Disclosure of inside information according to Article 17 Market Abuse Regulation

PUMA SE (ISIN: DE00069696303 WKN: 696960)

PUMA WAY 1, D-91074 Herzogenaurach

Herzogenaurach, 29 February 2024 – PUMA plans to return up to 50% of the Group’s net income to shareholders through its dividend policy and share buybacks. PUMA's strong balance sheet at the end of 2023 and its strategy to achieve sustainable and profitable growth will result in robust cumulative free cash flow generation over the next few years, providing the organic foundation for increased payout to shareholders.

Today, the Management Board of PUMA SE has decided to change the dividend policy to a payout ratio of 25% - 40% of the Group’s net income (previous payout ratio 25% - 35%). In addition, the Management Board of PUMA SE has decided to initiate a share buyback program, which will complement the dividend policy by another 10% - 25% to a total payout of up to 50% of the Group’s net income.
The first tranche provides for the buyback of own shares with a total purchase price of up to € 100 million and starts in March 2024 for a period ending on 6 May 2025. In accordance with the authorisation granted by the Annual General Meeting 2020, the repurchased shares will subsequently be cancelled.

The share buyback shall be executed through the stock exchange and in accordance with the authorisation of the Company’s Annual General Meeting 2020 on 7 May 2020, and in line with the safe harbour requirements of buyback programs set forth by Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. 2016/1052 of 8 March 2016 (Delegate Regulation).

The share buyback will be carried out by an independent financial service provider, which will make its trading decisions regarding the exact timing of the share purchases independently of and without any influence by the Company. The financial service provider is obliged to comply with the trading conditions of Art. 3 of the Delegated Regulation and the provisions contained in this share buyback program.

PUMA reserves the right to suspend or terminate the share buyback program at any time.

Information on the transactions relating to the share buyback program will be published according to Art. 2 of the Delegated Regulation and will be made available on the Company's website under https://about.puma.com/en/investor-relations. 
 

Following the club’s meteoric rise from the fifth tier of German football to the top flight, RB Leipzig has been a breath of fresh air in the Bundesliga and has managed to qualify for the Champions League six times. The club also won the DFB-Cup twice and the DFL-Supercup once. The women’s team was promoted to the Bundesliga in 2023.

“The Red Bulls of RB Leipzig have made a name for themselves in a very short time, not just in Germany but also internationally,” said PUMA CEO Arne Freundt. “We are looking forward to many fantastic football moments and are excited to join the club on this successful journey in the coming years.”

Apart from supplying kits to the different teams, PUMA also secured wide ranging rights for sponsorship, merchandising, match day advertising in the Red Bull Arena and the RB Leipzig Football Academy, as well as digital activations. PUMA will also equip RB Leipzig’s esports team.

“We are glad that we have secured a long-term partnership with such a well-known company. For RB Leipzig, the partnership with PUMA is another big and important step in the development of the club,” said Johann Plenge, Managing Director of RB Leipzig. “Not only will we benefit from PUMA’s first-class knowledge and equip our teams for the biggest possible success, but we will also work on different projects together and push innovation in football. PUMA is young, dynamic and fast, which matches perfectly with our values as a club and our RB-Leipzig DNA.”  

Key developments FY 2023 & Outlook 2024

• Currency-adjusted (ca) sales growth of 6.6% to € 8,602 million despite volatile environment
• Excluding the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso, sales would have grown by more than 8%
• Adverse currencies lead to a negative impact on sales of more than € 400 million
• Gross profit margin improves by 20 basis points to 46.3% due to favourable pricing, geographical and channel mix effects, despite significant currency headwinds
• Operating result (EBIT) of € 622 million fully in line with outlook (€ 590 to 670 million) due to gross profit margin improvement and strict cost discipline 
• Excluding the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso, EBIT would have been above last year (€ 641 million)
• Free cash flow more than doubles to € 369 million
• Management and Supervisory Board propose dividend of € 0.82 per share for 2023
• Outlook 2024: currency-adjusted sales growth at mid-single-digit percentage rate and EBIT in a range between € 620 million and € 700 million

Arne Freundt, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE:

“In a volatile environment that impacted the whole industry, PUMA delivered strong growth and profitability fully in line with the outlook. Without the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso, which had a significant one-off accounting impact, our results would have been even stronger. This outcome reflects the strong underlying performance of PUMA and we were only able to achieve this because of our amazing PUMA Family and all of its fantastic partners.

2023 was also an important milestone year for PUMA as we started to lay the foundation for future growth based on strengthening our brand and improving our distribution quality. We are today in a better position than we were at the start of 2023: We established a new marketing organization and started to execute our new marketing strategy to elevate the brand. We also built new management teams in the US and China to execute our local must-win strategies and cleared our inventories to healthy levels.

Going into 2024, we see that the market environment remains challenging. As we are working through this ongoing challenging trade environment together with our retail partners with a clear focus on sell-through and prudent sell-in especially in the US and Europe, we expect a softer first half of the year. The persistent adverse currencies will also continue to be a pressure on the profitability in the first half 2024. On the back of great product newness and ongoing brand momentum, we expect an improvement quarter-over-quarter leading to a currency adjusted mid-single digit growth and improved operating result in the range of 620 – 700m EUR for the full year.

2024 - the Year of Sports - will be another important year for PUMA in which we will launch great product innovations, such as our fastest football boot Ultra and our fastest running shoes Fast-R2 and Deviate NITRO Elite 3. In Sportstyle, we will continue to deliver exciting newness with the Palermo catering for the current terrace trend and the Suede XL for the skate trend. We believe that “low profile”, which is undeniably PUMA’s hometurf, will be the next big thing and we are fully prepared with the relaunch of PUMA’s famous Mostro and Speedcat. Furthermore, we will launch our first brand campaign in 10 years to underline our positioning as the Fastest Sports Brand in the world and deepen our emotional connection with our consumers. 2024 will be another year where we will demonstrate that PUMA is the Challenger in the market.” 

