,714 million)
Gross profit margin improves to 47.8% (9M 2020: 46.5%)
Operating expenses (OPEX) increase to € 1,930 million (9M 2020: € 1,596 million)
Operating result (EBIT) improves to € 492 million (9M 2020: € 146 million)
Net earnings improve to € 302 million (9M 2020: € 54 million)

BJØRN GULDEN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF PUMA SE:

“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 to € 229 million 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.
We foresee the 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 maneuver 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.
The outlook for our industry in general and for PUMA in particular is in my opinion very positive.”

Third Quarter 2021

Sales increased by 20.4% (ca) to € 1,900.4 million (+20.0% reported). The Americas reported the strongest growth of 31.2% (ca), driven by continued high demand for the PUMA brand in the North American and Latin American markets. EMEA recorded growth of 22.3% (ca), which was driven by strong demand in Europe and emerging markets such as Russia, Turkey and South Africa. Asia/Pacific grew 1.7% (ca) despite a difficult market environment in Greater China and COVID-19 related lockdowns in markets such as Japan, South East Asia and Australia. In terms of product divisions, Footwear was up by 21.6% (ca), based on continued strong demand for our Performance and Sportstyle categories. Apparel (+21.3% ca) and Accessories (+15.2% ca) also showed double-digit growth in the third quarter of 2021.Compared to the third quarter of 2019, total sales were up 35.4% (ca).

PUMA’s Wholesale business grew by 22.6% (ca) to € 1,470.5 million and the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business increased by 13.3% (ca) to € 429.9 million, with growth across owned & operated retail stores (+18.0% ca) and e-commerce (+4.0% ca). In line with our strategy to be a good and reliable partner for our wholesale accounts, we continued to prioritize them when supply was limited.

The gross profit margin in the third quarter improved by 40 basis points to 47.4% (Q3 2020: 47.0% / Q3 2019: 49.7%). The improvement in gross profit margin was driven by better sell-through and less promotional activity, while currency, geographical and channel mix effects as well as higher freight rates had a negative impact.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 21.2% to € 678.0 million (Q3 2020: € 559.6 million / Q3 2019: € 578.5 million) as a result of higher marketing expenses, more retail stores operating as well as higher sales-related distribution and warehousing costs. PUMA continued to face operating inefficiencies especially in our supply chain in the third quarter due to COVID-19. Consequently, the OPEX ratio increased from 35.3% in the third quarter of 2020 to 35.7% in the third quarter of 2021 (Q3 2019: 39.2%).The operating result (EBIT) in the third quarter increased to € 228.9 million (Q3 2020:€ 189.5 million / Q3 2019: € 162.2 million) due to strong sales growth, improved gross profit margin and continued OPEX control. This resulted in an EBIT margin of 12.0% in the third quarter of 2021 (Q3 2020: 12.0% / Q3 2019: 11.0%).

Net earnings increased from € 113.6 million to € 143.8 million and earnings per share improved from € 0.76 in the third quarter of 2020 to € 0.96 in the third quarter of 2021.

Nine Months 2021

Sales increased by 39.1% (ca) to € 5,038.3 million (+35.6% reported). The strong sales development was driven by double-digit growth rates in all regions and product divisions.Compared to the first nine months of 2019, PUMA’s sales grew 32.0% (ca).

The Wholesale business was up 42.0% (ca) to € 3,872.5 million while the Direct-to-Consumer business (DTC) increased by 30.3% (ca) to € 1,165.8 million with growth in owned & operated retails stores (+35.0% ca) as well as e-commerce (+22.5% ca).

The gross profit margin in the first nine months of 2021 improved by 130 basis points to 47.8%(9M 2020: 46.5% / 9M 2019: 49.4%). The improvement in gross profit margin was driven by better sell-through and less promotional activity, while geographical and channel mix effects had a negative impact.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 20.9% to € 1,929.5 million (9M 2020: € 1,596.4 million / 9M 2019: € 1,620.7 million). Higher marketing expenses, a higher number of retail stores in operation, higher sales-related distribution and warehousing costs, as well as operating inefficiencies due to COVID-19 contributed to this increase. However, the respective OPEX ratio decreased from 43.0% in the first nine months of 2020 to 38.3% in the first nine months of 2021 (9M 2019: 40.3%) due to higher sales growth and continued OPEX control.

