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. 

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.

FIRST QUARTER 2022

Sales increased by 19.7% (ca) to € 1,912.2 million (+23.5% reported). Americas reported the strongest sales growth of 44.1% (ca), driven by continued high demand for the PUMA brand in the North American and Latin American markets. Sales in EMEA were up 25.5% (ca), reflecting strong growth across all key markets in Europe. Sales in Asia/Pacific declined 17.0% (ca) due to the current market environment in Greater China resulting from COVID-19 related restrictions and geopolitical tensions. All product divisions grew double-digit with Footwear being up 18.2% (ca), Apparel 16.0% (ca) and Accessories 32.2% (ca). The growth was driven by a strong demand for our Performance categories like Running & Training, Teamsports, Golf and Basketball, as well as for the Sportstyle category.

PUMA’s Wholesale business increased by 23.3% (ca) to € 1,528.2 million and the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business was up by 7.1% (ca) to € 384.0 million. Sales in owned & operated retail stores increased 21.3% (ca) while e-commerce declined 13.2% (ca) as we continued to prioritize our retailers when supply was limited and due to the current market environment in Greater China.

The gross profit margin declined by 130 basis points to 47.2%, mainly caused by an unfavorable geographical and channel mix as well as higher freight rates while currencies had a slight positive effect. Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 18.6% to € 712.8 million as a result of higher marketing expenses, more retail stores operating as well as higher sales-related distribution and warehousing costs. Despite ongoing operating inefficiencies due to COVID-19, especially in the supply chain, the OPEX ratio decreased to 37.3% (Q1 2021: 38.8%).

The operating result (EBIT) increased by 27.0% to € 196.0 million (Q1 2021: € 154.3 million). A strong sales growth and an improved OPEX ratio resulted in an EBIT margin increase by 30 basis points to 10.3% (Q1 2021: 10.0%).

Net earnings increased from € 109.2 million to € 121.4 million and earnings per share were up by 11.1% from € 0.73 in the first quarter of 2021 to € 0.81 in the first quarter of 2022.

WORKING CAPITAL

The working capital increased by 35.8% to € 1,004.8 million (March 31, 2021: € 740.2 million). Inventories were up by 32.2% to € 1,618.3 million (March 31, 2021: € 1,224.0 million) with most of the increase driven by Goods in Transit. Given the uncertainty about the impact of the COVID-19-related restrictions on our suppliers in Asia, we accelerated the delivery of our products wherever possible. Trade receivables increased by 23.0% to € 1,128.5 million (March 31, 2021: € 917.5 million) mainly as a result of strong sales growth. On the liabilities side, trade payables increased by 20.9% to € 1,275.0 million (March 31, 2021: € 1,054.9 million).

OUTLOOK 2022

PUMA has had a strong start to the year with a sales growth of 19.7% (ca) to € 1,912 million and an EBIT increase of 27.0% to € 196 million in the first quarter of 2022, underlining the continued momentum of the PUMA brand in a difficult market environment.

The year 2022 has again started with a high level of uncertainty in the global business environment. Several governments have implemented regional or country-wide restrictions due to a record high of COVID-19 infections, which continue to impact our value chain from manufacturing to retail store operations. The overall supply chain situation remains challenging due to port congestions, limited shipping capacities and continued freight rate increases. The crisis in Ukraine is having a direct negative impact - leading to lost sales and EBIT - and an indirect impact through the general tense geopolitical situation and increasing uncertainty worldwide. As a result, we continue to see inflationary pressures in all markets.

Despite the increasing uncertainties in 2022, we confirm a currency-adjusted sales growth of at least ten percent – with upside potential – in the financial year 2022. In line with our previous outlook 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 largely depend on the degree and duration of the negative impacts described above. While we will stay focused on our growth momentum by servicing our retail partners and consumers in the best possible way, we expect inflationary pressures from higher freight rates and raw material prices, as well as operational inefficiencies due to COVID-19 and the Ukraine crisis to dilute 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 manage the challenges short-term without hindering the positive mid-term momentum. The strong and profitable growth in the first quarter, a strong orderbook, 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.

Second Quarter 2022

Sales increased by 18.4% (ca) to € 2,002.0 million (+26.0% reported), representing the highest quarterly sales in PUMA’s history. A continued high demand for the PUMA brand in the Americas region resulted in a strong sales growth of 25.6% (ca). Sales in EMEA were up 21.5% (ca), driven by strong growth across all key markets in Europe. Sales in Asia/Pacific declined 1.8% (ca) due to COVID-19 related lockdown measures in Greater China, while other major markets in Asia/Pacific recorded strong growth. All product divisions grew double-digit with Footwear being up 19.7% (ca), Apparel up 20.2% (ca) and Accessories up 11.2% (ca). In line with previous quarters, growth was driven by continued strong demand for our Performance categories like Running & Training, Teamsports, Golf and Basketball, as well as for the Sportstyle category.

PUMA’s Wholesale business increased by 22.6% (ca) to € 1,563.2 million and the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business was up by 5.5% (ca) to € 438.8 million. Sales in owned & operated retail stores increased 11.3% (ca), while e-commerce declined 4.1% (ca), mainly due to lockdown measures in Greater China. We continued to execute our strategy of being the best partner for our retailers and continued to prioritize them over DTC.

The gross profit margin decreased by 100 basis points to 46.5%, mainly caused by an unfavorable geographical and channel mix as well as higher freight rates, while currencies had a positive effect.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 21.6% to € 791.2 million as a result of higher marketing expenses, more retail stores operating as well as higher sales-related distribution and warehousing costs. Despite ongoing operating inefficiencies due to COVID-19, especially in the supply chain, the OPEX ratio decreased to 39.5% (Q2 2021: 40.9%) due to higher sales growth and continued OPEX control.

The operating result (EBIT) increased by 34.4% to € 146.3 million (Q2 2021: € 108.9 million). Strong sales growth and an improved OPEX ratio resulted in an EBIT margin increase by 40 basis points to 7.3% (Q2 2021: 6.9%).

