2013 Second Quarter Facts

• Consolidated sales decline by 4.0% currency adjusted to € 692 million
• Strong sales growth in the UK, India and Russia
• Southern Europe and the Far East remain challenging
• Ongoing Transformation and Cost Reduction Program implementation leads to lower operating expenses
• EPS retreats from € 1.78 to € 1.17
• New CEO, COO and Global Creative Director have taken up office
• Multi-award winning Mobium Elite running shoe is gathering momentum

2013 First Six Months Facts

• Consolidated sales decrease by 3.1% currency adjusted to € 1.47 billion
• Gross profit margin equal to 47.7%
• EPS amounts to € 4.54

Michael Laemmermann, Chief Financial Officer of PUMA SE: “Despite sluggish performances in Southern Europe and the Far East as well as currency headwinds impacting sales, PUMA’s second quarter performance was in line with our full-year guidance. We have pushed forward with our Transformation and Cost Reduction Program and continued to reduce the number of underperforming retail stores. With our new Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officers as well as Global Creative Director onboard, we are well positioned to secure profitable, long term growth.”

Sales Performance by Region

PUMA’s consolidated sales declined by 4.0% currency adjusted from € 753 million to € 692 million as a result of lower sales in all regions during the second quarter of 2013. Sales in Euro terms fell by 8.0% due to negative currency effects in various countries, notably in Japan, Argentina and South Africa.

Eastern European growth boosted by Russian Market

The EMEA region recorded a decline of 4.7% currency adjusted with sales of € 266 million in the second quarter. PUMA’s sales performance in Eastern Europe bucked the current sluggish business trend in Europe, delivering mid-single digit sales growth currency adjusted. Russia in particular rose strongly, delivering strong double-digit currency adjusted growth against a background of continuing retail portfolio optimization. Sales in Turkey rose likewise, driven in particular by an improved retail performance. However, these excellent performances were more than offset by slowing sales in Western and Southern Europe with France and Italy in particular not meeting expectations within the region.

In the Americas sales softened by 1.3% currency adjusted to € 267 million in the second quarter of 2013, including strong comparables. While sales in the US market decreased slightly and performance in Chile slowed, Canada and Argentina improved significantly. Golf products resonated particularly well with consumers in Canada, while in Argentina improved product availability due to increased local production underpinned strong sales growth.

Sales in the Asia/Pacific region fell by 7.2% currency adjusted to € 159 million, declining in nearly all markets. Although India continues to deliver another excellent quarterly performance, where our cricket offering continues to perform, and sales in Japan were positive on a currency adjusted basis, this was compensated by slow-downs in Korea and China, where some wholesalers have consolidated and high inventories persist within the market.

Mixed half-year regional performance

During the first six months of 2013, sales in EMEA declined by 4.8% currency adjusted to € 614 million as major markets continued to underperform. However, the Americas performed much better, with sales being up slightly by 0.2% currency adjusted to € 527 million. Asia/Pacific finished down by 5.0% currency adjusted at € 333 million for the first half of the year.

Retail Business continues to grow as Transformation Program takes effect

PUMA has continued to optimize its retail portfolio, notably by closing non-performing stores in line with the Transformation and Cost Reduction Program. This, combined with the opening of new, profitable stores and an improved e-commerce platform, has helped to propel PUMA’s retail performance. Retail Sales increased by 3.4% currency adjusted in the second quarter to € 149 million and by 8.1% during the first six months of the year to € 284 million, which represents 19.3% of our total sales.

Sales Performance by Segment

Innovative Running Shoe Mobium is making Strides

Currency adjusted Footwear sales moved down by 7.3% to € 330 million in the second quarter of 2013. Although our Lifestyle category continues to perform well, Motorsport did not meet expectations and Teamsport was lower due to high comparables from last year’s sales triggered by the Euro 2012. However, PUMA’s top-selling adaptive running shoe Mobium Elite has won multiple awards. It has garnered accolades across the globe, including Most Innovative (Competitor Magazine/US), Best New Technology (Go Multi/South Africa) and Best Debut (Runner’s World China). PUMA’s Mobium Elite will continue to evolve and thrive with new colors and hues available in the coming seasons. The new evoSPEED football boot, which was launched in the second quarter, is also off to a good start with positive sell-through rates at major football specialty retailers.

Sales in the Apparel segment declined by 6.8% currency adjusted to € 227 million. While the Lifestyle and Fitness categories remained below expectations in the second quarter, PUMA’s football category benefitted from Borussia Dortmund’s outstanding performances in the Champions League.

Accessories climbed by 10.9% currency adjusted to € 136 million, as our joint ventures for socks and bodywear continued to outperform. Cobra PUMA Golf – one of PUMA’s currently most successful categories – grew by double digits. Golf professional and PUMA partner Jonas Blixt recently underscored Cobra PUMA Golf’s burgeoning reputation, winning the Greenbrier Classic, his first US PGA tournament of the year. With his Cobra Clubs and PUMA Apparel and Footwear, Jonas cleared up the field to win by two strokes.

Varied half yearly segment sales

Footwear sales in the first half of the year were down by 7.5% currency adjusted to € 703 million. Likewise Apparel, where sales retreated by 3.8% currency adjusted to € 483 million. Accessories, however, advanced by 11.4% currency adjusted to € 288 million.

PUMA has had great successes with its partnered athletes and teams in the first half of the year. The focus now turns to the Track & Field World Championships in Moscow in August, where PUMA will be partnering eight national teams in the competition. Their performances will not only further improve PUMA’s brand visibility but also our product expertise in the Running category.

Transformation and Cost Reduction Program in line with plan

PUMA continued to realize its quarterly objectives in effecting the Transformation and Cost Reduction Program during the second quarter of 2013. The company’s retail portfolio delivered growth whilst being optimized, as unprofitable stores were closed and at the same time new, profitable stores opened in the second quarter. PUMA has now closed 60 stores within the Transformation Program since the beginning of the year, which also impacted the total sales number.

In line with the Transformation and Cost Reduction Program, PUMA has also continued with its divestiture of non-core marketing and sponsorship assets and will continue to do so in the second half of the year. In addition, there has been further streamlining within PUMA’s European operations, as the organization follows its path towards a more efficient, fully regional setup, and also amongst our business unit structure, both helping us to become a more market and consumer focused organization.