PUMA’s strong underlying operating performance diluted by Argentine peso devaluation

Following the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso by 54% in December 2023 and the application of hyperinflationary accounting under IAS 29 - which requires an adjustment for inflation and currency translation at the period-end exchange rate rather than at the average rate for the full year - the full impact of the devaluation was recognised in the fourth quarter. This had a negative impact on the reported financial performance for the fourth quarter and the financial year 2023.

Before the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso, PUMA’s underlying operating performance in the financial year 2023 was strong, with currency adjusted sales growth above 8% and operating result (EBIT) above last year’s level (2022: € 641 million).

In the fourth quarter, despite a challenging market environment and before the significant devaluation of the Argentine peso, PUMA delivered an underlying operating sales growth and a significant improvement in profitability, demonstrating the strength of PUMA's operating business model.

The following chapters only refer to PUMA's reported financial performance after the devaluation of the Argentine peso.

Fourth Quarter 2023

Recorded PUMA Group sales decreased by 4.0% (ca) to € 1,982.2 million (-9.8% reported). 
Sales in the Americas region were significantly impacted by the devaluation of the Argentine peso, resulting in a decline of 6.4% (ca) to € 846.0 million. In the EMEA region, sales decreased by 5.2% (ca) to € 667.9 million, mainly due to generally higher inventory levels in the trade, resulting in lower sell-in while the sell-through remained strong. Asia/Pacific sales increased by 2.8% (ca) to € 468.3 million, supported by strong growth in Greater China and India. The rest of Asia was softer, impacted by consumer sentiment and warm weather conditions.

PUMA's wholesale business declined by 8.7% (ca) to € 1,355.0 million. While reported sales growth was negative due to the devaluation of the Argentine peso, the underlying sales performance was flattish, reflecting higher inventory levels in the trade, resulting in lower sell-in while sell-through remained strong. The Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business grew by 8.0% (ca) to € 627.2 million, with underlying sales growth similar to the previous quarter (Q3 2023: 17.4% (ca)).

Sales growth by product division was diluted by the devaluation of the Argentine peso. On an underlying operating basis, PUMA continued to see strong demand, especially for its performance categories Football, Basketball, Golf and Performance Running.

The gross profit margin improved by 290 basis points to 47.0% (Q4 2022: 44.0%). Currencies continued to be a strong headwind, which was more than offset by tailwinds from fewer promotional activities, price adjustments as well as favourable sourcing and freight costs.

Operating expenses (OPEX) decreased by 9.7% to € 848.0 million (Q4 2022: € 938.7 million) due to strict cost discipline in non-demand generating cost areas and despite continued growth in the DTC channel and regional inflationary pressures. The OPEX ratio remained flat at 42.8% (Q4 2022: 42.7%).

The operating result (EBIT) was up 133.0% to € 94.4 million (Q4 2022: € 40.5 million), despite the Argentine peso devaluation, which reflects the underlying operational strength of the PUMA Group. The improvement was achieved through the gross profit margin and strict cost discipline. As a result, the EBIT margin improved to 4.8% (Q4 2022: 1.8%).  

The financial result decreased to € -67.1 million (Q4 2022: € -26.0 million), mainly due to negative currency conversion effects, including the valuation losses from the devaluation of the Argentine peso.

Consequently, net income decreased by 42.3% to € 0.8 million (Q4 2022: € 1.4 million) and earnings per share amounted to € 0.01 (Q4 2022: € 0.01).

Full Year 2023

PUMA Group sales increased by 6.6% (ca) to € 8,601.7 million (+1.6% reported). This was driven by the brand’s continued momentum and robust demand for its products. The Asia/Pacific region led the growth with a 13.6% (ca) increase in sales, closely followed by the EMEA region with a 13.4% (ca) increase in sales. Sales in the Americas region decreased by 2.4% (ca) due to the devaluation of the Argentine peso. The PUMA Group had a negative currency translation impact of more than € 400 million.

The Wholesale business was up by 3.5% (ca) to € 6,468.7 million and the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business increased by 17.5% (ca) to € 2,133.0 million. Sales in owned & operated retail stores increased 18.8% (ca) and e-commerce increased 15.0% (ca). This resulted in an increased DTC share of 24.8% (FY 2022: 23.1%), which is back in line with the pre-Covid level.

Footwear continued to lead the growth with 12.4% (ca) followed by Accessories with growth of 3.1% (ca), while Apparel remained flat (-0.3% (ca)).

The gross profit margin increased by 20 basis points to 46.3% (FY 2022: 46.1%). Currencies and industry-wide promotional activities were headwinds to the gross profit margin. These headwinds were more than offset by price adjustments and favourable geographical and distribution channel mix effects. 

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 3.3% to € 3,403.5 million (FY 2022: € 3,295.9 million). The increase was driven by sales-related distribution and other variable costs, the growth of our DTC channel and continued investment in marketing. This was partially offset by operating leverage in other cost areas due to strict cost discipline. The OPEX ratio increased by 60 basis points to 39.6% (FY 2022: 38.9%).

The operating result (EBIT) decreased by 3.0% to € 621.6 million (FY 2022: € 640.6 million) due to slightly higher operating expenses, partially offset by a favourable gross profit margin. As a result, the EBIT margin amounted to 7.2% (FY 2022: 7.6%).

The financial result decreased to € -143.3 million (FY 2022: € -88.9 million), mainly due to negative currency conversion effects, including the valuation losses from the devaluation of the Argentine peso. Tax expenses were at € 117.8 million (FY 2022: € 127.4 million) and the tax rate was at a normalised level of 24.6% (FY 2022: 23.1%).