Net earnings increased by 73.2% from € 48.7 million to € 84.3 million and earnings per share were up from € 0.33 in the second Quarter of 2021 to € 0.56 in the second Quarter of 2022.

First Half Year 2022

Sales increased by 19.0% (ca) to € 3,914.1 million (+24.7% reported). Americas led the growth with a 33.6% (ca) increase in sales, followed by the EMEA region, with all key markets in Europe contributing strong growth to a 23.5% (ca) increase in sales. Sales in the Asia/Pacific region were down 10.4% (ca) due to geopolitical tensions and COVID-19 related lockdown measures in Greater China, while other major markets in Asia/Pacific recorded strong growth. All product divisions grew double-digit, with Footwear being up 18.9% (ca), Apparel up 18.1% (ca) and Accessories up 20.9% (ca). 

The Wholesale business was up 22.9% (ca) to € 3,091.4 million and the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business increased by 6.2% (ca) to € 822.8 million. Sales in owned & operated retail stores increased 15.8% (ca), while e-commerce declined 8.6% (ca). E-commerce was impacted by our continued prioritization of retail partners and the lockdown measures in Greater China.

The gross profit margin decreased by 120 basis points to 46.8% (H1 2021: 48.0%). The decline was mainly caused by an unfavorable geographical and channel mix as well as higher freight rates, partially offset by currencies.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 20.2% to € 1,504.1 million (H1 2021: € 1,251.5 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 39.9% in the first half of 2021 to 38.4% in the first half of 2022 due to higher sales growth and continued OPEX control.

The operating result (EBIT) increased by 30.1% to € 342.4 million (H1 2021: € 263.2 million) due to a strong sales growth and an improved OPEX ratio. The EBIT margin improved by 30 basis points to 8.7% (H1 2021: 8.4%).

Net earnings increased by 30.3% from € 157.8 million to € 205.6 million and correspondingly earnings per share were up from € 1.06 in the first half of 2021 to € 1.37 in the first half of 2022.

Working Capital

The working capital increased by 54.3% to € 1,067.4 million (June 30, 2021: € 691.9 million). Inventories were up by 42.9% to € 1,984.4 million (June 30, 2021: € 1,388.7 million),  which continued to be impacted by higher Goods in Transit. Trade receivables increased by 27.8% to € 1,189.8 million (June 30, 2021: € 931.1 million) mainly as a result of strong sales growth. On the liabilities side, trade payables increased by 30.4% to € 1,657.1 million (June 30, 2021: € 1,270.6 million).
 

Cash Flow and Liquidity Situation

The free cash flow improved by 57.1% to € 38.6 million in the first half of 2022 (H1 2021:  € 24.6 million). As of June 30, 2022, PUMA had cash and cash equivalents of € 498.4 million, a decrease of 34.0% compared to the first half of 2021 (June 30, 2021: € 755.2 million). In addition, the PUMA Group had credit lines totaling € 1,276.9 million as of June 30, 2022 (June 30, 2021: € 1,424.1 million). Unutilized credit lines amounted to € 923.6 million on the balance sheet date compared to € 933.7 million in the first half of 2021. 

Brand & Strategy Update

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine, the first half of 2022 presented PUMA with several challenges that required us to remain flexible and find pragmatic solutions to continue to implement our strategy while taking care of the PUMA Family.

The wellbeing of our employees, athletes and partners in Ukraine was our immediate priority from the start of the crisis. We immediately secured safe accommodation in the west of Ukraine and set up additional housing options for our Ukrainian colleagues and their family members in Germany and Poland. We made sure that our colleagues who had to leave their home country received work permits and jobs in their new residences.

The crisis showed how we came together as a PUMA Family. We were inspired by our PUMAs who waited at the borders to welcome other PUMA employees and ambassadors who had fled Ukraine, as well as by our colleagues who drove to Ukraine to bring necessities such as food and clothes to their colleagues who had stayed in the country. 

At our headquarters in Herzogenaurach, we gathered product donations for aid organizations in Ukraine, to get help to those who needed it most. Several pallets of products also departed to Ukraine from our distribution center in Geiselwind.

For our efforts to provide an attractive workplace, PUMA was named a Top Employer 2022 in several regions of the world, including Europe and Asia/Pacific.

While the COVID-19 pandemic eased in Europe and the Americas in the first half of the year and we saw no further widespread store closures there, the situation in parts of Asia, especially in China, was still challenging for our store network and our supply chain. Our sourcing teams did an exceptional job to make sure that supply chain disruptions were kept to a minimum.

In 2022, we continued to implement our eight strategic priorities: brand heat, product ranges that are right for our consumers, a comprehensive offer for women, improving the quality of our distribution, increasing the speed and efficiency of our organizational infrastructure, leveraging our re-entry into basketball to improve our position in North America and to focus on local relevance and sustainability.

The performances of our track and field athletes at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, and the World Athletic Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA, underscored our credibility as a sports brand and created brand heat. PUMA enjoyed great visibility by equipping several federations and world-class athletes, in line with the company’s philosophy to provide the fastest athletes with the fastest products.

Among the highlights: In Belgrade, Ukrainian PUMA athlete Yaroslava Mahuchikh won gold in the high jump and created a very special moment at the event, as she won despite the crisis in her home country and the difficult three-day journey she had to make to get from Ukraine to Serbia.

In Eugene, Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson ran the second-fastest 200m time in history and in triple jump, Portuguese athlete Pedro Pichardo also won the gold with the performance of the year. Swedish pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis added another centimeter to his world record performance and won the gold medal with a leap of 6.21 meters.

Our PUMA family continued to grow in the first half. In track and field, we signed a multi-year contract with the Brazilian Confederation of Athletics (CBAt).

But those were not the only performances that boosted our brand heat: in Football, our PUMA teams AC Milan and Manchester City both won the title and Olympique de Marseille and Borussia Dortmund came in second in their respective leagues. PSV Eindhoven won the Dutch Cup.

At the end of the season, we secured a long-term extension to our partnership with AC Milan and became the official naming partner of the club’s training center for future talents, which will be called the “PUMA House of Football.”

We also expanded our reach in Football, as we became the official match ball provider of the Italian football league Serie A, starting from the 2022/23 season.