This is all part of the management’s clear aim of invigorating the brand desirability and rejuvenating the product offering, with a sharp focus on core markets and categories. PUMA continues to foster an entrepreneurial culture and cultivate strong sales forces in its markets, thriving on the high motivation of its employees.

Margin, Expenses and Profitability

Gross Profit Margin abates

The expected pressure on margins continued during the second quarter of 2013, pushing PUMA’s gross profit margin down from 49.1% to 46.0%. Ongoing currency headwinds arising from negative hedging positions compared to the same period last year, increased promotional activity as well as the regional and Footwear product mix combined to exert pressure on the margin. Footwear margin dropped from 48.3% to 44.1%, further impacted by discounts. Apparel fell from 49.4% to 47.0% and Accessories fell from 51.1% to 49.2%

The gross profit margin also declined over the first six months of the year from 50.2% to 47.7%. Footwear moved down from 48.9% to 45.1%, Apparel retreated from 51.5% to 49.4% and Accessories ebbed from 51.5% to 51.0%.

Maintained OPEX focus delivers an improved OPEX ratio

As PUMA continues to implement the Transformation and Cost Reduction Program laid out last year, the Company continues to benefit in terms of reduced operating expenditure throughout the firm. Operating expenditures declined by almost 11% from € 327 million to € 292 million during the second quarter of 2013, underpinning our efforts to further improve the overall efficiency of our organization. This OPEX reduction has resulted in a decrease in the OPEX ratio by 130bps year-on-year to 42.2% in the second quarter.

OPEX also fell during the first half of 2013 compared to 2012 and improved from € 650 million to € 602 million, with OPEX ratio decreasing to 40.8%.

Operating Result (EBIT) weakens

Although, and as mentioned above, PUMA continues to achieve significant savings through the Cost Reduction Program, those could not offset the decline in sales and gross profit margin. As a result, EBIT declined from € 47 million to € 31 million in the second quarter. Similarly, half-year EBIT declined from € 149 million to € 110 million, equal to an EBIT margin of 7.5%.

Financial Result

The second quarter financial result was broadly stable at € -4 million. Currency fluctuations during the first half of the year moved the financial result down from € -3 million to € -8 million compared to last year.

Earnings before Taxes (EBT) soften

EBT for the second quarter was down from € 43 million to € 27 million with tax expenses also declining, reflecting a lower tax rate of 24.5% in the quarter. PUMA’s half-year EBT also fell from € 146 million to € 102 million, with the tax rate improving to 28.0%.

Net Earnings / Earnings per share decline

PUMA’s consolidated net earnings retreated from € 27 million to € 18 million during the second quarter of 2013. Earnings per share fell from € 1.78 to € 1.17. Net earnings also declined during the first half of 2013 from € 101 million to € 68 million with EPS decreasing from € 6.72 to € 4.54.

Net Assets and Financial Position

Working Capital improves

As a result of PUMA’s continued emphasis on tight inventory management, inventories as of June 30th were 5.6% lower at € 635 million compared to last year. Group trade receivables were also 11.9% lower at € 513 million compared to last year. The Group’sworking capital has therefore developed positively from € 707 million to € 685 million at the end of June 2013.

Cashflow / Capex

PUMA’s Free Cashflow continued to improve during the first half of the year, moving from € -147 million to € -112 million. This is a result of lower payments for acquisitions and reduced Capex in 2013. The Free Cashflow (before acquisitions) came in at € -92 million compared to € -57 million for the same period in 2012.

Capex significantly declined from € 34 million to € 19 million, with lower investments in retail stores and other equipment.

Cash Position

As a consequence of the elements mentioned above, PUMA’s net cash position improved from € 236 million to € 291 million at the end of the second quarter.

General Matters

New Chief Operating Officer and Global Creative Director appointed

PUMA has appointed Andy Koehler as Chief Operating Officer (COO), who took up his position on June 1st. Andy, who succeeds former COO Klaus Bauer, is part of PUMA’s new management team built around PUMA’s new CEO Bjoern Gulden. Andy takes control of the Operations, Supply Chain Management, Logistics and IT functions.

To strengthen product and design, PUMA has created the new position of Global Creative Director as part of its Transformation Program and appointed to it Torsten Hochstetter. Torsten is responsible for designing, creating and developing the Sport Performance and Sport Lifestyle collections of the brand, touching on all product categories including Footwear, Apparel and Accessories. Torsten will work hands-on with all respective PUMA design teams worldwide.

Outlook for the Financial Year 2013

Full-year guidance remains unchanged from the first quarter

Following PUMA’s sales performance for the first half year 2013, Management continues to expect a low to mid single-digit decline in currency adjusted full-year net sales as well as pressure on the gross profit margin during the second half. As a consequence, and also based on continued OPEX improvements, Management reiterates its first quarter guidance and expects an increase in net earnings compared to 2012.

2013 Third Quarter Facts

• Consolidated sales decline by 1.4% currency adjusted to € 813 million
• Further improvement in operating expenses, down 8% in the quarter, however not fully offsetting lower sales and gross profit decline
• EBIT before special items down to € 80 million
• EPS climbs from € 0.81 to € 3.53, due to impact from special items in Q3 2012
• Further improvement in working capital during third quarter, leading to an increase in the free cash flow

2013 First Nine Months Facts

• Consolidated sales decline by 2.5% currency adjusted to € 2.3 billion
• Gross profit margin below last year at 47.5%
• OPEX continually reduced throughout the year, in line with the ongoing Transformation and Cost Reduction Program
• Net Earnings up from € 113 million in 2012 to € 121 million in 2013
• EPS rises from € 7.53 last year to € 8.07 this year

Special items announced

• Special items of approximately € 130 million (one-off charges, primarily non cash) expected to be booked in the fourth quarter of 2013
  
  

Key Sales Figures at a Glance

Bjoern Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE: ”Sales and profitability for the third quarter developed as expected. Analyses have shown the need for further, mainly non-cash, one-off charges. Special items of around € 130 million are therefore expected to be booked in the fourth quarter. We know that our business is currently in a difficult position with challenging sell-throughs, sub-optimal distribution and low brand heat. But we also know that PUMA is an amazing brand with a great history, global awareness, fantastic logos, great assets and talented people. I am therefore convinced that – although it will take some time – we will turn this business around and make ‘the cat’ shine again.”