Consequently, net income decreased by 13.7% to € 304.9 million (FY 2022: € 353.5 million) and the earnings per share amounted to € 2.03 (FY 2022: € 2.36).

Working Capital

The working capital increased by 8.3% to € 1,177.3 million (31 December 2022: € 1,086.8 million). Inventories were down by 19.6% to € 1,804.4 million (31 December 2022: € 2,245.1 million). This development is the result of previously taken measures to rightsize inventories and is also supported by last year's high comparative base. Trade receivables increased by 5.0% to € 1,118.4 million (31 December 2022: € 1,064.9 million). On the liabilities side, trade payables decreased by 13.6% to € 1,499.8 million (31 December 2022: € 1,734.9 million).

Cash Flow and Liquidity Situation

The free cash flow increased significantly by 107.9% to € 369.0 million in 2023 (FY 2022: 
€ 177.5 million). On 31 December 2023, PUMA had cash and cash equivalents of € 552.9 million, an increase of 19.4% compared to 2022 (31 December 2022: € 463.1 million). In addition, the PUMA Group had credit lines totalling € 1,552.8 million as of 31 December 2023 (31 December 2022: € 1,271.0 million). Unutilised credit lines were at 
€ 986.1 million on the balance sheet date compared to € 943.7 million at the end of 2022.

Proposal of a Dividend of € 0.82 per share

The positive net income enables the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of PUMA SE to propose to the Annual General Meeting on 22 May 2024 the distribution of a dividend of € 0.82 per share for the financial year 2023. This corresponds to a payout ratio of 40.3% of consolidated net income. The higher payout ratio is a result of the strong improvement in free cash flow and reflects the underlying positive operating business development. The payment of the dividend is scheduled to take place in the days following the Annual General Meeting at which the dividend is approved. In the previous year, a dividend of € 0.82 per share was paid out (payout ratio for the previous year: 34.7%).

Outlook 2024

We expect geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds as well as currency volatility to persist in 2024. These conditions already led to muted consumer sentiment and volatile demand in 2023 and we expect these effects to continue in 2024, particularly in the first half of the year.

In this continued challenging environment, we are fully focused on executing our strategic priorities: elevating the brand, increasing product excellence and improving our distribution quality - especially in the key markets U.S. and China. For us, 2024 is not only the year of sport with major events such as the Olympic Games, UEFA Euro 2024 and the Copa America providing the perfect platform to showcase our strong product innovation and credibility as a performance brand. It is also the year in which PUMA will invest into its first global brand campaign in 10 years to sharpen its positioning as the fastest sports brand in the world.

Supported by the continued brand momentum and despite ongoing global geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges, PUMA expects to achieve mid-single-digit currency-adjusted sales growth and an operating result (EBIT) in the range of € 620 million to € 700 million for the financial year 2024 (2023: € 621.6 million). The outlook assumes that the future devaluation of the Argentine peso will be fully compensated by corresponding price increases in Argentina. We expect net income (2023: € 304.9 million) to change in 2024 in line with the operating result.

As in previous years, PUMA will continue to focus on managing short-term challenges without compromising the brand's medium- and long-term momentum. Our sales growth and market share gains will take priority over short-term profitability. The exciting product range for 2024 and the very good feedback from retail partners as well as consumers give us confidence for the medium- and long-term success and continued growth of PUMA. 

Brand & Strategy Update 

2023 Highlights

Foundation for PUMA’s brand elevation established 

• Reorganization of global Brand & Marketing organization by relocating Brand Marketing from Boston to the company headquarters in Herzogenaurach 
• Establishment of new Marketing and Brand leadership team
• Launch of PUMA’s biggest Brand Campaign ever in April 2024

Great Performance innovation underpins business growth

• Strong product innovations of PUMA’s Football boots FUTURE, ULTRA and KING deliver significant market share gains globally
• Award-winning NITRO foam technology makes PUMA the fastest growing performance running brand in Europe 
• All-Pro NITRO debuts as one of the best basketball shoes in NBA according to “Weartesters Best Basketball Shoes 2024”, worn by NBA rookie Scoot Henderson and FIBA World Cup Winner Dennis Schröder 

PUMA makes athletes to perform at their best 

• PUMA’s Running Innovations help win 22 medals at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, twice as many compared to 2022 
• PUMA Deviate NITRO Elite leads Fiona O’Keeffe to her personal best setting the fastest debut pace ever by a woman at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials  
• PUMA team Manchester City wins five major trophies: UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA CUP, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Cup 
• PUMA Football National Team Ivory coast wins Africa Cup 2024 
• In Basketball, Breanna Stewart became the most valuable WNBA player for the second time and Dennis Schröder was voted MVP of the World Championships  

New Partnerships drive credibility and commercial success 

• PUMA’s strong position in Football attracted world-class players to join the PUMA family such as Kai Havertz, Jack Grealish, Xavi Simons, Alex Greenwood, Cody Gakpo and Daniel Carvajal 
• PUMA’s credibility as record-winning Track & Field brand helps attract Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs and NCAA 100m champion Julien Alfred 
• A$AP Rocky joins PUMA as Creative Director for Formula 1 to help create exciting collections for F1 fans 
• Rihanna returns to the PUMA Brand to relaunch FENTY x PUMA 

Trendsetting Newness in Fashion and Sportstyle 

• Rihanna’s Avanti and Creeper Phatty create great buzz 
• PUMA manifests low-profile trend as sneaker icon Mostro returns at New York Fashion Week and iconic PUMA Speedcat relaunches successfully in South Korea 
• PUMA’s terrace trend styles Palermo and Superteam are continuing to accelerate traction with consumers 
• Skate Trend: PUMA introduces Suede XL as new trend sneaker
• A$AP Rocky presents first Formula 1 capsule collection at Las Vegas Grand Prix  