In North America, PUMA basketball athlete Marcus Smart was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year, while PUMA ambassador and ice hockey player Leon Draisaitl set an NHL record for most assists in a single playoff series. In Golf, Cobra PUMA Golf athlete Ewen Ferguson secured his first victory on the DP WORLD TOUR by winning the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

In Motorsport, we welcomed the British Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 driver George Russell and the Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN, including Finnish veteran Valtteri Bottas and Chinese rookie Zhou Guanyu.

As we continued to outfit the most successful teams in Formula 1, Scuderia Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes, we also benefited from the increasing popularity of the sport, especially in the United States, where the inaugural Miami Grand Prix was completely sold out in record time.

Through our new partnership with the five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen and Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, PUMA connected the world of chess with the world of sport to create engaging content and activations for chess fans around the world.

We engaged with our consumers in the virtual world, by announcing our largest collaboration in the Web3 space to date with 10KTF, an NFT project where users can buy digital outfits. We also worked with Wonder Works Studio to create “PUMA and the Land of Games” on the online gaming platform Roblox and gave players the opportunity to dress their virtual characters in PUMA gear.

PUMA further strengthened its distribution by entering new markets with the PUMA.com online store in Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. To highlight the best of the PUMA brand and be close to our most loyal consumers, PUMA introduced a shopping app for smartphones on the Indian market, which allows consumers to virtually try on selected products before they buy, see what the products look like in sophisticated 3D animations and purchase PUMA products in an efficient and quick check out process. The app will be gradually rolled out to other markets.

As we have a vast archive at our disposal, our designers can take inspiration from more than 70 years of history to create fashion forward and relevant products for our customers. With the Slipstream, which was introduced by our Ambassadors Neymar Jr, Danna Paola and Romeo Beckham in June, PUMA brought back the classic design from the 1980s to make a clean and modern sneaker. A collection with Australian skate label Butter Goods also used archive-inspired styles and featured apparel with retro-inspired designs and prints.

Together with French fashion brand AMI, we designed an exclusive collection that combined tailoring and innovative sportswear design with minimalistic branding. We elevated our Motorsport offering with our partner Ferrari to create the premium ION F sneaker and we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 911 RS 2.7 car with a limited edition of our classic SUEDE, which was sold out in hours.

New additions to our women’s offering included the Kosmo Rider, an expansion of the Rider franchise in bold colors and a chunky shape, which was promoted by social-media star and music artist Dixie D’Amelio. PUMA also presented a range of leak-free period underwear and activewear with Australian apparel company Modibodi, which was created to help women stay comfortable and active during their period.

In basketball, we added new styles to LaMelo Ball’s signature collection MB.01, such as the MB.01 Galaxy and a special edition on the animated series “Rick and Morty”, which became one of our most sought-after sneakers of 2022. We also welcomed the No. 2 overall pick from the 2022 WNBA draft NaLyssa Smith to our roster of PUMA Hoops athletes.

As local relevance continues to be an important part of our strategy to reach audiences in different parts of the world, we signed pop stars Eleni Foureira from Greece and Teodora from Serbia as brand ambassadors.

We entered a new category with the launch of a PUMA padel collection, including rackets, footwear, apparel and accessories, and signed padel players Jerónimo ‘Momo’ González, Victoria Iglesias, Marco Cassetta, and Xènia Clascà. We also continued to increase the number of locally developed products for the different regions, especially in the Sportstyle category.

In the first half of 2022, we made progress with our Forever Better sustainability strategy, especially when it comes to circularity. Our RE:SUEDE project, which tests whether we can make a biodegradable version of our iconic SUEDE sneaker, entered an important phase, as we distributed 500 pairs to participants in Germany and brand ambassadors such as Cara Delevingne, Raphaël Varane and Kyle Kuzma. After wearing them for half a year, our testers will return the sneakers to PUMA so we can see whether the RE:SUEDEs can be biodegraded in a controlled industrial setting.

We also introduced the RE:JERSEY recycling project with our football teams Manchester City, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Olympique de Marseille and Girona. In this project, we use existing football jerseys to produce new ones, in a chemical recycling process where we can even take old garments that feature logos, embroideries and club badges to create polyester yarn for new jerseys. Other more sustainable products included a vegan version of our classic KING football boot, the KING Platinum 21 Vegan.

In May, we announced that we had cut our own carbon emissions and those coming from our supply chain between 2017 and 2021, even though the business grew strongly in the same period. We are on track to reduce emissions by what scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

Part of our strategy to reduce carbon emissions is to switch to electric vehicles. At our warehouse in Torrance, California, USA, for example, we started transferring goods from the port of Los Angeles with a fully electric truck.

For our sustainability efforts, we were ranked as the most sustainable brand in the industry according to publication Business of Fashion, which evaluated the 30 largest companies in the fashion business.

In terms of organization, the Supervisory Board of PUMA SE has elected Héloïse Temple-Boyer as Chair of the Supervisory Board at its meeting in April. Héloïse Temple-Boyer has been a member of the Board since 2019 and is a member of the Audit Committee.

Outlook 2022 

PUMA performed very well in the first half of the year 2022. Based on continued brand momentum, successful product launches with strong sell-through and the best possible service to our retail partners and consumers, we delivered strong sales and EBIT growth.

While the first half of the year has been strong, we continue to face increasing geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties and challenges. The ongoing COVID-19-related restrictions, particularly in Asian markets, the crisis in Ukraine and persistently high inflation are negatively impacting consumer confidence and demand. In addition, ongoing supply chain constraints and price increases in sourcing and freight are limiting product availability and putting pressure on margins.

Considering the strong first half of the year, PUMA is raising its outlook from previously at least ten percent currency-adjusted sales growth – with upside potential – to mid-teens currency-adjusted sales growth. Due to the increased uncertainties, we reiterate our operating result (EBIT) to be in a range of € 600 million to € 700 million for the financial year 2022 (2021: € 557 million) and a corresponding improvement in net earnings. The development of our gross profit margin and OPEX-ratio will continue to depend largely on the extent and duration of the negative impacts described above. We expect inflationary pressures from higher freight rates and raw material prices, as well as operational inefficiencies due to COVID-19 and the Ukraine crisis, to dilute our profitability in 2022.