Sales Performance by Region

PUMA’s sales performance in the third quarter of 2013 was in line with full year guidance. Consolidated sales softened by 1.4% currency adjusted in the quarter. In Euro terms, sales declined by 8.9% from € 892 million to € 813 million due to the continuing currency volatility generated by several countries.

EEMEA and UK continue to grow

Third-quarter EMEA sales declined by 1.7% currency adjusted to € 378 million, as the business climate in Western Europe continued to be challenging. However, PUMA performed well in the UK, primarily due to strong sales of our Lifestyle and women’s fitness ranges. Despite these improved figures, poor consumer sentiment and depressed household spending across much of Europe, particularly in southern countries, outweighed the increases. There was, however, another encouraging performance in the Eastern European region.

Sales in the Americas were up by 0.7% currency adjusted to € 261 million in the third quarter of 2013. PUMA developed positively in North America and Argentina.
The Asia/Pacific region was weak across nearly every country in the third quarter, falling by 3.7% currency adjusted to € 174 million. The only exception was India, which delivered an encouraging performance with increased sales in the Running and Lifestyle categories.

Year-to-date regional performance varied

Consolidated sales declined 2.5% currency adjusted to € 2.3 billion in the first nine months of the year. The EMEA region was down by 3.6% currency adjusted to € 992 million. Performance in the Americas improved slightly with sales increasing by 0.4% currency adjusted to € 788 million and in Asia/Pacific sales were down by 4.5% currency adjusted to € 506 million over the period.

PUMA’s Retail Business continues to grow

In the third quarter, retail sales rose by 5.3% currency adjusted to € 161 million. For the first nine months of the year, they increased by 7.1% currency adjusted to € 446 million, equaling 19.5% of total sales. This growth was achieved despite PUMA operating a lower number of owned and operated retail stores and continues to justify the measures undertaken by the company’s Transformation and Cost Reduction Program.

Sales Performance by Segment

Footwear Sales continue to be difficult

PUMA’s third quarter Footwear sales declined by 7.1% currency adjusted to € 378 million. Although there were some positive signs from key styles in Running, Training & Fitness as well as Lifestyle, this was not sufficient to offset the downward pressure at category level. Apparel sales rose 3.4% currency adjusted to € 297 million, with nearly all Business Units up in the third quarter. Accessories likewise improved by 5.7% currency adjusted to € 138 million, thanks to an improved performance in football accessories as well as increased demand for PUMA’s socks and bodywear.

Year-to-date Footwear trend unchanged, Apparel improving, Accessories growing

In the first nine months of the year, sales in Footwear declined by 7.4% currency adjusted to € 1.1 billion. Apparel sales softened by 1.2% currency adjusted to € 780 million. Accessories continued to improve, up by 9.5% currency adjusted to € 426 million.

Margin, Expenses and Profitability 

Lower Gross Profit Margin

Due to changes in the product mix, selective discounting and currency headwinds, PUMA’s gross profit margin declined in the third quarter of 2013. Gross profit margin for the third quarter stood at 47.1%, compared to 48.2% over the same period last year. Footwear margin declined from 46.1% to 44.4%, Apparel margin was broadly unchanged at 49.9% and Accessories margin dropped from 50.6% to 48.6%.

Similarly, PUMA’s gross profit margin fell over the first nine months of the year, moving from 49.5% to 47.5%. Footwear declined from 47.9% to 44.9%, Apparel from 50.9% to 49.6% and Accessories from 51.2% to 50.2%.

Execution of Transformation and Cost Reduction Program continues

PUMA’s ongoing Transformation and Cost Reduction Program delivered further improvements to the company in the third quarter of 2013. The optimization of PUMA’s retail portfolio, where we have now closed over two thirds of the stores set out in the Program, has delivered the intended cost savings.

The company has also closed three warehouses in its efforts to streamline its logistical set up. We are also making progress on our article count reduction, with our 2013 collections streamlined by 10%.

A third consecutive quarter of OPEX reduction

As a result of the above mentioned Transformation Program, combined with ongoing cost control efforts, operating expenditures have been further reduced on a company-wide scale. Operating expenditures were once again lower when compared to last year, down 8.2% in the third quarter of 2013 from € 336 million to € 309 million.

Operating expenditures have been brought down from € 986 million to € 911 million for the first nine months of the year. As a consequence, PUMA’s OPEX ratio has decreased from 40.0% to 39.8%.

Operating Result (EBIT) before special items weakens

The continued improvement in OPEX delivered by the implementation of the Transformation Reduction Program has not been able to fully offset the current decline in sales and gross profit margin. Thus, when compared to last year, PUMA’s EBIT before special items has retreated in the third quarter from € 99 million to € 80 million. EBIT before special items also declined in the first nine months of 2013 from € 248 million to € 190 million, equivalent to a margin of 8.3%.

Financial Result

The financial result recorded for the third quarter was € -1.5 million, due mainly to continued currency fluctuations. For the first nine months similar impacts led to a result of € -9.5 million compared to € -0.9 million last year.

Net Earnings / Earnings per share improve

Consolidated net earnings rose in the third quarter of 2013 from € 12 million to € 53 million due to the impact from special items in 2012. Earnings per share improved correspondingly from € 0.81 to € 3.53. The first nine months of 2013 also saw improved net earnings from € 113 million to € 121 million. EPS therefore rose from € 7.53 to € 8.07.

Net Assets and Financial Position

Further strong improvement in Working Capital during the third quarter

PUMA’s continued focus on Working Capitalhas resulted in a decrease in inventoriesof 11.7% to € 570 million and a decrease in Group trade receivables by 16.1% to € 524 million at the end of the third quarter.

Cashflow / Capex

PUMA continued to improve Free Cashflow year-to-date, progressing from € -173 million to € -95 million. This was due to lower Working Capital needs, reduced Capex and investment activity. The Free Cashflow (before acquisitions)also improved from € -83 million to € -75 million.

Cash Position

As a result of the details outlined above, PUMA’s third quarter net cash position rose from € 205 million to € 246 million.