The operating result (EBIT) in the first nine months of 2021 increased significantly to € 492.1 million (9M 2020: € 145.9 million / 9M 2019: € 385.0 million) due to strong sales growth, higher gross profit margin and continued OPEX control. This led to an improved EBIT margin of 9.8% in the first nine months of 2021 (9M 2020: 3.9% / 9M 2019: 9.6%).

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

Working Capital

The working capital increased by only 2.3% to € 719.0 million (September 30, 2020: € 703.2 million / September 30, 2019: € 915.7 million). Inventories which include Goods in Transit were up by 11.6% to € 1,363.9 million. The COVID-19 related lockdown in South Vietnam and corresponding delays restricted the product supply and consequently limited inventory levels at the end of the third quarter. As a result of the strong sales development in the third quarter, trade receivables rose by 39.0% to € 1,058.6 million. On the liabilities side, trade payables were up by 28.4% to € 1,202.8 million.

Outlook 2021

2021 started with an all-time high of COVID-19 cases globally and continued restrictions for our operations in numerous markets as well as supply chain constraints due to container shortages and port congestion. In addition to the implications from the COVID-19 pandemic, political tensions in some of our key markets also had a significant impact on our business. Despite the uncertainty, PUMA has maneuvered well throughout the first nine months of the year, based on continued brand momentum, successful product launches with high sell-through and a strong focus on flexibility in our operations.

Considering the strong financial performance in the first nine months of the year, PUMA further specifies its outlook and now expects the currency-adjusted sales to increase at least 25% (previous outlook: at least 20% currency-adjusted sales growth) in the financial year 2021. The operating result (EBIT) is now expected to be in a range between € 450 million and € 500 million (previous outlook: between € 400 and € 500 million). In line with the previous outlook, PUMA does not provide a detailed outlook on the gross profit margin and OPEX development. The net earnings are still expected to improve significantly in 2021.

As a result of the longer-than-expected lockdown in South Vietnam as well as port congestion and container shortages, the industry faces delays, which are having a negative impact on PUMA’s product supply in the short-term. PUMA will continue to maneuver through these challenges by building on its brand momentum and operational flexibility. The strong and profitable growth in the first nine months of 2021, a strong product line up as well as very good feedback from retail partners and consumers make us confident for the mid-term success and growth of PUMA.

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Herzogenaurach, Germany, December 17, 2021

Davido, one of Africa’s most successful artists, joins PUMA as a global brand ambassador

Sports company PUMA has signed a long-term agreement with Davido, one of Africa’s most successful music artists, underscoring the company’s commitment to the rapidly growing African market.

With more than 20 million followers on social media and four successful albums to his name, Davido has become a cultural ambassador for his native Nigeria as well as a prominent voice of human rights on the continent.

“We could not be more excited to welcome Davido to the PUMA family!” said Johan Kuhlo, PUMA’s General Manager EEMEA Distribution. “Throughout our history, PUMA has had strong roots in Africa, football and beyond. Signing Davido is both a clear commitment to Africa as a key market and a sign that African culture is becoming more and more relevant globally”.

After today’s announcement, Davido will act as a brand ambassador for PUMA in sub-Saharan Africa, North America and across the world. He will wear PUMA’s Sportstyle collections, including the company’s iconic T7 tracksuits. As an avid sports fan, Davido will also don the company’s Basketball and Football styles.

“Growing up, I saw PUMA play an important part in African sports, sponsoring many different football federations”, said Davido. “I also saw the kind of family PUMA had built with the likes of Usain Bolt, Maradona, Neymar, Jay Z, Nipsey, Rihanna, Lewis Hamilton among other super stars and I thought, that’s an amazing family to be a part of! All these contribute to my excitement to collaborate with this brand and take it to the next level in Nigeria, Africa as well as with fans across the world.”

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Herzogenaurach, germany, january 20, 2022

PUMA releases preliminary results for the fourth quarter and financial year 2021

Disclosure of inside information according to Article 17 Market Abuse Regulation. PUMA SE (ISIN: DE00069696303 WKN: 696960) PUMA WAY 1, D-91074 Herzogenaurach

Due to the continued brand momentum and a strong global demand, PUMA achieved a currency-adjusted sales growth of approx. 14% to € 1,767 million in the fourth quarter 2021 (Q4 2020: € 1,520 million). This growth was achieved despite the negative impact from the COVID-19 pandemic and continued supply chain constraints. On a preliminary basis, the operating result (EBIT) increased to € 65 million (Q4 2020: € 63 million) in the same period.