As in previous years, PUMA will continue to focus on managing the short-term challenges without hindering the mid-term momentum and will prioritize sales growth and market share gains over short-term profitability. The strong and profitable growth in the first half of the year, a strong orderbook, 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. 

Third Quarter 2022

Sales increased by 16.9% (ca) to € 2,354.4 million (+23.9% reported), representing the highest quarterly sales in PUMA’s history. The Americas region recorded a strong sales growth of 18.8% (ca). Sales in EMEA were up 18.5% (ca), driven by strong growth across almost all key markets in Europe. The Asia/Pacific region recorded sales growth for the first time this year (+9.8% ca). While COVID-19 related lockdown measures still impacted the business in Greater China, other key markets in Asia/Pacific delivered strong growth. Sales in Footwear were up 33.2% (ca) and Apparel grew 9.9% (ca), driven by continued strong demand for our Performance categories like Running & Training, Teamsports and Basketball, as well as for Sportstyle. Sales in Accessories were down 10.2% (ca) because of a softer leg- and bodywear-business, especially in North America.

PUMA’s Wholesale business increased by 19.9% (ca) to € 1,864.6 million and the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business was up by 6.5% (ca) to € 489.7 million. Sales in owned & operated retail stores increased 4.2% (ca) and e-commerce increased 11.8% (ca). We continued to focus on our strategy of being the best partner for our retailers, which supported the strong growth in our Wholesale distribution channel. At the same time, better product availability led to stronger growth in DTC, predominantly in e-commerce.

The gross profit margin decreased by 60 basis points to 46.8%, mainly caused by higher sourcing prices due to raw materials and freight rates as well as an unfavorable channel mix, while price adjustments and currencies had a positive impact.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 25.8% to € 853.2 million as a result of higher marketing expenses, a higher number of retail stores in operation as well as higher sales-related distribution costs. Because of ongoing operational inefficiencies due to COVID-19, especially in supply chain and warehousing, the OPEX ratio increased to 36.2% (Q3 2021: 35.7%).

The operating result (EBIT) increased by 12.6% to € 257.7 million (Q3 2021: € 228.9 million) and the EBIT margin came in at 10.9% (Q3 2021: 12.0%).

Net earnings increased by 1.8% to € 146.4 million (Q3 2021: € 143.8 million), reflecting a decrease in the financial result due to currency effects. Consequently, earnings per share amounted to € 0.98 (Q3 2021: € 0.96).

Nine Months 2022

Sales increased by 18.2% (ca) to € 6,268.5 million (+24.4% reported). Americas led the growth with a 28.1% (ca) increase in sales, followed by the EMEA region with all key markets in Europe contributing strong growth to a 21.4% (ca) increase in sales. Sales in the Asia/Pacific region were down 3.7% (ca) due to geopolitical tensions and COVID-19 related lockdown measures in Greater China, while other major markets in Asia/Pacific recorded strong growth. All product divisions delivered a solid growth, with Footwear being up 24.0% (ca), Apparel up 14.7% (ca) and Accessories up 8.9% (ca).

The Wholesale business was up 21.8% (ca) to € 4,956.0 million and the Direct-to-Consumer business (DTC) increased by 6.4% (ca) to € 1,312.5 million with growth in owned & operated retails stores (+11.1% ca) and a decline in e-commerce (-2.1% ca).

The gross profit margin decreased by 100 basis points to 46.8% (9M 2021: 47.8%). This was mainly caused by an unfavorable geographical and channel mix as well as higher sourcing prices due to raw materials and freight rates, which were partially offset by currencies and price adjustments.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 22.2% to € 2,357.3 million (9M 2021: € 1,929.5 million). Higher marketing expenses, a higher number of retail stores in operation, higher sales-related distribution and warehousing costs, as well as operational inefficiencies due to COVID-19 contributed to this increase. However, the respective OPEX ratio decreased to 37.6% (9M 2021: 38.3%) as a result of higher sales growth and continued OPEX control.

The operating result (EBIT) increased by 22.0% to € 600.1 million (9M 2021: € 492.1 million) due to strong sales growth and continued OPEX control. Consequently, the EBIT margin came in at 9.6% (9M 2021: 9.8%).

Net earnings increased by 16.7% to € 352.1 million (9M 2021: € 301.7 million) and earnings per share were € 2.35 (9M 2021: € 2.02).

Working Capital

The working capital increased by 86.2% to € 1,339.0 million (September 30, 2021: € 719.0 million). Inventories were up by 72.3% to € 2,350.2 million (September 30, 2021: € 1,363.9 million). The current inventory level is strongly impacted by currency effects, higher raw material prices and freight rates as well as earlier product purchasing. In addition, the third quarter last year was comparably low due to COVID-19 related factory closures in South Vietnam. Trade receivables increased by 21.9% to € 1,290.3 million (September 30, 2021: € 1,058.6 million), mainly as a result of strong sales growth. On the liabilities side, trade payables increased by 50.5% to € 1,810.2 million (September 30, 2021: € 1,202.8 million).

Outlook 2022

PUMA achieved record sales and EBIT in the first nine months of 2022 based on continued brand momentum, successful product launches and the best possible service to our retail partners and consumers.

While the first nine months of the year have been strong for PUMA, we continue to navigate in a highly uncertain geopolitical, macroeconomic and competitive environment. The situation in Ukraine, a global energy crisis, persistent inflation and rising interest rates are leading to uncertain consumer behavior and volatile demand. COVID-19-related restrictions are still impacting business in Greater China, and higher freight rates and raw material prices continue to put pressure on margins. At the same time, the overall inventory levels have increased at both retailers and brands. The higher inventory levels, combined with uncertainty and volatility in the markets, are leading to increased promotional activity and retailers ordering later and more conservatively.