Brand Update

Over the last three months the new team has created a newly unified Brand Platform that will be rooted in the Sports DNA of the company, and which reconciles the Performance and Lifestyle sides of our brand. Previously, we have had two distinctive visions for each part of our business, which has led to confusion and a lack of clarity for our teams, our business partners, and ultimately our consumers.
We will start by focusing our efforts with a new mission statement – going forward, PUMA will be the Fastest Sports Brand in the World. This simplified mission will result in a single brand purpose and a single consumer message. PUMA will be: “Forever Faster“. The statement, a new tag line we will launch to consumers in 2014, reflects a 65 year history of making fast product designs for the fastest athletes on the planet.

But “Forever” references more than just our history, and our commitment to our classic products. It’s a recognition of the endless pursuit of whatever is next – in performance innovations, in cultural trends, and in style and fashion. While “Faster” is more than just delivering the rational benefit of speed to athletes, we will have a single minded purpose of celebrating faster in every sense of the word – lighter products, better fit for greater agility, enhanced benefits that allow for extended training for speed, and every other possible way we can deliver the fastest products for the fastest performers. The phrase simultaneously references the emotional benefit of owning speed – the thrill, the fun, and the swagger of Usain Bolt himself, the man who best personifies this new strategy and ambition.

Forever Faster will be a part of a long term effort to clearly re-establish our brand in the minds of our customers. The third quarter of 2014 will see the consumer launch of this new brand strategy that will also encompass a new brand campaign creative direction, supported by a large scale media campaign.

While Forever faster is the new brand platform for PUMA, it will also be the guiding principles for the company in its action and decisions: Our objective is to be fast in reacting to new trends, fast in innovations, fast in decision making and fast in solving problems for our partners. As one consequence of the new mission to become forever faster, the new management team decided to divest from our PUMA Village development center in Vietnam to accelerate PUMA’s development process by bringing our developers directly to the factories.. This step helps to streamline the processes between design and source with the intention to become leaner, more efficient and more agile within the creation process. As a further consequence, PUMA plans to relocate its international product functions from the London office to its headquarters in Herzogenaurach.

Marketing Update

At the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow in August, where PUMA partnered eight national teams, the World’s Fastest Man Usain Bolt continued his reign as track and field’s biggest star, adding another three gold medals to his stash to become the most successful athlete in World Championship history. Together with his teammates, Usain helped power the Jamaican men’s team to victory in every sprint event. With six Gold medals in total, Jamaica finished third in the medal table, an excellent result for the Caribbean island and continued testament to PUMA’s product expertise in terms of speed and performance.

As he is the perfect ambassador for PUMA, the company renewed its contract with Usain Bolt in September, continuing our successful partnership up until the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and beyond.

PUMA partnered Borussia Dortmund continued to enthuse the viewing public with their sensational performances – both in the Bundesliga as well as on the international stage in the UEFA Champions League – thereby cementing their position as one of the most attractive club teams in world football. While PUMA star Marco Reus continues to play a crucial role in Dortmund’s ongoing success, another talented midfielder has joined the PUMA Football family. Spanish International Santi Cazorla, who was awarded player of the year in his first season at Arsenal, is a fantastic addition to PUMA’s portfolio of international top players.

In October, our Cobra PUMA Golf athlete Lexi Thompson secured her third professional win at only 18 years old at the Sime Darby LPGA tournament in Malaysia. Her easy going personality, competitive nature and skill not only draws fans in from all over the world but also make her a perfect brand ambassador for our continuously expanding Golf category.

Outlook for the Financial Year 2013

Full-year guidance

Following third quarter sales, Management reiterates its expectations for a low to mid-single-digit decline in currency adjusted full-year net sales.

In addition, PUMA’s Management also anticipates one-off charges, the majority of which will be non-cash effective, of approximately € 130 million to be booked in the fourth quarter of 2013. The majority of these special items will consist of impairments charges related to non-current assets. New initiatives announced include the closure of the product development centre in Vietnam and the intended transfer of our international product teams from London to Herzogenaurach.

Reflecting these new elements mentioned above, Management now expects 2013 full year net earnings to be positive, but significantly below those of 2012.

Rounding differences may be observed in the percentage and numerical values expressed in millions of Euro since the underlying calculations are always based on thousands of Euro.

Media Relations:

Kerstin Neuber – Corporate Communications – PUMA SE – +49 9132 81 2984 – kerstin.neuber@puma.com

Investor Relations:

 Carl Baker – Finance – PUMA SE – +49 9132 81 3188 – carl.baker@puma.com

Notes to the editors:

• This press release and financial reports are posted on about.puma.com.
• PUMA SE stock symbol:

Reuters: PUMG.DE, Bloomberg: PUM GY,

Börse Frankfurt: ISIN: DE0006969603– WKN: 6969603

Notes relating to forward-looking statements:

This document contains forward-looking information about the Company’s financial status and strategic initiatives. Such information is subject to a certain level of risk and uncertainty that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ significantly from the information discussed in this document. The forward-looking information is based on the current expectations and prognosis of the management team. Therefore, this document is further subject to the risk that such expectations or prognosis, or the premise of such underlying expectations or prognosis, become erroneous. Circumstances that could alter the Company’s actual results and procure such results to differ significantly from those contained in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company include, but are not limited to those discussed be above.

CONFIDENT THAT NEW STRATEGIC DIRECTION “FOREVER FASTER” WILL INITIATE TURNAROUND

2013 Fourth Quarter Facts

• Consolidated sales at € 698 million, a currency adjusted decline of 4.7%
• OPEX improve for the fourth consecutive quarter, down 4.8% against the same quarter last year
• EBIT before special items of € 1.1 million
• Special items of € 129 million booked, as indicated last November, consisting of mostly non-cash effective impairments
• EPS declines to € -7.71 due to impact of special items

2013 Full Year Facts

• PUMA’s full year consolidated sales are in line with guidance, declining by 3% currency adjusted to around € 3 billion
• Gross profit margin decreases to 46.5%
• Solid OPEX reduction: The Transformation and Cost Reduction Program drives the OPEX down 6.9% year on year
• Improved working capital position, led by strong focus on inventories and receivables management, resulting in a € 37 million improvement in free cash flow
• EBIT before special items reaches € 191.4 million
• EPS declines to € 0.36 due to impact of special items

Key sales figures at a glance

Bjoern Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE: “2013 has been a challenging year for PUMA and there is no doubt that we have issues in terms of lack of brand heat, commercial products and desirable distribution. Nonetheless, PUMA is a great brand and with our new brand positioning as the Fastest Sports Brand in the World, we have a clear vision of where we want to go. “Forever Faster” is not only our new brand statement, it is also our new mindset. PUMA is about fast products, fast athletes, fast designs and fast decision making. With the re-signing of Usain Bolt, and signing of Arsenal FC and Mario Balotelli, we further demonstrate that we are a true sports brand. Together with our great assets and new creative agency, we will launch our new campaign to the consumers in Q3/2014 which is fueled by PUMA’s biggest media investment in the last decade. This is not a quick fix, but 2014 marks the start of the turnaround”.