In the financial year 2021, PUMA achieved a currency-adjusted sales increase of approx. 32% to € 6,805 million (2020: € 5,234 million) and an operating result (EBIT) of € 557 million (2020: € 209 million) on a preliminary basis. Both, sales and operating result (EBIT) are the highest PUMA has ever achieved in its history.

A complete overview of PUMA’s financial performance for the year 2021 and its outlook for the financial year 2022 will be published on February 23, 2022.

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herzogenaurach, germany, february 23, 2022

PUMA achieved the highest Sales and EBIT in its history due to continued Brand Momentum and operational Flexibility

2021 FOURTH QUARTER FACTS

Sales increase by 14% currency adjusted (ca) to € 1,767 million (Q4 2020: € 1,520 million)
Gross profit margin improves to 48.2% (Q4 2020: 48.0%)
Operating expenses (OPEX) increase to € 795 million (Q4 2020: € 669 million)
Operating result (EBIT) improves to € 65 million (Q4 2020: € 63 million)
Net earnings amount to € 8 million (Q4 2020: € 25 million)
PUMA athlete Max Verstappen wins his first-ever Formula 1 world championship title
PUMA team Senegal wins Africa Cup of Nations against fellow PUMA team Egypt
PUMA signs a long-term agreement with Davido, one of Africa’s most successful music artists
PUMA athlete LaMelo Ball debuts his PUMA MB.01 signature basketball shoe and is selected for the NBA All-Star Game
PUMA Creative Director June Ambrose launches Women’s Basketball Clothing Collection
PUMA and Dua Lipa launch their first product collaboration “Flutur”
PUMA launches the RE:SUEDE to test biodegradable footwear
PUMA reaffirms its commitment to fight against climate change at the UN Climate Conference COP26 in Glasgow
PUMA named Top Employer 2022 in 16 countries

2021 FULL YEAR FACTS

Sales increase by 32% (ca) to € 6,805 million (FY 2020: € 5,234 million)
Gross profit margin improves to 47.9% (FY 2020: 47.0%)
Operating expenses (OPEX) increase to € 2,725 million (FY 2020: € 2,265 million)
Operating result (EBIT) improves to € 557 million (FY 2020: € 209 million)
Net earnings improve to € 310 million (FY 2020: € 79 million)
Earnings per share improve to € 2.07 (FY 2020: € 0.53)
A dividend of € 0.72 per share for 2021 to be proposed to the Annual General Meeting
PUMA included in DAX40, Germany’s stock market index of largest companies

BJØRN GULDEN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF PUMA SE:

“2021 was a very successful year for us. Despite all the issues and obstacles related to COVID- 19 and political tensions around the world, we had the best year in PUMA’s history. The sales growth of 32% to € 6,805 million and an EBIT growth of 166% to € 557 million are results that we are proud of. Compared to the pre-pandemic level in 2019, our sales even increased by 30%. Our continued brand momentum combined with high operational flexibility are the main reasons for these achievements. Our strategy of working closely together with our suppliers and retail partners to maneuver through all the short-term issues and obstacles without hindering our mid-term momentum paid off. I am extremely thankful and proud of our PUMA family. Many of our employees did far more than a company can normally expect from them and a lot of our external partners supported us in an extraordinary way. At the start of 2022 COVID-19 is unfortunately still negatively affecting our supply chain, inflationary pressures are having a negative impact on our costs and operating margins and the geo-political situation remains very tense. We will have to continue our hard work in this difficult environment, but I remain very optimistic for the future of both our sector in general and PUMA in particular. Our continued brand momentum, strong demand for our products and very good feedback from our retail partners make me very optimistic.”

Fourth Quarter 2021

Sales increased by 14.3% (ca) to € 1,767.1 million (+16.2% reported). Among the regions, Americas reported the strongest sales growth of 31.3% (ca), driven by continued high demand for the PUMA brand in the North American and Latin American markets. EMEA recorded sales growth of 14.9% (ca), driven by growth in Europe as well as emerging markets such as Russia, South Africa and Turkey. Sales in Asia/Pacific declined 5.4% (ca) due to the current market environment in Greater China resulting from COVID-19 related restrictions and geopolitical tensions, while almost all other markets in Asia/Pacific reported double-digit growth rates. All product divisions grew in the double-digits with Footwear being up 15.6% (ca), Apparel 11.7% (ca) and Accessories 17.4% (ca). The balanced growth across all product divisions was driven by a strong demand for our Performance categories, predominantly Running & Training, Teamsports, Golf and Basketball, as well as for the Sportstyle category. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, total sales were up by 24.1% (ca).