Despite the highly uncertain environment, PUMA reiterates its 2022 outlook for currency adjusted mid-teens sales growth, and an operating result (EBIT) in a range of € 600 million to € 700 million (2021: € 557 million). PUMA’s net earnings are expected to improve accordingly. The development of the gross profit margin and OPEX-ratio will continue to depend largely on the extent and duration of the negative impacts described above. In line with previous expectations, PUMA estimates that inflationary pressures from higher freight rates and raw material prices, as well as operational inefficiencies due to COVID-19 and the Ukraine crisis will dilute the profitability in 2022.

In line with the strategy, PUMA will continue to focus on managing short-term challenges without compromising the mid-term momentum of the brand. Consequently, sales growth and market share gains will have priority over short-term profitability. The strong and profitable growth in the first nine months of the year, a strong order book, 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.

Fourth Quarter 2022

Sales increased by 21.1% (ca) to € 2,196.6 million (+24.3% reported). The Americas region delivered strong sales growth of 29.0% (ca), especially led by the strong performance in Latin America. Sales in EMEA were up 26.1% (ca), driven by strong growth across almost all key markets in Europe. The Asia/Pacific region recorded a sales growth of 1.6% (ca). COVID19 related lockdown measures and geopolitical tensions continued to impact business in Greater China, while other key markets in Asia/Pacific delivered strong growth. Sales in Footwear were up 53.3% (ca), driven by continued strong demand for our Performance categories like Running & Training, Teamsports and Basketball, as well as for Sportstyle. Sales in Apparel and Accessories declined by 1.6% and 5.0% (ca) respectively, mainly because of softer demand in North America and Greater China.

PUMA’s Wholesale business increased by 25.7% (ca) to € 1,557.7 million and the Direct-toConsumer (DTC) business was up by 11.0% (ca) to € 638.9 million. Sales in owned & operated retail stores increased 10.8% (ca) and e-commerce increased 11.4% (ca). The strong growth in our Wholesale distribution channel was supported by our continued focus on being the best partner for our retailers. At the same time, as expected, improved product availability led to stronger growth in the DTC business, especially in e-commerce. The gross profit margin decreased by 420 basis points to 44.0% (Q4 2021: 48.2%), mainly due to an industry-wide increase in promotional activity as a result of high inventory levels in the market. In addition, higher sourcing prices due to raw materials and freight rates as well as an unfavorable distribution channel mix had a negative impact, while price adjustments partially compensated for the negative effects.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 18.1% to € 938.7 million (Q4 2021: € 795.1 million) as a result of higher marketing expenses, a higher number of retail stores in operation as well as higher sales-related distribution costs. The OPEX ratio improved by 230 basis points to 42.7% (Q4 2021: 45.0%) as a result of higher sales growth and continued focus on OPEX control.

The operating result (EBIT) decreased by 37.6% to € 40.5 million (Q4 2021: € 65.0 million) and the EBIT margin came in at 1.8% (Q4 2021: 3.7%).

The taxes on income showed a gain of € 9.6 million (Q4 2021: expense of € 11.2 million) due to an improved outlook for the future utilization of tax loss carryforwards.

Net earnings decreased by 82.0% to € 1.4 million (Q4 2021: € 7.9 million) and earnings per share amounted to € 0.01 (Q4 2021: € 0.05).

Full Year 2022

Sales increased by 18.9% (ca) to € 8,465.1 million (+24.4% reported). The Americas region recorded the strongest sales growth of 28.3% (ca), with Latin America exceeding € 1 billion in sales for the first time in history. EMEA was the second fastest growing region with a sales growth of 22.5% (ca), with all key markets in Europe growing at double digits. Sales in the Asia/Pacific region were down 2.2% (ca) due to COVID-19 related lockdown measures and geopolitical tensions in Greater China, while other major markets in Asia/Pacific recorded strong growth. All product divisions delivered a solid growth, with Footwear being up 30.8% (ca), Apparel up 10.1% (ca) and Accessories up 5.4% (ca).

The Wholesale business was up 22.7% (ca) to € 6,513.7 million and the Direct-to-Consumer business (DTC) increased by 7.8% (ca) to € 1,951.4 million with growth in owned & operated retails stores (+11.0% ca) and e-commerce (+2.2% ca).

The gross profit margin decreased by 180 basis points to 46.1% (FY 2021: 47.9%). This was driven by higher sourcing prices due to raw material price and freight rate increases, a less favorable channel mix and industry-wide promotional activity towards the end of the year. The negative effects were partially offset by price adjustments and currency effects.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 21.0% to € 3,295.9 million (FY 2021: € 2,724.6 million). The increase was driven by higher marketing expenses, a higher number of retail stores in operation, higher sales-related distribution and warehousing costs as well as operational inefficiencies due to COVID-19. However, the respective OPEX ratio improved by 110 basis points to 38.9% (FY 2021: 40.0%) as a result of higher sales growth and continued focus on OPEX control.

The operating result (EBIT) increased by 15.0% to € 640.6 million (FY 2021: € 557.1 million) due to strong sales growth and continued OPEX control. The EBIT margin came in at 7.6% (FY 2021: 8.2%).

The financial result decreased to € -88.9 million (FY 2021: € -51.8 million).This development is mainly attributable to expenses related to forward exchange transactions ("swap points"). In the financial year 2022, earnings before taxes (EBT) increased by 9.2% to € 551.7 million (FY 2021: € 505.3 million). Tax expenses were at € 127.4 million (FY 2021: € 128.5 million) and the tax rate improved to 23.1% in 2022 (FY 2021: 25.4%).

Net earnings improved by 14.2% to € 353.5 million (FY 2021: € 309.6 million) and earnings per share were at € 2.36 (FY 2021: € 2.07).

Working Capital

The working capital increased by 49.3% to € 1,086.8 million (December 31, 2021: € 727.9 million). Inventories were up by 50.4% to € 2,245.1 million (December 31, 2021: € 1,492.2 million), representing a good improvement compared to the year-over-year growth rate of 72.3% at the end of Q3. The increased inventory level is strongly impacted by earlier product 6 purchasing to mitigate the impacts of the disrupted supply chain as well as higher sourcing prices due to raw material price and freight rate increases. Trade receivables increased by 25.6% to € 1,064.9 million (December 31, 2021: € 848.0 million), mainly as a result of strong sales growth. On the liabilities side, trade payables increased by 47.5% to € 1,734.9 million (December 31, 2021: € 1,176.5 million).