Making huge strides on Sustainability Journey 

• Two out of PUMA’s 10FOR25 Targets already achieved in 2023 
• SBTI 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets already achieved in 2023 
• 8 out of 10 PUMA products made with recycled or certified materials in 2023 
• PUMA to make all football jerseys from recycled textile waste with RE:FIBRE 
• RE:SUEDE circularity project turns experimental sneakers into compost 

2023 Detailed Brand and Strategy Update

In 2023, we sharpened our strategy to pursue long-term, sustainable growth across all geographies and product categories. To achieve our long-term vision of consistently outperforming the market, our highest priorities remain to drive brand elevation, increaseproduct excellence and improve our distribution quality.  

Given the relevance of these markets, special emphasis has been placed on laying the foundation for sustainable long-term growth in the USA and China. 

Foundation for PUMA’s brand elevation established 

In July 2023, we relocated our brand management and marketing operations from Boston to Herzogenaurach and made the organizational changes that are necessary to implement our core strategy of elevating the PUMA brand. As part of this relocation, we also introduced a new global leadership team. Richard Teyssier, who before joining PUMA in 2010 held senior marketing and brand management positions for major FMCG companies, became Vice President Brand & Marketing. In early 2024, Richard was joined by Julie Legrand as Senior Director Global Brand Strategy, who previously worked as H&M’s Global Brand Director. Julie will define and execute our strategy to drive higher visibility and strengthen the PUMA brand and its perception around the world.

We also established a Consumer Insights Team to gain a deeper understanding of our consumers across the entire organization to inform and align our marketing strategies and product engine. To be closer to our most valuable entertainment ambassadors, we complemented our entertainment marketing hubs in Los Angeles and London with an additional hub in Seoul.  

The first major outcome of our brand elevation strategy will be PUMA’s biggest brand campaign ever. Set to launch in April 2024, we are confident that this campaign will create a long-term positive effect for the PUMA brand. The campaign, which will feature some of our best-known brand ambassadors, will create an emotional connection with our consumers around the world. 

USA – Strengthening the Organisation and anchoring PUMA in Sports 

We used 2023 to reset our U.S. business by cleaning our inventory, reducing dependency from offprice channels and strengthening our organization. In a challenging U.S. market, our U.S. business was over-proportionally challenged as we were not strong enough positioned as a sports brand and overdependent on off-price business. 

Basketball is a crucial part of our strategy to win in the important U.S. market, elevate the brand and clearly reposition PUMA as a sports brand. Our great line up of basketball ambassadors helped us execute this plan by creating exciting products with us and performing strongly on court. This led to PUMA becoming a TOP 3 signature and performance brand in the US. We are also gaining a perception impact of the halo effect from Basketball with key teen male consumers, where we have moved to #6 favorite brand ranked in Fall 2023 after being below the top 10 in Fall 2021 according to a study by Piper Sandler in 2023.  

In 2023, we strengthened our local organization and appointed Andrew Rudolph as Senior Vice President Sales and Alexa Andersen as Senior Vice President Merchandising. With our two new leaders we will pursue a clearer focus to drive the growth in the desirable Wholesale channels and an elevated merchandising strategy in the USA.  

China - Making PUMA one of the most sought-after international sports brands 

In 2023, we implemented a new China-for-China strategy to increase relevancy and brand heat for the local consumer and rebuilt the entire China organization.

In June, we appointed Shirley Li as the new General Manager. Shirley is a native Chinese and has more than 20 years of industry experience with a deep understanding of the Chinese market and consumer. In addition, we hired a new Commercial Director, Marketing Director, Digital Retail Director and Merchandise Director – all with a profound knowledge of the local market and consumer.  

We continued to increase Sports Marketing to position PUMA as a credible sports brand. We signed relevant athletes such as national female Basketball player ZhangRu and sponsored sports events such as Xiamen Diamond League 2023. We also started to collaborate with famous celebrities such as Cici Song and more of such signings will come in 2024.  

With view to the advanced digital costumer journeys in China, we invested in digital marketing and social ecommerce and saw a strong increase of brand heat on Tiktok both by search volume and users in 2023. In addition, we partnered with Tencent to enable us to build a digital member hub, that delivers comprehensive consumer data and insights, tailor made content and product offering as well as seamless omni channel operation.  

We further enhanced our local-for-local design and production capabilities to be relevant for local consumers. In 2024, around 40% of the products will be designed locally, while around 80% will be produced in China. With our new store format “Field of Play”, we are able to create an authentic brand experience and introduced a compelling new store environment to the Chinese consumers.  

Great Performance innovation underpins business growth 

We have achieved significant growth through product newness and technology & design innovations, which has led to significant market share gains, particularly in sports categories such as Football, Running and Basketball.  

In Football, we successfully established our Football boot franchises FUTURE, ULTRA and KING, which helped to gain significant market shares in football in all markets globally. All three franchises continue to be the strongest growing football styles in Europe. With this strong performance, PUMA’s market share in Football has quadrupled in the last 5 years. 

The latest release FUTURE 7 adapts to the shape of your foot, so the player can move without constraints for 90 minutes and beyond. The boot’s FUZIONFIT360 upper, a combination of different densities and mesh patterns, provides adaptable support, empowering players to experience a new level of 360-degree freedom of movement.  

We made big headlines by bidding farewell to Kangaroo leather and completely redesigned our legendary PUMA KING football boot with our new, animal-free material K-BETTER, which provides even better benefits to the football players. We were the first company in the industry to completely stop using kangaroo leather in 2023. 