PUMA’s Wholesale business grew by 16.5% (ca) to € 1,208.1 million and the Direct-to- Consumer (DTC) business increased by 9.7% (ca) to € 559.0 million. While sales in owned & operated retail stores increased by 21.5% (ca), e-commerce declined by 6.8% (ca) which was solely driven by the current market environment in China. In line with our strategy to be a reliable and service-oriented partner for our retailers, we continued to prioritize them when product supply was limited.

The gross profit margin improved by 20 basis points to 48.2% (Q4 2020: 48.0% / Q4 2019: 47.3%). This improvement was driven by better sell-through and less promotional activity, while geographical and channel mix effects, currency as well as higher freight rates had a negative impact.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 18.9% to € 795.1 million (Q4 2020: € 668.5 million / Q4 2019: € 650.6 million) as a result of higher marketing expenses, more retail stores operating as well as higher sales-related distribution and warehousing costs. PUMA also continued to face operating inefficiencies due to COVID-19 especially in the supply chain. Consequently, the OPEX ratio increased to 45.0% (Q4 2020: 44.0% / Q4 2019: 44.0%).

The operating result (EBIT) increased to € 65.0 million (Q4 2020: € 63.3 million / Q4 2019: € 55.2 million). As a result of strong sales growth, improved gross profit margin and higher OPEX ratio, the EBIT margin came in at 3.7% (Q4 2020: 4.2% / Q4 2019: 3.7%).

Net earnings decreased to € 7.9 million (Q4 2020: € 24.7 million / Q4 2019: € 17.8 million) due to a lower financial result and a negative impact attributable to non-controlling interests. Earnings per share decreased consequently to € 0.05 (Q4 2020: € 0.16 / Q4 2019: € 0.12).

Full Year Facts 2021

Sales increased by 31.7% (ca) to € 6,805.4 million (+30.0% reported). The very strong sales development was driven by double-digit growth rates in all regions and product divisions. In terms of regions, Americas was leading the growth with a sales increase of 53.9% (ca) to € 2,636.9 million and thereby exceeding for the first time the € 2 billion mark. In the EMEA region, almost all countries contributed with double-digit increases to a sales growth of 28.2% (ca). Sales in Asia/Pacific region were up 10.6% (ca), as strong growth in markets such as India, Japan and Oceania more than compensated for the current market environment in Greater China.

Compared to 2019 levels, the Group sales increased by 29.8% (ca). The very strong growth against both, 2020 and 2019, underlines a high demand for PUMA product and a continued brand momentum.
The Wholesale business was up 35.0% (ca) to € 5,080.6 million while the Direct-to-Consumer business (DTC) sales increased by 22.8% (ca) to € 1,724.8 million with growth in owned & operated retails stores (+30.3% ca) and e-commerce (+11.3% ca).

The gross profit margin improved by 90 basis points to 47.9% (FY 2020: 47.0% / FY 2019: 48.8%). This improvement was driven by better sell-through and less promotional activity, while geographical and channel mix effects, currency as well as higher freight rates had a negative impact. In Footwear, gross profit margin improved from 45.7% in 2020 to 47.3% in 2021, in Apparel from 48.5% to 48.9% and in Accessories from 47.0% to 47.1% respectively.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 20.3% to € 2,724.6 million (FY 2020: € 2,264.9 million / FY 2019: € 2,271.3 million). Higher marketing expenses, more retail stores operating, higher sales-related distribution and warehousing costs, as well as operating inefficiencies due to COVID-19 contributed to this increase. However, the respective OPEX ratio decreased from 43.3% in the financial year 2020 to 40.0% in the financial year 2021 (FY 2019: 41.3%) due to higher sales growth and continued OPEX control.

The operating result (EBIT) increased significantly to € 557.1 million (FY 2020: € 209.2 million / FY 2019: € 440.2 million) due to very strong sales growth, higher gross profit margin and continued OPEX control. This represents the highest operating result (EBIT) which PUMA has ever achieved. The EBIT margin improved to 8.2% (FY 2020: 4.0% / FY 2019: 8.0%).