Cash Flow and Liquidity Situation

The free cash flow decreased by 35.7% to € 177.5 million in 2022 (FY 2021: € 276.2 million). As of December 31, 2022, PUMA had cash and cash equivalents amounting to € 463.1 million, a decrease of 38.9% compared to end of 2021 (December 31, 2021: € 757.5 million). In addition, the PUMA Group had credit lines totaling € 1,271.0 million as of December 31, 2022 (December 31, 2021: € 1,322.0 million). Unutilized credit lines were at € 943.7 million on the balance sheet date, compared to € 942.0 million at the end of 2021.

Proposal of a Dividend of € 0.82 per share

Based on the positive net earnings in 2022, the Management Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting on May 24, 2023 to distribute a dividend of € 0.82 per share for the financial year 2022. The payout ratio for the financial year 2022 will be 34.7% (FY 2021: 34.8%) 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 & Strategy Update

Faced with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine in 2022, we put the wellbeing of our PUMA Family first and kept a flexible and pragmatic mindset to execute our strategy and continue our strong growth momentum. 7 From the beginning of the war, we focused on our employees, athletes and partners in Ukraine. We offered safe accommodation in Western Ukraine and welcomed many employees and their families in Germany and Poland, where we also helped with work permits and jobs. PUMA also helped with product donations for aid organizations in Ukraine to get help to those who needed it most. 

While the COVID-19 pandemic eased in Europe and the Americas, the situation in 2022 remained challenging in parts of Asia, especially in China, where our employees did an exceptional job despite the repeated lockdowns. The tireless work of our sourcing teams ensured that supply chain disruptions were kept to a minimum throughout the year.

Providing an attractive workplace is an important part of our people strategy, which is why we were very honored to be named “Global Top Employer” for the first time in early 2023. In 2022, we also received several recognitions as an employer such as “Company of the Year” at the German Diversity Awards.

At the start of 2023, a gender pay gap analysis, which was independently certified, showed that PUMA has closed the pay gap between men and women among its employees in Germany. This makes PUMA the second company in Germany to receive the title “Universal Fair Pay Developer" by organization FPI Fair Pay Innovation Lab.

PUMA kept its eight strategic priorities unchanged in 2022: brand heat, product ranges that are right for our consumers, a comprehensive offer for women, quality of our distribution, speed and efficiency of our organizational infrastructure, re-entry into Basketball to improve our position in North America and a focus on local relevance as well as sustainability.

As a sports company, the successes of PUMA’s sponsored athletes and teams increase our brand heat.

In 2022, our PUMA team Morocco sensationally reached the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, becoming the first African team to do so in the history of the tournament. Our players Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Raphaël Varane were in France’s starting 8 line-up in the final. Neymar Jr. scored his 77th goal for Brazil, equaling the record of football icon and PUMA player Pelé.

In club football, our PUMA teams AC Milan and Manchester City won the league titles in Italy and England, while Olympique de Marseille and Borussia Dortmund came in second in France and Germany. In the Netherlands, PSV Eindhoven won the Dutch Cup.

At the end of the season 2021/22, we secured a long-term extension to our partnership with AC Milan and became the official naming partner of the club’s training center for future talents, which will be called the “PUMA House of Football.” We also expanded our reach in football, as we became the official match ball provider of the Italian football league Serie A, starting from the 2022/23 season. 

At the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, USA, Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson ran the second fastest 200m time in history, Portuguese athlete Pedro Pichardo took the gold in the triple jump with the best performance of 2022 and Swedish pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis set yet another world record of 6.21 meters. Because of his amazing performances in 2022, Mondo was named “Male Athlete of the Year”. Our Ukrainian PUMA athlete Yaroslava Mahuchikh won gold in the high jump at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia and the European Championships in Munich, Germany.

Throughout the year, we added several new track and field ambassadors to our roster such as Mutaz Essa Barshim, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Abby Steiner and Emmanuel Korir. In early 2023, Olympic 100m Champion Marcell Jacobs also joined the PUMA Family. 

With Scuderia Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes AMG Petronas, PUMA partnered with the most successful teams of the 2022 Formula 1 season. The increasing popularity of motorsport, and Formula 1 in particular, amplifies these strong partnerships, especially in the United States, where Miami hosted its first Grand Prix in 2022, which was immediately sold out. 

In Golf, Cobra PUMA Golf athlete Ewen Ferguson won the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and the ISPS Handa World Invitational, while Olivia Cowan claimed her maiden Ladies 9 European Tour Victory in India at the Hero Women’s Open. Lexi Thompson won the title at the Aramco Team Series in New York.

Working with ambassadors from culture, music and fashion also creates brand heat for PUMA and helps us to connect with our Gen Z audience. In 2022, we announced a long-term partnership with British-Nigerian rapper and record producer Skepta, with whom we developed a global media campaign for the RS-X sneaker, and who will also design his own PUMA collections.

At the New York Fashion Week, our spectacular FUTROGRADE show took place both on the runway and in the virtual world. The show was curated by PUMA Creative Director June Ambrose, with special appearances by PUMA ambassadors such as Winnie Harlow, Kyle Kuzma, Davido and Usain Bolt.

With the FUTROGRADE event, we continued to explore the possibilities of Web3. We sold two exclusive NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) as part of the event: A collectible NFT and another which could be exchanged for a pair of futuristic sneakers in the real world.

Whether it is Web3, the Metaverse or NFTs, the virtual world is becoming increasingly relevant for our young audiences. In 2022, we unveiled our largest Web3 collaboration to date with 10KTF and launched “PUMA and the Land of Games” on the online gaming platform Roblox. This virtual environment was also used to launch a real product, Manchester City’s new third kit.

In 2022, we significantly improved our product offering across all business units.

Our performance footwear, especially the running styles VELOCITY and DEVIATE which feature PUMA’s NITRO technology, showed strong sell-through and won awards such as the Runner’s World Editor’s Choice Gold Medal.