To underscore our commitment to women in sports, we were the only sports brand to offer all our football boots in women’s specific fits at the Women’s World Cup. The fact that more than 90% of our world-class players during the tournament in Australia and New Zealand chose our women’s specific boots highlights the real demand for these innovative football boots.  

Another key highlight of PUMA’s product newness and innovation breakthrough is our award-winning running technology NITRO, which is at the core of our efforts to become a sought-after road running brand and helps the world’s fastest athletes perform on top of their game. In the third year since the introduction of NITRO, PUMA became the fastest growing performance running brand in Europe. We established a line-up of running products with a clear set of benefits for the consumer: Velocity for everyday running, Deviate for speed and ForeverRun for guidance and cushioning. 

NITRO foam was also introduced in our latest basketball shoe, the All-Pro NITRO, worn by NBA rookie and the third NBA Draft Pick Scoot Henderson as well as the MVP of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Dennis Schröder. Henderson also became the youngest player ever to receive his own signature shoe, the Scoot Zeros. Following the success of his first signature products, PUMA’s basketball ambassador LaMelo Ball followed up with the MB.03 signature shoe, which was introduced in several colours and styles throughout the year. Breanna Stewart, our WNBA ambassador introduced several versions of her signature shoe Stewie 2. 

PUMA makes athletes perform at their best 

Testament to the power of PUMA’s Running Innovation were 22 medals, including six gold medals, at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, twice as many compared to 2022 in Eugene. PUMA athletes also won 17 medals at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul and 13 medals at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris. PUMA’s Armand “Mondo” Duplantis was named “Male Athlete of the Year”, after he once again improved the pole vault world record which now stands at 6.23 meters.  

The PUMA Deviate NITRO Elite helped U.S. Athletes Fiona O'Keeffe and Dakotah Lindwurm qualify for the Olympic Marathons with O'Keeffe setting the fastest debut pace ever by a U.S. woman. PUMA also propelled athlete Devynne Charlton to break 16-year-old 60m hurdles world record.  

In Football, we celebrated a historic moment when PUMA team Manchester City won five major trophies: the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League, the FA CUP, the UEFA Super Cup as well as the FIFA Cup.  

On the national team side, we celebrated the victory of PUMA Football National Team Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup 2024. 

In Basketball, Breanna Stewart became the "Most valuable WNBA Player” for the second time and Dennis Schröder was voted MVP of the tournament at the Basketball World Championships in Southeast Asia, which his team Germany won. 

In Golf, PUMA ambassador Rickie Fowler captured his sixth PGA Tour victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, while Patricia Isabel Schmidt secured her maiden European Tour win at the Belgian Ladies Open. 

New Partnerships drive credibility and commercial success 

PUMA’s strong position in Football Innovation attracted world-class players to join the PUMA family: Arsenal and Germany midfielder Kai Havertz, Manchester City and England playmaker Jack Grealish, RB Leipzig and Netherlands midfielder Xavi Simons, FC Liverpool and Netherlands striker Cody Gakpo, Real Madrid and Spanish National Team right-back Daniel Carvajal and Manchester City and English national team defender Alex Greenwood.  

PUMA also became the long-term partner of the CAF, the African Football Confederation.  

and CONMEBOL, the South American Football Confederation.  

PUMA’s credibility as a record-winning Track & Field brand helped to sign world-class athletes such as Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs and NCAA 100m champion Julien Alfred. The signing of European 5,000m Champion Konstanze Klosterhalfen, marathon legend Edna Kiplagat and European marathon Champion Aleksandra Lisowska underpinned the credibility of PUMA’s NITRO foam technology. 

We captured the increasing popularity of Formula 1, both in the U.S. and globally and became the official licensing partner and exclusive trackside retailer of Formula 1. To help us create the exciting collections for the growing number of F1 fans around the world, we signed A$AP Rocky as the Creative Director for F1. We believe that as one of the biggest cultural influencers, A$AP will provide a new perspective on the world of car culture. A first glimpse of what this will look like was seen during the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where he unveiled a first capsule collection. 

PUMA also used the setting of the much-anticipated race in Las Vegas for several events that highlighted our commitment to motorsport, including a spectacular display on the Las Vegas Sphere, a Car Club Event and PUMA’s own hospitality suite at the Paddock Club. 

To maintain our strong position in Formula 1, we also extended our long-term partnership with Scuderia Ferrari and signed a new contract with Williams Racing. 

The return of global superstar Rihanna to PUMA, was one of our most important announcements of 2023 and fully in line with our strategy to work with the world’s most influential ambassadors. 

Trendsetting Newness in Fashion and Sportstyle 

In 2023, PUMA continued to pioneer the Sportleisure industry and set new trends.  

First and foremost, PUMA invested in the incubation of the “Low Profile” sneaker trend, which is characterized by a flatter outsole, moving the whole silhouette closer to the ground. The Mostro and Speedcat are two iconic PUMA franchises with a distinct point of difference that are setting the path for this trend. Highlights of 2023 were the appearance of the Mostro sneaker during the Paris fashion week in collaboration with the Berlin based fashion label “Ottolinger”. The New York Fashion Week earlier this month saw the Mostro-themed Catwalk “Welcome to the amazing Mostro show” which caused great media attention and hype around the Mostro Franchise.  Meanwhile, PUMA continues to incubate the Speedcat Franchise through seeding activities. The first sales results from South Korea, where the model launched in January, are great and numerous credible Fashion sources like “GQ Germany” already predict the model to be the new hype sneaker for 2024.   