Net earnings increased from € 78.9 million to € 309.6 million and correspondingly earnings per share were up from € 0.53 in the financial year 2020 to € 2.07 in the financial year 2021.

Working Capital

The working capital increased by 56.3% to € 727.9 million (December 31, 2020: € 465.8 million / December 31, 2019: € 549.4 million). Inventories were up by 31.1% to € 1,492.2 million with 5 most of the increase driven by Goods in Transit. The ongoing supply chain constraints restricted the product supply and consequently impacted inventory levels throughout the financial year 2021. Trade receivables increased by 36.5% to € 848.0 million mainly as a result of strong growth in sales. On the liabilities side, trade payables were up by 25.0% to € 1,176.5 million due to higher inventories.

Cash Flow and Liquidity Situation

The free cash flow remained constant at € 276.2 million in the financial year 2021 (FY 2020: € 276.0 million). As of December 31, 2021, PUMA had cash and cash equivalents of € 757.5 million, an increase of 15.5% compared to 2020 (€ 655.9 million). In addition, the PUMA Group had credit lines totaling € 1,322.0 million as of December 31, 2021 (December 31, 2020: € 1,639.1 million). Unutilized credit lines amounted to € 942.0 million on the balance sheet date, compared to € 1,372.7 million in the previous year.

Proposal of a Dividend of € 0.72 per share

Based on the positive net earnings in 2021, the Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting on May 11, 2022 to distribute a dividend of € 0.72 per share for the financial year 2021. The payout ratio for the financial year 2021 will be 34.8% (FY 2020: 30.3%) of the consolidated net earnings according to IFRS and is in line with PUMA SE's dividend policy, which foresees a payout ratio of 25% to 35% of consolidated net earnings.

Brand and Strategy Update

2021 was an excellent year for PUMA. While the global COVID-19 pandemic impacted our business in its second year, our strategy of closely working together with all our partners to manage the short-term challenges, such as store and factory closures, without hindering our mid-term momentum, continued to serve us well.

The strong collaboration with our suppliers, who are mainly based in Asia, has helped us to keep our supply chain operational throughout the year, despite several lockdowns and other restrictions in key sourcing countries such as Vietnam, China and Bangladesh.

We prioritized the health and safety of our partners, customers and employees and we rolled out vaccination programs for our employees in countries where this was possible. This is how we achieved a vaccination rate above 95% at our headquarters in Herzogenaurach already by summer and followed up with booster vaccinations at the end of the year. In countries such as India, that were hit exceptionally hard by the pandemic, we also assisted employees and their families in getting access to medical care when necessary.

For our efforts to provide an attractive workplace, PUMA was named Top Employer in 16 countries around the world in 2022.

Our eight strategic priorities remained unchanged in 2021: we want to continue to create brand heat, develop product ranges that are right for the consumers, build a comprehensive offer for women, improve the quality of our distribution, increase the speed and efficiency of our organizational infrastructure, strengthen our positioning in the North American market by leveraging our re-entry into basketball and put an even stronger focus on local relevance and sustainability.

During a summer of sports, PUMA athletes broke world records, won medals and lifted major trophies. PUMA continued to provide them with the best products that made them perform at their best, as we continued to execute our plan to become the world’s fastest sports brand.

At the Tokyo Summer Olympics, our athletes won more than 75 medals, underscoring our credibility as a sports brand and driving our brand heat. Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm entered the history books when he won gold and set a new 400m hurdles world record of 45.94 seconds in what was described as the “Best Race in Track&Field History”. For his performance, Karsten was crowned World Athlete of the Year in December. Karsten wore PUMA’s new EvoSPEED Future FASTER+ spike, which was created together with Formula 1 team MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS. Other PUMA athletes, who won a gold medal in Tokyo, included Canadian Sprinter Andre De Grasse (200m), pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, 7 Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi and Jamaican hurdler Hansle Parchment (110m). U.S. runner Molly Seidel wore the DEVIATE ELITE with PUMA’s latest NITRO running technology, when she took bronze in the women’s marathon. At the Paralympic Games, PUMA’s athletes also showed a strong performance, as Cuban sprinter Omara Durand won three Gold medals and set a new world record in the 200m T12 category.