Fourth Quarter 2013

2013 trends reflected in fourth quarter sales performance

Group sales in the fourth quarter of 2013 remained under pressure with sales declining 4.7% currency adjusted and 13.2% in Euro terms from € 805 million to € 698 million. This drop was driven mainly by weakening currencies in Japan, Russia, Turkey and various countries in Latin America.

In the EMEA region, sales declined by 7.6% currency adjusted to € 226 million as economic conditions across most of Europe remained challenging. Solid sales growth in Russia and Turkey was not enough to offset weaker performances in Western and Southern European countries.

Revenues in the Americas region decreased by 3.5% currency adjusted to € 268 million, where solid performances in the USA and Canada were offset by decreases in Latin America. Mexico and Chile in particular declined on high comparables after strong performances last year.

Sales in the Asia/Pacific region decreased by 2.8% currency adjusted to € 205 million. While India continued to grow across multiple categories (Running, Training/Fitness), the rest of the region performed either at or slightly below last year’s levels.

In terms of segments, PUMA’s Footwear sales in the fourth quarter declined by 12.9% currency adjusted to € 291 million as pressure continued across most categories. Apparel sales fell slightly by 1.1% currency adjusted to € 284 million. Accessories sales improved by 10.6% currency adjusted to € 123 million.

Special items booked in the fourth quarter

PUMA’s gross profit margin declined from 44.6% to 43.2% in the fourth quarter of 2013. This was mainly due to selective discounting to clean up inventory and FX impacts. Footwear gross profit margin decreased from 41.8% to 39.5%. Apparel margins fell from 46.6% to 44.7% and the margin for Accessories rose from 48.0% to 48.4%.

Operating expenditures continued to decline further, thanks to the positive impact from the measures implemented in the ongoing Transformation and Cost Reduction Program. As a consequence, OPEX was reduced by 4.8% from € 322 million to € 306 million in the quarter. Despite the continuous reduction in OPEX, the decline in sales combined with the lower gross profit margin led to a decrease in EBIT (before special items) to € 1.1 million.

As announced with the third-quarter results in November last year, PUMA booked € 129 million of special items in the fourth quarter, consisting mostly of non-cash effective impairments of goodwill and trademarks as well as costs related to the strategic initiatives. Those include the centralization of PUMA’s international product functions from London and the intended centralization of Global and European Retail operations from Switzerland to its Herzogenaurach headquarters as well as the closure of the PUMA Village development center in Vietnam.

As a result, PUMA’s quarterly Operating Result (EBIT) declined to € -128 million and earnings per share fell to € -7.71.

Full Year 2013

PUMA’s full year sales declined 3% currency adjusted

Consolidated sales were in line with guidance for 2013 and declined by 3.0% currency adjusted and 8.7% in Euro terms to around € 3.0 billion. Sales in the EMEA region decreased by 4.4% currency adjusted to € 1.22 billion, where weak French and Italian markets were partially offset by a strong performance in the United Kingdom. In the Americas, sales decreased slightly by 0.7% currency adjusted to € 1.06 billion. In Asia/Pacific, sales fell by 4.0% currency adjusted to € 711 million as declines in Korea and Oceania could only be partially offset by increases in India.

Performances by segment varied. Footwear sales declined by 8.6% currency adjusted to € 1.37 billion in 2013. Sales in Apparel fell slightly by 1.2% currency adjusted to € 1.06 billion. Sales in Accessories continued to increase by 9.7% currency adjusted to € 549 million.

Sales growth continued in PUMA’s Retail Business

In line with the Transformation and Cost Reduction Program, unprofitable PUMA Stores were closed, while new stores with a particular focus on profitable new locations in emerging markets were opened. PUMA’s full year retail sales rose by 5.6% currency adjusted to € 623 million in 2013, equal to 20.9% of total sales.

Gross Profit Margin declines

PUMA’s full year gross profit margin declined from 48.3% to 46.5%, driven by Footwear gross profit margin, which declined from 46.5% to 43.7%. Looking to other categories, Apparel margins fell from 49.8% to 48.3% and margins in Accessories decreased slightly, from 50.5% to 49.8%. The reasons for the decline were increased discounting to clean up inventory, negative hedging/foreign exchange impacts and an unfavorable shift within the product and regional mix.

Transformation and Cost Reduction Program continues to improve efficiencies

PUMA continued to implement the Transformation and Cost Reduction Program throughout 2013. As a result, the company has become more efficient. PUMA’s European operations have been streamlined by consolidating 23 countries into seven areas. Furthermore, and in line with the above, six warehouses were closed in Europe in 2013. PUMA has continued to optimize the retail portfolio as outlined previously by closing 73 of the originally planned 91 stores, with the remainder to be closed during 2014. PUMA has cancelled product categories like Rugby in the northern hemisphere and Sailing that were not viable or were no longer part of the company’s core categories. The related sponsorships have been discontinued. As a consequence of these consistent efforts PUMA was able to drive down the full year OPEX, which improved by 6.9% from € 1.31 billion to € 1.22 billion.

Operating Result (EBIT) before special items weakens

The continued OPEX improvement was not enough to fully offset the decline in sales and gross profit margin. PUMA’s EBIT before special items declined from € 291 million to € 191 million for the full year, equivalent to 6.4% of sales.