Besides the incubation of new trends, PUMA also launched great newness supporting the ongoing skate trend with models like the PUMA-180, the Suede XL as a skate-inspired iteration of PUMA’s most iconic model, the Suede OG as well as Rihanna’s plateau style Creeper Phatty. To bring additional hype and energy to the skate trend, PUMA collaborated with authentic brands like “Rip n Dip”, “Pleasures” and “Butter Goods” that have credibility in this space and resonate strongly with the streetwear driven consumer.   

The football inspired terrace trend is also currently shaping the market. We were on time to launch two new strong franchises, the “Palermo” and the “Super Team” that are commercially very relevant. Collaborations with the Palermo Football Club for a special Jersey further amplified the football authenticity of this story. Global ambassador Dua Lipa headlined the Palermo campaign and wears the model in her latest music video “Houdini” which has already more than 75M views in YouTube. Another successful terrace style was Rihanna’s first product in 2023, the Avanti.  

Making huge strides on Sustainability Journey 

In Sustainability, we made significant progress with our FOREVER. BETTER. sustainability strategy and our 10FOR25 targets. 

We were able to reach two of our 10FOR25 targets ahead of schedule. For our “Plastics and the Oceans” target, we no longer used plastic carrier bags in PUMA’s owned and operated stores, we supported scientific research on microfibres and researched biodegradable plastic options with our RE:SUEDE circularity experiment. 

With RE:SUEDE, we showed that we can turn an experimental version of our classic Suede sneaker into compost under certain tailor-made industrial conditions. A commercial version of the RE:SUEDE will launch with our partner Zalando on Earth Day in April 2024. 

We also reached our Human Rights target ahead of 2025 by training more than 220,000 factory workers on women’s empowerment and completely mapping subcontractors and our Tier 2 suppliers for human rights risks. 

We successfully reduced our greenhouse gas emissions and introduced a new, more ambitious science-based target for 2030. Despite strong sales growth, we reached our previous science-based target, which was introduced in 2019 and based on a “well below 2-degrees” scenario, seven years early. 

By using renewable energy, including renewable energy certificates, in our own warehouses, stores and offices, and by significantly investing in electric vehicles for our car fleet, we were able to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions by 85% compared to our 2017 baseline. 

PUMA was able to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions by 24% in 2023 compared to 2022, as our core suppliers doubled their use of renewable energy in 2023 compared to the previous year and our logistics partner Maersk introduced low carbon shipment tariffs on our most important sea freight routes. 

PUMA’s new climate goals, which were approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative, aim to reduce our emissions by what scientists say is necessary to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. By 2030, we want to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions by 90% and those coming from our supply chain and logistics by 33%, compared to 2017. 

In 2023, 8 out of 10 PUMA products were made with a significant part of recycled or certified materials. We also scaled up the use of recycled materials. Almost 65% of polyester in our apparel and accessories came from recycled sources as did 8.6% of our cotton. 

Starting 2024, all of PUMA’s replica football jerseys are now made from textile waste using PUMA’s RE:FIBRE recycling technology. The RE:FIBRE process focuses on textile waste as the primary source of material, which is broken down on a chemical level to create new textiles. The recycled material is just as good as new and can be used for recycling again and again without losing quality – making RE:FIBRE a promising and more sustainable long-term solution for recycling polyester textile waste. 

Transparency and engaging with Gen Z consumers in sustainability projects is a crucial part of our sustainability communication. In 2023, we launched our Voices of a RE:GENERATION initiative, which gives four Gen-Z environmental activists access to our senior management to give their feedback on PUMA’s sustainability strategy. Three of our voices visited PUMA’s supplier factories in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Turkey to get firsthand insights into our supply chain and some of the realities and challenges of sustainability at scale. The voices also help us to authentically communicate our sustainability initiatives to our Gen-Z audience.

Julie, who will report directly to PUMA’s Vice President Brand & Marketing Richard Teyssier, has 20 years of experience in marketing and brand management. Most recently, she worked as H&M’s Global Brand Director. She also held senior positions in marketing and brand at Procter & Gamble.

“With Julie, we have found an experienced leader to head up PUMA’s global brand strategy,” said Richard Teyssier. “She will define and execute our strategy to drive higher brand visibility and strengthen the PUMA brand and its perception around the world.”

The appointment of Julie follows the company’s decision taken in June to reorganize its global brand management and marketing operations and relocate them from Boston to PUMA’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

At the start of 2023, PUMA sharpened its strategic priorities and defined brand elevation as one of its three top strategic priorities for the company’s future growth.

„PUMA is one of the most recognized names in the sports industry with a fantastic brand heritage. I am very proud to be in charge of further sharpening the brand’s positioning and preference with consumers,” said Julie Legrand. “I look forward to working with the team in Herzogenaurach to further elevate the PUMA brand.”

Based on data reported through CDP’s 2023 Climate Change questionnaire, PUMA is one of a small number of companies that achieved an ‘A’ - out of 23,000 companies which responded. PUMA made the ‘A List’ for the second year in a row. 

“Reducing our CO2 emissions is a priority for PUMA, both in the supply chain and in our own offices, stores and warehouses,” said Anne Laure Descours Chief Sourcing Officer at PUMA. “Being placed on the CDP ‘A List’ is a great recognition of our efforts, but we will not be complacent and continue to sharpen our decarbonization goals.”

PUMA aims to reduce CO2 emissions along its entire value chain. This includes the sourcing of raw materials, the production of fabrics and finished goods, logistics, the energy supply of PUMA’s warehouses, stores and offices and the even its corporate car fleet.

“For signatories of the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, disclosing data to CDP is a fundamental requirement, as transparency is essential to the analysis and understanding of climate action and progress,” said Lindita Xhaferi-Salihu, Sector Engagement Lead with UN Climate Change. “We congratulate PUMA on making CDP’s A-List for the second year in a row and thank the company for its continued leadership in this space.”