Italy’s national football team, which is equipped by PUMA, won the UEFA Euro 2020, which was held in 2021, and with Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Giorgio Chiellini, Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker and Jordan Pickford we had five players wearing PUMA’s latest football boots in the final. All four PUMA federations (Austria, Czech Republic, Italy and Switzerland) progressed to the knock-out stages and PUMA had three teams in the quarterfinals - more than any other sports brand. The success of our national teams continued in 2022, when Senegal beat fellow-PUMA team Egypt to win the Africa Cup of Nations.

Our club teams also performed at the top of their game. Manchester City won the Premier League for the third time in four years and reached the Champions League final. In Germany, Borussia Dortmund won the DFB Cup and our Brazilian team Palmeiras won the Copa Libertadores twice in a row. We also signed additional top clubs including Fenerbahce Istanbul in Turkey and Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine.

We added more great brand ambassadors to our PUMA Family like French national team football players Raphaël Varane and Kingsley Coman as well as U.S. player Christian Pulisic and Italian midfielder Jorginho. NHL All-Star Leon Draisaitl became the first NHL ice hockey player to join PUMA as a brand ambassador for training and fitness. In Basketball, we signed the most valuable player in the WNBA Breanna “Stewie” Stewart as well as French NBA guard Killian Hayes.

In Motorsport, PUMA teams Mercedes AMG Petronas, Red Bull Racing Honda and Scuderia Ferrari once again dominated the Formula 1 season and secured the top three spots in the Constructors’ Championship. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won his first Formula 1 Driver’s title and PUMA celebrated this achievement by offering him a bespoke pair of golden SPEEDCAT Pro shoes.

We captured the spirit of our successful athletes in 2021 and celebrated optimism and self- believe during the COVID-19 pandemic with our ONLY SEE GREAT campaign. Inspired by Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, PUMA ambassadors such as Usain Bolt and Neymar Jr. told their story of how they achieved greatness in a series of media interviews and content on PUMA’s digital channels.

To further improve our product range, we presented a completely new line-up of performance running shoes with our new cushioning technology NITRO. The DEVIATE, DEVIATE ELITE, VELOCITY, LIBERATE and ETERNITY received very positive reviews from runners and the media. The success of athletes such as Molly Seidel, Nils Voigt and Precious Machele helped to establish PUMA as a credible running brand. The strong performance of our innovative PUMA ULTRA and FUTURE Z football boots as well as our Cobra PUMA Golf products further underlined PUMA’s credibility as a true performance brand. In Sportstyle, we continued to see strong sell-through of our key footwear product families such as RS, RIDER, and CALI as well as for our Classics business. This strong demand for Performance and Sportstyle products led to strong growth in our Apparel and Accessories business. We also presented several successful collaborations with companies such as French-Japanese fashion label Maison Kitsuné or Chinese high-end designer brand PRONOUNCE.

We continued to strengthen our product offer for women, as we developed the MAYZE franchise, which takes inspiration from our archive styles and gives it a modern twist. The MAYZE, which was presented by global pop star Dua Lipa, sold very well throughout the year and was launched in several colors and styles. Our SHE MOVES US brand platform featured our top female brand ambassadors, such as Dua Lipa, Cara Delevingne and Nikita Parris, and celebrated inspirational women in culture and sports. SHE MOVES US also included a partnership with Women Win, an organization which organizes sports events for women and girls around the world, and we founded PUMA’s own team in the W Series, the international motor racing series for female drivers.

In 2018, we re-entered basketball as part of our strategy to gain credibility as a sports brand in North America. In 2021 we launched the MB.01, our first signature shoe with LaMelo Ball, who had just been voted Rookie of the year in the NBA. At the start of 2022, LaMelo Ball became the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to be selected for the NBA All-Star Game. We also created our first women’s basketball collection in close collaboration with stylist and designer June Ambrose, who joined PUMA as a Creative Director in 2020. While our initial focus for the sport was North America, we are also growing our basketball offering outside of this important market. We welcomed national teams such as the Russian and Turkish basketball federations and Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv. Our basketball inspired sportstyle products, such as the PUMA CLYDE and RALPH SAMPSON, continued to resonate well with our consumers.