Special Items

PUMA booked € 129 million in special items during the fourth quarter. The majority of the special items consist of the impairment of non-current assets, in particular goodwill and trademarks, and are non-cash effective. Other items included one-time costs associated with the strategic initiatives of the new Management team, such as the closure of the PUMA Village development center in Vietnam as well as the relocation of PUMA’s international product functions from London and the intended centralization of Global and European Retail operations from Switzerland to its Herzogenaurach headquarters.

Operating Result including special items (EBIT)

As a result, PUMA’s Operating Result including special items (EBIT) for the full year declined to € 63 million, equivalent to 2.1% as a percentage of sales.

Financial Result For the full year, PUMA’s financial result was equal to € -8.7 million, deriving mainly from foreign currency fluctuations throughout the year.

Net Earnings / Earnings per share decline

Full year consolidated net earnings fell from € 70 million in 2012 to € 5 million in 2013, with earnings per share declining from € 4.69 to € 0.36.

Net Assets and Financial Position

Working Capital position continues to improve

The Group’s working capital declined by 15.3% from € 624 million to € 528 million as result of the strong focus on inventories and receivables. Inventories decreased 5.7% from € 553 million to € 521 million at the end of 2013 and trade receivables declined by 16.5% from € 507 million to € 423 million, reflecting PUMA’s ongoing strong balance sheet management.

Cashflow / Capex

PUMA’s Free Cashflow improved from € -8 million at the end of 2012 to € 29 million at the end of 2013. This was due to lower Working Capital requirements, reduced Capex and the lower payments for acquisitions compared to last year.

Net Cash Position

PUMA’s year end Net Cash Position remained stable at € 361 million compared to last year’s € 363 million.

Dividend

The Administrative Board will propose a dividend of € 0.50 per share for the financial year 2013, the same as for 2012, at the Annual General Meeting on the 13th May 2014.

Strategy Update

In line with PUMA’s new mission to become the Fastest Sports Brand in the World, PUMA has continued to streamline its business operations to make processes faster and more efficient. In order to accelerate PUMA’s development process, the new management team took the decision last year to divest from the PUMA Village development centre in Vietnam, and also to relocate its international product functions from the London office to its headquarters in Herzogenaurach. In addition, PUMA decided to establish an end-to-end process responsibility for the whole product development process under the umbrella of PUMA Group Sourcing. Moreover, PUMA intends to relocate the PUMA Global and European Retail Headquarters as well as European E-Commerce, which are currently based in Oensingen in Switzerland, to Herzogenaurach. Through this move, the alignment and collaboration with key functions like Global Merchandising, the Business Units and the European Region will improve significantly and become faster.

With the intended closure of the Oensingen (Switzerland) office, we will also finalize the integration of PUMA Schweiz AG into the DACH area. In the future, the Swiss office will focus on Sales, with all other functions provided by the DACH Area headquarters in Herzogenaurach.

Brand and Marketing Update

In December, we announced a new long-term partnership with international football icon Mario Balotelli. As another key signing for PUMA, Mario will be a major force in driving the brand’s performance message. With his passion, speed, agility and power he is a perfect fit to support PUMA’s repositioning as a true Sports Brand and the company’s mission to be ‘Forever Faster’.

Ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, where PUMA will have a strong on-pitch presence of eight teams (Italy, Switzerland, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Uruguay and Chile), we recently revealed our latest product innovation in football: PUMA’s revolutionary evoPOWER boot. Inspired by the freedom of movement of barefoot kicking, evoPOWER features the most advanced PUMA technologies to date and is scientifically proven to be the world’s most powerful football boot. The evoPOWER will be worn on pitch by Cesc Fàbregas, Marco Reus, Mario Balotelli, Yaya Touré, Dante and many others.

As PUMA enters a new era as the Fastest Sports Brand in the world, we have sealed a long-term partnership with Arsenal Football Club, representing the biggest deal in both PUMA’s and Arsenal’s history. This clearly underlines our positioning as the global number three brand in football. Effective 1st July 2014, PUMA will not only become Arsenal’s official kit partner but has also acquired wide-ranging licensing rights to drive mutual growth across all football markets.

Highlights in other PUMA categories included Usain Bolt’s fifth World Athlete of the Year award at the 2013 IAAF World Athletics Gala in Monaco, the contract extension with Swedish-born professional golfer Jonas Blixt and the signing of the Australian golf legend and Hall of Famer Greg Norman, who will once again be a global brand ambassador for Cobra PUMA Golf, collaborating on product development and sporting Cobra clubs at a variety of appearances, tournaments and events.

Outlook for the Financial Year 2014

In 2014, PUMA will reposition itself to again become a true Sports Brand. PUMA is excited to launch its new brand statement “Forever Faster” through a global media campaign in the Autumn/Winter season 2014 – the company’s biggest media campaign in the last decade. This re-ignition of the brand heat was kicked off by extending the partnership with the fastest athlete on the planet, Usain Bolt, and was further fuelled by signing one of the world’s top football clubs, Arsenal FC, and Italian superstar Mario Balotelli. Moreover, in the coming year of football, 25% of all participating teams at the World Cup in Brazil will be wearing PUMA jerseys. With the signing of iconic sports marketing assets and the launch of high performance product innovations like the world’s most powerful football boot evoPOWER, and with more to come, PUMA proves and will continue to demonstrate its competence as a true Sports Brand in 2014 and will also leverage its clear positioning in sports to sell sports-inspired lifestyle products.

In addition to increasing brand heat and upgrading the product engine, PUMA’s priorities in 2014 are to replace lower tier distribution with higher tier distribution and to improve the relationships with our retailers in order to drive sales quality and sell-through. In close collaboration with key accounts, PUMA will build dedicated product and marketing programs which will help to regain shelf space and improve sell-through. While weaker first-half sales are expected, the rebuilt trust of PUMA’s retail partners will start to materialize in the form of increased orders for the second half of the year. With the support of the Forever Faster media campaign and the partnership with Arsenal, the second half of the year is expected to compensate for the shortfall in sales experienced in the first half of the year.

PUMA therefore expects its net sales to be flat in 2014, but with improved revenue quality. Assuming minor input price inflation and stable currencies, the gross profit margin is expected to improve slightly due to sourcing improvements and favorable changes in the product mix.

Driven by strong marketing investments in media and sports assets, although combined with strict ongoing control of other costs, PUMA’s OPEX will increase. Management therefore anticipates an EBIT margin before special items of approximately 5% of net sales in 2014.