We expanded our product offering in Running & Training and introduced our SEASONS collection, a range of outdoor items made to protect against the elements all year round. 

Our innovative PUMA ULTRA and FUTURE as well as the classic KING football boots were very successful and gained market share throughout the year. For the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, we launched our football boots in the “Fearless Pack” edition. They were worn by 105 players in the tournament and very visible on pitch thanks to their striking colors.

We reintroduced an important sneaker style from our archives, the SLIPSTREAM, which was presented by PUMA ambassadors such as Neymar Jr, Danna Paola and Romeo Beckham in a global campaign. As part of our collaborations with AMI Paris, MCM, Palomo Spain, Vogue, Pokémon, Garfield and others we created fashion-forward Sportstyle collections that resonated well with our customers.

Our women’s offering also benefited from the launch of innovative products in Sportstyle, Teamsport, Basketball and other business units in 2022.

Global pop superstar Dua Lipa headed the campaigns for successful women’s styles such as the MAYZE and the SLIPSTREAM in 2022, and she presented the second drop of her own collection called “Flutur”, which featured bold designs and colors.

To capture the increasing popularity of women’s football at the UEFA Women’s Euro in England, we launched special editions of the FUTURE 1.4 and the ULTRA ULTIMATE football boots in women’s specific fits. With Austria, Iceland, Italy and Switzerland, PUMA supported four teams and more than 70 individual players at the tournament.

Our strategy to offer women’s specific fits in performance sports included Basketball, where we presented the Stewie 1, the first signature shoe for a female athlete in over a decade with WNBA star Breanna “Stewie” Stewart.

The success of our athletes in basketball has increased our credibility in the sport, an important part of our positioning in the North American market. PUMA Basketball athlete LaMelo Ball became the fourth-youngest player to compete in the NBA All Star Game, while Marcus Smart was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year and Jackie Young the most improved player of the year in the WNBA.

Our partnership with LaMelo Ball has also been a great commercial success, with the introduction of his first signature shoe, MB.01, which quickly sold out in several styles and colors. In 2022, we continued this successful collaboration with several versions of LaMelo’s second shoe, the MB.02, for which we also saw very good sell-through.

To improve our distribution reach around the world, we launched our PUMA.com online store in the Philippines, Thailand, Norway, Saudi Arabia and several other new countries in the Middle East and Africa, now servicing consumers in more than 50 countries. For our most loyal consumers we created our new PUMA Shopping App which offers virtual try-ons of selected products and a simple check-out process. The App was launched in India, the USA, the UK and Japan in 2022 with further markets to follow in 2023 and received great ratings by our consumers. We also expanded our network of PUMA Stores around the world, including new flagship stores in Singapore and Buenos Aires.

It is important for us to complement our international offer with products that have strong local relevance. This also includes our presence in sports such as cricket, rugby, padel or handball, where PUMA team Denmark won the Men’s Handball World Championship for a record-breaking third time in a row in early 2023. We also signed new locally relevant brand ambassadors, such as pop singers Eleni Foureira from Greece, Teodora from Serbia or most recently the captain of the women’s Indian Cricket Team Harmanpreet Kaur.

To reach out to young audiences who are particularly concerned about sustainability, the environment and climate change, we held our first ‘Conference of the People’ in London. In an open conversation about sustainability in our industry, our industry peers, activists, NGOs, experts and ambassadors joined Gen Z representatives on stage. We took the opportunity to explain our Forever Better sustainability strategy in great detail, including the RE:SUEDE and RE:JERSEY circularity projects. But we also listened and gathered valuable feedback on how to talk to young generations about sustainability. 

As part of our biodegradability experiment RE:SUEDE, 500 volunteers in Germany tested an experimental version of our iconic SUEDE for half a year before returning the worn sneakers to us. PUMA will now explore whether they can be biodegraded in a controlled industrial setting. 12 Our circularity project RE:JERSEY was introduced with PUMA football teams Manchester City, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Olympique de Marseille and Girona FC. Here we trialed a novel chemical recycling process, which turns old polyester garments into yarn for new products. We expect to scale up this process in the coming years to help reach our circularity and recycling goals.

On a corporate level, we announced that we had reduced our own carbon emissions and those coming from our supply chain between 2017 and 2021, even though the business grew strongly in the same period.

These and other sustainability efforts were recognized when industry publication Business of Fashion named PUMA the most sustainable brand in a ranking of 30 companies. We also received the Footwear News Sustainability Leadership Award and were given the highest possible mark for our transparency and performance on climate change by not-for-profit charity CDP.

In terms of organization, Arne Freundt was appointed as CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of PUMA SE in November. Arne has more than ten years of experience at PUMA and most recently worked as Chief Commercial Officer and as a Member of the Management Board. He replaces Bjørn Gulden, who left the company in 2022 after nine years as CEO. Our management board was strengthened to four members when Maria Valdes was appointed Chief Product Officer in December.

In April, Héloïse Temple-Boyer became the new Chair of PUMA’s Supervisory Board. She has been a part of the Supervisory Board since 2019 and is a member of the Audit Committee. 

Outlook 2023

PUMA achieved another record in sales and operating result (EBIT) in the financial year 2022. We delivered the strong growth based on our continued brand momentum, successful product launches and the best possible service for our athletes, retail partners and consumers. As people make the difference, a significant part of our momentum is due to our highly engaged employees.

Despite the strong growth in 2022, we continue to face a high degree of geopolitical, macroeconomic and commercial uncertainty. The war in Ukraine, the threat of recession, high inflation and high interest rates are resulting in volatile retailer and consumer demand. In addition, we are seeing increased inventory levels across our industry, which contribute to a competitive market environment. For 2023, we assume that there will be no further deterioration of the above mentioned factors and expect a normalization of market conditions in the U.S. and China.

Considering PUMA's strong momentum, we expect currency-adjusted sales growth in the high single-digit percentage range and operating result (EBIT) in a range of € 590 million to € 670 million (2022: € 641 million) for the financial year 2023. PUMA’s net earnings are expected to change accordingly.