We continued to focus on local relevance in 2021. While basketball is important in North America, other sports such as cricket, rugby, netball or Australian rules football play an important part in other regions. In Europe for example we continued to strengthen our position in the important Handball category for which we signed several key players and teams. The Danish federation, which is equipped by PUMA, won the Handball World Championship for a second time in row. In general, we aim to choose the right partners for each market, such as Pamela Reif in Germany, Virat Kohli in India or Danna Paola in Mexico. In 2021, our new partnership with Nigerian singer Davido, who has a large following in sub- Saharan Africa, was a good example of this approach. The COVID-19 pandemic, which developed at a different pace in different countries, once again highlighted how important local decision making is for PUMA’s business. That’s why PUMA gives its local management the tools to react quickly to changes in the markets they know best.

PUMA further strengthened its distribution and logistics network by investing into new state- of-the-art distribution centers such as in Geiselwind, Germany, which provide the required infrastructure to support future growth in the Wholesale and Direct-to-Consumer channels. When product supply was limited due to COVID-19-related lockdowns in important sourcing countries, we prioritized our retail partners and worked very closely together to improve the sell-through of our products. This approach of being a flexible and service-oriented partner strengthened our relationships with retailers and allowed us to expand our presence in their stores. We also continued to invest in our Direct-to-Consumer business, which includes our owned & operated retail stores as well as our e-commerce business. We improved the user experience and product offering of our existing e-commerce channels and launched new e- commerce sites in important markets such as Mexico, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates.

We made another step forward to improve our infrastructure when PUMA North America and our international marketing organization moved into their new office in the Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts.

In 2021, we announced our ambitious Sustainability target to make nine out of ten products with more sustainable materials by 2025, which is an integral part of our 10FOR25 sustainability goals. In line with our approach to integrate sustainability into our entire product range, we introduced a new shoebox design in 2021, which will save 2,800 tonnes of cardboard each year. Our partnership with environmental organization Canopy will help us to protect forests around the world when sourcing paper, cardboard and viscose. At the climate conference COP26 in Glasgow, which was attended by our CEO Bjørn Gulden, PUMA and the industry initiative “Fashion Charter for Climate Action” committed to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. We communicated these and other initiatives and targets to our consumers by establishing our FOREVER BETTER platform. Our sustainability initiatives also included the RE:SUEDE experiment, where we test whether we can make a biodegradable version of our most iconic sneaker, the SUEDE. With BETTER FOAM, we developed a cushioning material for footwear, which is partly made from sugarcane.

To further strengthen our organization, we have expanded our Board of Management from three members to four by creating the new role of Chief Commercial Officer. Arne Freundt took on this new role on June 1, 2021 and he oversees Sales, including Retail & E-Commerce, and Logistics. Also, effective June 1, Hubert Hinterseher was named as the new Chief Financial Officer, taking over from Michael Lämmermann who retired after 28 years with the company. Hubert Hinterseher is responsible for Finance, Legal, IT and Business Solutions.

Outlook 2022

In the financial year 2021, PUMA recorded a very strong sales and operating result (EBIT) growth due to a positive general development in our sector, a continued brand momentum of PUMA and strong global demand for our products as well as our focus on operational flexibility. Both, sales and operating result (EBIT) are the highest PUMA has ever achieved in its history.

Despite the very strong growth in 2021, we continue to face a high degree of uncertainty in our global business environment. The year 2022 has started with an all-time high of COVID-19 cases and consequently, several governments have implemented regional or country-wide restrictions which affect our entire value chain from manufacturing to retail store operations. Political tensions in key markets as well as supply chain constraints due to container shortages and port congestion are also unfortunately continuing in the new year.

Despite the uncertainties lasting into 2022, we expect a strong currency-adjusted sales growth of at least ten percent in the financial year 2022. We anticipate our operating result (EBIT) to be in a range of € 600 million and € 700 million (2021: € 557 million) and net earnings to improve correspondingly. The development of our gross profit margin and our OPEX-ratio in 2022 will continue to depend highly on the degree and duration of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our sales. While we will continue to focus on our growth momentum by servicing our retail partners and consumers in the best possible way, we expect inflationary pressure from higher freight rates and raw material prices, in addition to the operating inefficiencies due to COVID-19, to have a dilutive effect on our profitability in 2022.

The achievement of this outlook is subject to continued manufacturing operations in our key sourcing countries in Asia and no major business interruptions due to COVID-19. In line with the previous years, PUMA will continue to maneuver through these challenges by building on its brand momentum, strong partnerships with suppliers and retailers as well as operational flexibility. The strong and profitable growth in the financial year 2021, an exciting product line up as well as very good feedback from retailers and consumers make us confident for the mid-term success and growth of PUMA.