However, due to the special items booked in 2013, management expects a significant improvement in the net profit margin, which is expected to come in at approximately 3.0% of net sales. (2013: 0.2%).

2014 will be a turnaround year for PUMA where the brand will be re-established in the market place and bring PUMA back to a path of profitable and sustainable growth in the mid-term.

Rounding differences may be observed in the percentage and numerical values expressed in millions of Euro since the underlying calculations are always based on thousands of Euro.

2014 First Quarter Facts

• Stablecurrency adjusted sales of € 726 million
• OPEX improves,reduced by3.8% to € 298 million
• EBIT at € 59 million
• Continued balance sheet focus results in further working capital improvement

Key Sales Figures at a Glance

Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE:“PUMA’s currency adjusted sales and operating margin for the first quarter were in line with our expectations – yet negatively impacted by adverse currency affects.During the quarter, we continued to make progress towards our mission to become the Fastest Sports Brand in the world and achieved all our key project milestones in this pursuit.We know that the repositioning of PUMA and the turnaround of the business will take time, but I am convinced that we are progressing well on all our key strategic priorities and that we have initiated the right projects to make 2014 the start of the turnaround.”

Sales performance in line

PUMA’s first quarter sales performance in 2014 was in line with our expectations. Currency adjusted sales declined slightly by 0.5% to € 726 million. This represents a decrease in reported terms of 7.1%, as currency volatility in Russia, Turkey, North America, Latin America, India and Japanhad anegative impact on sales in Euro terms.

Improved performance in EMEA

Sales rose by0.3% currency adjusted to € 337 million in the EMEA region. Russia, Turkey and the United Kingdom continued to deliver strong performances in the first quarter of 2014, which offset declines in Scandinavia and France, where wholesale revenues remained weak.

Sales in the Americas declined by 0.5% currency adjusted to € 235 million. Sales in North America improved slightly, while we recorded mixed sales performanceswithin Latin America with improvements in Chile and Argentina and a major decline in Brazil.

Asia/Pacific sales decreased by 2.1% currency adjusted to € 153 million. Sales in China were up slightly, but business in Oceania decreased. Japan also declined, impacted by weaker sales in the Golf category.

Mixed segment performance in the first quarter

Footwear sales declined by 7.1% currencyadjusted to € 321 million as the Motorsport business continued to decline in mature markets.The Teamsport category was, however,strengthened by the positive global reception of the new evoPOWER football boot during the first quarter of the year.

Ahead of the Football World Cup in June,the launch of PUMA’s football jerseys for itseight teams, including Italy, Chile and Ghana, helped Apparel sales increase by 3.0% currency adjusted to € 246 million.

Accessoriesperformed well in the first quarter, with sales increasing 9.5% currency adjusted to € 159 milliondue to continued demand for PUMA’s socks and bodywear.

Retail performance

PUMA’sfirst quarterRetail saleswere stable on a currency adjusted basis at € 124 million, with comparable sales in full-price stores and outlets up,while operating a slightly lower number of stores.Retails sales represented17.1% of total sales compared to 17.3% last year.

Gross Profit Margin decreases to 48.5%

PUMA’s gross profit margindeclined by 60 basis pointsfrom 49.1% to 48.5% in the first quarter due to negative currency impacts and changes in the regional and product mixes.The Footwear gross profit margin declined from 46.1% to 44.1%,as high margin Motorsport Footwear in particular declined. Apparel increased from 51.5% to 53.6% related to strong Teamsport business and Accessories decreased from 52.6% to 49.7% impacted by negative currency effects.

OPEX improvement in the first quarter

PUMA continued to maintain a strict approach to its operating expenditures in the first three months of the year. OPEX declined by 3.8% to € 298 million inspite of higher marketing investments.

Operating Result (EBIT) declines

Improved first quarter operating expenditurescould not fully offset weak currencies in a number of countries, which impactedreported sales,and a softening of the gross profit margin. As a result, PUMA’s operating profitdecreased from € 79 million to € 59 million for the first three months of 2014. The EBIT ratio decreased from 10.1% to 8.1%.

Financial Result improves

The financial resultimproved from € -4.0 million to € -3.2 million in the first quarter. The result remained negative due mainly to currency conversion impacts.

Net Earnings decrease

PUMA’s consolidated net earningsdeclined by 29.2% from € 50 million to € 36 million. As a result, earnings per sharedecreased from € 3.36 to € 2.38 in the first quarter of the year.

Net Assets and Financial Position

Working Capital improves

The company’s continued strong balance sheet management resulted in an 11.5% decrease in inventory to € 524 million and a 14.8% decrease in trade receivables to € 506 million. With the decline in trade payables also taken into account, PUMA’s working capital improved by 13.1% from € 775 million to € 674 million at the end of March.

Cashflow / Capex

The Free Cashflowbefore acquisitionsimproved slightly to € -132 million in spite of lower operational cashflows.

Capexincreased from € 9 million to € 12 million, which was mainly invested in the opening and refitting of selected retail stores as well as office and IT equipment.

Cash Position improved

PUMA’s net cash position improved from € 207 million to € 229 million at the end of the first quarter.

Brand Update

In March, PUMA revealed the new national kits for its eight national footballteams heading to the World Cup in Brazil this summer. The home and away kits for Italy, Switzerland, Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Chile and Uruguay all feature PUMA’s new football apparel innovation PWR ACTV, a first-to-market use of both athletic taping and compression within the apparel.

Cobra PUMA Golf athlete Lexi Thompson fulfilled her number one goal for 2014 by winning her first ever major. After taking the lead during the second round,Lexi shot a final round of 68 to win at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. She has been using Cobra Golf equipment and wearing PUMA Golf gear on the course since she first turned pro in June 2010.

In Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton of the PUMA-supplied Mercedes AMG Petronas team took the world championship lead from his Mercedes teammate NicoRosberg by winning his fourth race in a rowat the Spanish Grand Prix last Sunday. Lewis led from start to finish to win a tense battle with Nico, with the rest of the field far behind. With PUMA-partnered Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso currently third in the standings, the current top three F1 drivers are all equipped with PUMA products and wear the PUMA evoSPEED II Pro.