The development of the gross profit margin and OPEX ratio will largely depend on the extent and the duration of the negative impacts described above. Given the timing of these unfavorable factors, we expect the gross profit margin to be under more pressure in the first half of the year than in the second half. For the full year 2023, PUMA expects currencies, higher freight rates and raw material prices to again dilute profitability.

In line with previous years, PUMA will continue to focus on managing short-term challenges without compromising the mid- and long-term momentum of the brand. Our sales growth and market share gains will have priority over short-term profitability. The exciting product range for 2023 and the very good feedback from retail partners as well as consumers make us confident for the mid- and long-term success and continued growth of PUMA. 

First Quarter 2023

Sales increased by 14.4% (ca) to € 2,187.7 million (+14.4% reported). The EMEA region recorded strong sales growth of 25.4% (ca) to € 883.8 million and Asia/Pacific grew 27.4% (ca) to € 476.0 million, supported by a return to growth in Greater China for the first time in two years. Sales in the Americas came in at € 827.9 million (-0.8% ca) due to a decline in North America, while Latin America continued to show strong growth. The decline in North America was due to a lower sell-in to the Wholesale distribution channel, particularly to off-price retailers, as a result of high inventory levels in the market. This development underlines the importance of PUMA’s strategy to reduce its relative dependency on the off-price Wholesale business and the need to strengthen its business with more desirable retailers in North America. While the overall business declined in North America, PUMA continued to show growth in all of its strategic performance categories and its DTC business in North America. PUMA benefited from geographic diversification of its business, as strong growth in other regions more than offset the decline in North America, resulting in a double-digit growth rate for the PUMA Group.

Sales in Footwear were up 28.8% (ca), driven by continued strong demand for our Performance categories like Football, Basketball, Running & Training and Golf as well as for the Sportstyle category. Sales in Apparel grew by 1.5% (ca), while Accessories declined by 1.7% (ca), mainly because of softer leg- and bodywear business, especially in North America.

PUMA’s Wholesale business increased by 12.4% (ca) to € 1,722.1 million and the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business was up by 22.5% (ca) to € 465.5 million. Sales in owned & operated retail stores increased 17.3% (ca) and e-commerce was up 32.7% (ca). The strong growth in DTC, especially in e-commerce, was primarily driven by continued brand momentum and improved product availability. This resulted in an increased DTC share of 21.3% (Q1 2022: 20.1%). The Wholesale distribution channel continued to grow at a double-digit rate despite high inventory levels in the trade. PUMA continues to focus on the Wholesale distribution channel to be the best partner to retailers.

The gross profit margin declined by 70 basis points to 46.5% (Q1 2022: 47.2%). The ongoing industry-wide promotional activity, higher sourcing and freight costs as well as unfavorable currency effects had a negative impact on the gross profit margin. However, the negative effects were partially offset by price adjustments, a favorable geographical and distribution channel mix.

Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 19.0% to € 848.3 million (Q1 2022: € 712.8 million). The increase was driven by higher sales-related distribution and other variable costs, mainly associated with strong e-commerce growth, a higher number of retail stores in operation as well as higher marketing expenses. As a consequence, the OPEX ratio increased by 150 basis points to 38.8% (Q1 2022: 37.3%).

The operating result (EBIT) decreased by 10.5% to € 175.5 million (Q1 2022: € 196.0 million) and the EBIT margin came in at 8.0% (Q1 2022: 10.3%).

Net income decreased by 3.4% to € 117.3 million (Q1 2022: € 121.4 million) at a lower rate than EBIT due to improved financial result and lower non-controlling interests. The earnings per share amounted to € 0.78 (Q1 2022: € 0.81). 

Working Capital

The working capital increased by 74.3% to € 1,751.5 million (March 31, 2022: € 1,004.8 million). Inventories were up by 32.7% to € 2,147.3 million (March 31, 2022: € 1,618.3 million). This represents a further improvement and shows that PUMA is on track to rightsize its inventories – also in North America and Greater China. Trade receivables increased by 13.2% to € 1,276.9 million (March 31, 2022: € 1,128.5 million), which is in line with business growth. On the liabilities side, trade payables increased by 0.6% to € 1,282.7 million (March 31, 2022: € 1,275.0 million).

Outlook 2023

PUMA has successfully started the year with double-digit sales growth in the first quarter of 2023. The growth was based on continued brand momentum, new product launches and our partnership approach along our value chain with athletes, retailers and suppliers. PUMA benefited from strong geographical diversification of its business, as strong growth including Greater China more than offset the market headwinds in North America. At the same time, continued demand for our products and our operational agility allowed us to further rightsize our inventory levels.

While PUMA’s start to 2023 has been successful, the macroeconomic situation and overall uncertainty in the trade remain challenging. Recession fears in various markets, persistently high inflation and elevated interest rates are leading to muted consumer sentiment and volatile demand in retail. In addition, elevated inventory levels in the market contribute to a slower sell-in to the Wholesale channel at the moment.

Based on PUMA's strong start to 2023, continued brand momentum and strong growth across our performance categories, we confirm high single-digit percentage currency-adjusted sales growth and operating result (EBIT) in a range of € 590 million to € 670 million (2022: € 641 million) for the financial year 2023. PUMA’s net income is expected to change accordingly. 

For the second quarter, PUMA expects low to mid single-digit sales growth due to high inventory levels in the trade trade and continued headwinds in the market.

The development of the gross profit margin and OPEX ratio will largely depend on the extent and the duration of the negative impacts described above as well as the regional and channel mix. Given the timing of these unfavorable factors, we expect the gross profit margin and profitability to be under more pressure in the first half of the year than in the second half. For the full year 2023, PUMA expects currencies, promotional activity and raw material prices to continue to dilute profitability.

PUMA will continue to focus on managing short-term challenges without compromising the mid- and long-term momentum of the brand, as in previous years. Our sales growth and market share gains will have priority over short-term profitability. The exciting product range for 2023 and very good feedback from retailers on our product pipeline for 2024 make us confident for the mid- and long-term success and continued growth momentum of PUMA