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PUMA launches "For All Time" a global Classics platform featuring Icons of Culture.

Global sports brand PUMA announces the kickoff of their “FOR ALL TIME” marketing campaign, highlighting their deep legacy as the Classic sneaker brand. PUMA will be examining the meaning of the word “Classic” through products, content, and impact created by “The Collective,” a group of Iconic Culture Influencers, who have shaped the sneaker game over the last 50 years.

PUMA has partnered with their Basketball and Classics Creative Director, JAY-Z and Roc Nation’s Emory Jones, as the executive producers of “The Collective,” a team of creatives, influencers, and storytellers who have had a timeless influence in each of their respective fields. Each member of The Collective will highlight various Classic PUMA sneaker silhouettes with interviews, creative content, and product designs that help define both what it means to be a Classic, and what it means to have timeless influence.

As a key element of the project, each member of The Collective will hand select a rising member of the next generation of soon-to-be classic influencers within their fields, and support their work and development with a financial grant as well as mentorship and promotional support. PUMA will highlight these new members of the Collective, shining a light on those who very well may become the “classics” of tomorrow.

The Collective line up consists of: Roc Nation’s Emory Jones, award-winning Designer and PUMA Creative Director June Ambrose, Harlem fashion innovator Dapper Dan, decorated Director and videographer Hype Williams, NBA Hall of Famer and PUMA Ambassador Walt Clyde Frazier, RHUDE Designer Rhuigi Villaseñor, Creative Consultant and Founder of Upscale Vandal, Mike Camargo, and Legendary Photographer Lenny Santiago who stands as the Visual Director of Still Photography for the campaign.

“This year we will be highlighting PUMA’s legacy as a classic sneaker brand by asking a select group of iconic cultural leaders the essential question: What is a Classic?” said Adam Petrick, Chief Brand Officer at PUMA. “Our ‘FOR ALL TIME’ campaign will communicate PUMA’s classic sneakers such as The Suede, and other products by recounting inspiring stories from renowned people who have become unparalleled classics themselves, having influenced Fashion, Music and Sports over the last five decades.”

Over the next 7 months, The Collective will share their personal stories of growth and development, while also sharing the story of their personally selected Collective member. Each month will see the release of new content via advertising, web content, and social media.

In the current culture of snackable content, immediate access, and trending fame there isn’t much respect for the “long-game.” But it’s the long-game that lasts, the long-game that breeds enduring influence. The “FOR ALL TIME” initiative celebrates this influence by passing the torch to those who aspire to build a legacy, in collaboration with those who have.

PUMA has 75 years of rich history; 75 years of building relationships with some of the most impactful names across sport, music, fashion and entrepreneurship; June Ambrose merged hip hop into the luxury fashion space creating a blueprint for 90s and 00s style, Hype Williams transformed hip hop into art with his groundbreaking music videos, Emory Jones is a business and branding visionary, Lenny Santiago redefined on-the-move portraiture, Rhuigi challenged the traditions of American streetwear, Dapper Dan defined logomania before it had a name, and Mike Camargo brings community to the masses - the collective boasts 30+ years of cultural influence that has expanded that access of generations to come.

The collective have been profiled in a series of short films by award-winning director Nadia Hallgren (Becoming), the platform will enable the collective to tell their stories and playbook on how they have created timeless, classic influence. Starting in late April, the platform will be updated on a monthly basis with The Collectives’ stories, starting with Emory Jones in April, followed by Mike Camargo in May, and June Ambrose in June.

In that same time frame, many of PUMA’s products have become true icons and have earned the designation of “Classic.” From the timeless PUMA Suede or the T7 Track Suit, worn by B Boys and street influencers in the 70’s and 80’s, to the world’s first signature basketball shoe – The Clyde, first established in 1973 and named for Walt “Clyde” Frazier, who redefined “cool” on and off the court. From the everyday ease of the CA-Pro tennis sneaker capturing the on-court look of the 80s and 90s, to the Slipstream basketball shoe, originally released in the early 80s and re-released several times over its history... PUMA has a long list of products that can truly be called “Classics.”

All information on the FOR ALL TIME platform can be found at puma.com/foralltime. It will house content and conversations with the collective.