In 2023, PUMA’s core Tier 1 Suppliers, which produce finished goods, increased their use of renewable energy to 23.1%, while the share of renewable energy among PUMA’s core Tier 2 Suppliers, which make materials, rose to 21.7%. PUMA sources 100% renewable energy, including renewable energy attribute certificates, for its own entities. 

Last year, PUMA only shipped 0.3% of its products by air and switched to low-emissions shipping with its logistics partner Maersk. PUMA’s corporate car fleet now consists of 35% zero or low-emission vehicles.

PUMA has a successful history in Egypt with long-term partnerships, including those with the Egyptian Football Association, the Egyptian Handball Federation and other teams and athletes. Most recently, PUMA team Egypt won the African Men's Handball Championship for the ninth time and qualified for the Olympic tournament.

“For PUMA, the agreement represents a great opportunity to further invest in sports in Egypt and to strengthen our presence in the country. Egypt has a deeply rooted passion for sports and great economic potential. As a sports company, we are excited to invest in both," said Johan Kuhlo, Managing Director EEMEA Distribution.

As part of the agreement, the Egyptian delegation will wear PUMA products including apparel, footwear and accessories during the Games. The most recent Olympic Games in Tokyo were the most successful in the Egypt’s history with six medals.

“In PUMA we have found a perfect partner who is as passionate about sports in Egypt as we are. PUMA is already well known to Egyptians as a reliable partner for our national football and handball teams and I am proud the company will now also outfit our Olympic delegation for the upcoming Games in Paris,” said Prof. Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, the Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports.

Financial performance 2023 impacted by extraordinary Argentine peso devaluation

Following the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso by 54% in December 2023 and the application of hyperinflationary accounting*, PUMA achieved full-year currency-adjusted sales growth of around 6.6% and 1.6% reported, with preliminary 2023 sales of approx. € 8,602 million (outlook: high single-digit currency-adjusted growth). The operating result (EBIT) amounted to approx. € 622 million (outlook: € 590 to 670 million). Sales were therefore broadly in line with the outlook and EBIT, despite the significant devaluation, was fully in line with the outlook. The devaluation mainly affected the financial result. Consequently, net income was approx. € 305 million (outlook: change corresponding to EBIT).

Excluding the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso, PUMA delivered currency-adjusted sales growth above 8% and an EBIT above last year (2022: € 641 million).

Although PUMA achieved an underlying operating sales growth, the application of hyperinflationary accounting led to a sales decline in the fourth quarter. On a currency-adjusted basis sales declined by around 4.0% (reported sales declined by around 9.8%) to approx. € 1,982 million (Q4 2022: € 2,197 million). EBIT came in strongly at 
approx. € 94 million (Q4 2022: € 41 million). The devaluation of the Argentine peso especially impacted the fourth quarter financial result, resulting in a net income of approx. € 0.8 million (Q4 2022: € 1.4 million). 
Both sales and net income are below the analysts’ consensus. However, the consensus does not take negative effects from the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso into account.

Supported by PUMA's continued brand momentum and despite continued global geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds, PUMA expects a mid-single-digit currency-adjusted sales growth and an EBIT in the range of € 620 million to € 700 million (2023: approx. € 622 million) in the financial year 2024. The outlook assumes that the future devaluation of the Argentine peso will be fully compensated by corresponding price increases in Argentina.

* Hyperinflation accounting requires according to IAS 29 an adjustment for inflation and the currency translation with the year-end currency rate instead of using the average currency rate of the full-year and the impact needs to be fully recognized in the respective quarter.

Excluding extraordinary impact, PUMA delivered full-year outlook

Excluding the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso, PUMA delivered currency-adjusted sales growth above 8%, driven by the continued brand momentum and robust demand for its products. The operating result (EBIT) for the same period would have been above last year (2022: € 641 million). In a globally challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic environment, this represents a strong underlying operating performance and strict cost discipline.

“Our underlying operating performance was strong in 2023 and showed that we were well on track to meet all expectations. The accounting treatment of the hyperinflationary economy Argentina and its significant devaluation of the Argentine peso mid of December resulted in an extraordinary impact on fourth quarter and financial year results for 2023. Due to the magnitude and timing of this currency effect, we could not fully compensate the entire impact at the year-end. With a strong fourth quarter operating result we achieved a full-year EBIT absolutely in line with expectations as well as a significant improvement in the Free Cash Flow. This great achievement is thanks to the outstanding job of our entire PUMA family.” said Arne Freundt, CEO of PUMA.

Devaluation leads to significant gap between underlying operating performance and recorded financial performance

The extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso and its hyperinflationary accounting treatment led to a significant gap between the underlying operating performance - currency-adjusted sales growth of above 8% and EBIT above last year of € 641 million - and the recorded financial performance -currency-adjusted sales growth of around 6.6% and EBIT of approx. 
€ 622 million.

Fourth-quarter EBIT strong and fully in line with expectations

Despite the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentine peso, fourth-quarter EBIT was strong with approx. € 94 million (Q4 2022: € 41 million) and fully in line with expectations, driven by an improved gross profit margin and strict cost discipline. 
Although PUMA achieved an underlying operating sales growth, the application of hyperinflationary accounting led to a sales decline in the fourth quarter. On a currency-adjusted basis, sales declined by around 4.0% (reported sales declined by around 9.8%) to approx. € 1,982 million (Q4 2022: € 2,197 million). The devaluation of the Argentine peso especially impacted the fourth quarter financial result, resulting in a net income of approx. 
€ 0.8 million (Q4 2022: € 1.4 million).

In an ongoing volatile environment PUMA expects to grow mid single-digit in 2024

“For 2024, we foresee the geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges as well as highly volatile currencies to persist. This continues to weigh on consumer sentiment and demand, especially in the first half of 2024. While we cannot change these external factors, we continue to stay 100% focused on elevating the brand and bringing exciting product newness to the market.

We are in a better position at the start of 2024 than we were at the start of 2023: we have cleared our inventories, we have a product pipeline with exciting product newness and innovations and we will launch our new brand campaign soon.” said Arne Freundt. 
“We continue to stay hungry and have the ambition to continue to grab market shares.”

Supported by PUMA's continued brand momentum and despite continued global geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds, PUMA expects in the financial year 2024 a mid-single-digit currency-adjusted sales growth and an EBIT in the range of € 620 million to € 700 million (2023: approx. € 622 million). The outlook assumes that the future devaluation of the Argentine peso will be fully compensated by corresponding price increases in Argentina.

* Hyperinflation accounting requires according to IAS 29 an adjustment for inflation and the currency translation with the year-end currency rate instead of using the average currency rate of the full-year and the impact needs to be fully recognized in the respective quarter.
 

The award, which is based on a comprehensive survey of the Top Employers Institute, was given to PUMA in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and Latin America and for the first time in Poland and Ukraine. It is the second time PUMA has received this award globally and the fifth time the company has received the award in Europe.

“We are very proud that our efforts were once again recognized and that we became one of only 17 companies to receive the global Top Employer award,” said Dietmar Knoess, Vice President of People and Organization at PUMA. “We will take this result as an inspiration to work even harder to make PUMA a fantastic place to work.”

The Top Employers Institute certifies companies based on a survey, which covers six HR domains and 20 topics including People Strategy, Work Environment, Talent Acquisition, Learning, Diversity & Inclusion, Wellbeing and more.

To be an attractive employer, PUMA offers several services and benefits to its employees such as access to a large variety of courses and trainings, free access to a gym and sports courses.

PUMA also helps its employees balance their jobs and private lives with flexible working hours, mobile office, and the option to take up part-time employment or sabbaticals in different stages of their careers. Employees with children have access to special parent-child offices, nursing rooms, daycare spots and summer camps during school holidays.
 

In Sweden, PUMA was named a “Universal Fair Pay Developer”, which shows an adjusted gender pay gap of between +1 and -1%. PUMA Middle East, which is headquartered in Dubai, received the “Universal Fair Pay Leader” certificate, which shows that in addition to the adjusted gender pay gap of between +1 and -1%, it has also an unadjusted pay gap limited to between +10 and -10%.

Last year, PUMA was already named a “Universal Fair Pay Developer” in Germany, becoming only the second company in the country to receive this certification.

“We are very proud that our efforts to create a gender-neutral remuneration policy were once again recognized by FPI Fair Pay Innovation Lab,” said Dietmar Knoess, Vice President People & Organization at PUMA. “We will not stop here, however, and continue to improve our payment structures to offer equal pay everywhere.”

The adjusted pay gap takes into account pay differences that can be explained on the basis of managerial responsibility, age, job role, employment status, and evaluation.

To achieve equality in compensation, PUMA assesses pay for each position in a gender-neutral manner, focusing solely on job characteristics rather than individual employee traits. This approach enables a standardized and transparent process for wage increases.

FPI Fair Pay Innovation Lab is a German NGO, which helps companies analyse and improve remuneration strategies to ensure fair and equal pay for all employees.

"It is a great pleasure for me to award PUMA Middle East as the first Fair Pay Leader in the Middle East and also PUMA Sweden as Fair Pay Developer. Continuing on this journey, I am sure PUMA is only a few steps away from global certification. And it is a wonderful signal to all other companies," said Henrike von Platen, CEO & Founder FPI Fair Pay Innovation Lab.
 

Under the guidance of Johan Adamsson, the Global Director of Sports Marketing & Sports Licensing for PUMA, and Andrew Pragnell, CEO of New Zealand Football, the collaboration marks the beginning of an exciting chapter in international sports.

Johan Adamsson, Global Director of Sports Marketing & Licensed, PUMA, said: “We are delighted to partner with New Zealand Football. Football is one of the fastest growing sports in New Zealand and we are thrilled to be able to continue the growth of the beautiful game in the Oceania region. We are excited by the ambition of NZF and look forward to pursuing success on the international stage together.”

Andrew Pragnell, CEO, New Zealand Football, said: “This is an exciting new partnership that will take our national teams and New Zealand Football to the next level. PUMA’s commitment to excellence aligns with our ambition as a football association to continually raise the bar for the game in New Zealand. Football is the biggest participation sport in the country and this partnership will give it the support it deserves to continue that amazing growth.” 

Key Highlights of the Partnership:

The first international window featuring PUMA apparel is scheduled for February 2024, setting the stage for a year of sporting excellence.

PUMA will proudly equip all 10 New Zealand Football national teams, including the Men’s and Women’s teams from U-17 to the senior teams, as well as the futsal teams and eFootball team.

Boasting an illustrious history, the Men’s team, known as the All Whites after their iconic white shirt, has participated in the World Cup twice (1982 and 2010) and secured victory in the OFC Nations Cup five times. The Women’s team, the Ford Football Ferns, has showcased their prowess in the Women’s World Cup six times and clinched the OFC Nations Cup six times.

2024 will see New Zealand represented at the Paris Olympic Games as well as the Men’s futsal side, the Futsal Whites, playing in their first ever Futsal World Cup. 

New Zealand is witnessing a surge in football talent, with more players participating internationally and in Europe than ever before. As one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, football’s popularity is reaching new heights, further accelerated by the successful co-hosting of the Women’s World Cup with Australia in July and August 2023.