 

Strategy Update

In line with PUMA’s mission to become the Fastest Sports Brand in the World, we have continued our efforts to make PUMA faster and more efficient. This strategy encompasses the repositioning of PUMA as the World’s Fastest Sports Brand, the improvement of our product engine, the optimization of our distribution quality, and increasing the speed within our organization and infrastructure.

In terms of our brand repositioning, we have completed the definition of our brand platformand are now translating them into a marketing campaign, which will be launched in August 2014 – the biggest campaign for PUMA ever. The campaign will showcasemany of our great athletes like Usain Bolt, Mario Balotelli, Rickie Fowler, Marta and Lexi Thompson in their pursuit of our brand mantra Forever Faster.

To improve our product engine, we have adapted our design language in accordance with our new brand platform. TorstenHochstetter, our Global Creative Director, translated our brand mantra “Forever Faster” into a new distinctive design language for PUMA, which takes its clear inspirations from our heritage and our roots in sports. With innovative products and a more commercial focus, we are convinced that we will have a strong product offering in place to excite the market in Spring/Summer 2015.

We have also started to improve the quality of our revenues and distribution. Our current focus is to reestablish the relationships with our Key Accounts using dedicated product and marketing programs. With the PUMA Lab at Foot Locker, we have a large scale program in more than 100 doors in the US in place, which provide a great opportunity to showcase our brand and great products in this opinion-leading retailer. We are satisfied with the results as our comparable sales are significantly up. Furthermore, we are currently adapting our direct-to-consumer channels to our new brand direction: Our new unified eCommerce site will be launched in the USA, Europe and Russia by mid 2014 and our new retail format will launch with our new full-price store opening in Dubai in the fourth quarter of 2014.

We have also continued to make our organizational structure and setup faster. As of 2 May, our PUMA Village development center in Vietnam is closed. Our developers have moved into the sample rooms of our suppliers’ factories to speed up our development process, while our office employees moved into our new offices in central Ho Chi Minh. The property sale of PUMA Village is currently ongoing. Our relocations of the Lifestyle Business Unit from London and of the Global and European Retail Organization from Oensingen, Switzerland, to our headquarters in Herzogenaurach are in process and will be finalized by the end of May and Septemberrespectively.

Outlook for the Financial Year 2014

2014 will be a turnaround year for PUMA, where the brand will be re-established in the market place and brought back to a path of profitable and sustainable growth in the mid-term. To support this turnaround, PUMA will continue to invest strongly in marketing and sports assets, while maintaining tight control on other operating expenditures.

Based on the results of the first quarter and our assumptions at the beginning of the year, which foresaw stable currencies, our expectations for full year net sales (flat), gross profit (slight increase), OPEX (increase due to Marketing Investments) and EBIT/Net Earnings (approx. 5% / 3% of net sales respectively) remain unchanged. Given the current currency volatility, which is weighing negatively on our results, there may be a correspondingly negative impact of around 50 basis points on the EBIT and Net Earnings margin for the full year.

Rounding differences may be observed in the percentage and numerical values expressed in millions of Euro since the underlying calculations are always based on thousands of Euro.

Negative Impact of Volatile Currencies Continues

2014 Second Quarter Facts

• Currency adjusted sales increase slightly to € 652 million
• Gross profit margin improves to 46.7%, up 70 basis points vs. last year
• OPEX stable despite World Cup marketing expenditures
  EBIT of € 13 million

2014 Half Year Facts

• Currency adjusted sales flat at € 1.38 billion
• Gross profit margin stable at 47.7%
• Slight OPEX reduction of 1.2%
• EBIT of € 71 million
• EPS amounts to € 2.66
• Free cash flow increases by € 40 million due to improved working capital
• Successful launch of Arsenal partnership

Key sales figures at a glance

Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE: “PUMA’s second quarter sales and operating profit developed in line with our expectations. I was very happy with PUMA’s visibility during the World Cup in Brazil. Feedback on both our dual-colored Tricks football boots and our national team jerseys with ACTV technology has been great. The sell-through of these products has been excellent and exceeded our expectations. In addition, we celebrated a successful Arsenal launch in July, followed by very good initial sales at Retail of Arsenal replica jerseys. We are now looking forward to launching our new “Forever Faster” marketing campaign in August, which is another step in the process of becoming the “fastest sports brand in the world”. But, as I have said all along: We know that the repositioning of PUMA and the turnaround of the business will take time. However, I feel we are making progress on all our key strategic priorities and we have initiated the right projects to make 2014 the start of the turnaround.”

Second Quarter 2014

Sales increase slightly

PUMA’s consolidated sales in the second quarter of 2014 were in line with expectations, rising by 0.6% currency adjusted to € 652 million. However, due to continued currency weakness in Turkey, Russia, South Africa, India, Japan and the Americas, sales declined by 5.8% in Euro terms.

Performance in the Americas improves

In the EMEA region, sales declined by 1.4% currency adjusted to € 256 million as strong performances in the United Kingdom and Switzerland could not entirely offset a decline in French and Scandinavian wholesale revenues.

Sales in the Americas increased by 4.6% currency adjusted to € 251 million, as key account initiatives like the PUMA Labs at Footlocker contributed to the performance improvement in North America, and Latin America benefited from increased Teamsport sales, particularly in Chile and Mexico.

Sales in the Asia/Pacific region declined by 2.3% currency adjusted to € 146 million despite solid growth in Korea and India, as performance in Japan was pressured by the sales tax increase at the beginning of the quarter which led to a decline across categories.

Product segment trends continue

PUMA’s currency adjusted Footwear sales declined by 9.1% in the second quarter to € 278 million despite improved Teamsport sales.

Apparel sales, however, improved by 12.8% currency adjusted to € 241 million as the World Cup supported strong performances in replica jerseys as well as training and fan wear, particularly for the Italian, Chilean and African teams.

Accessories sales also improved by 3.4% currency adjusted to € 134 million due to continued demand for PUMA’s socks and bodywear. However, Golf equipment sales declined during the quarter due to the weaker golfing environment.

Gross profit margin improves

PUMA’s gross profit margin increased from 46.0% to 46.7% for the second quarter of 2014 as promotional activities declined compared to the same period last year. Footwear gross profit margin decreased from 44.1% to 42.7% due to the product and category mix. Apparel margins rose from 47.0% to 48.2% and the margin for Accessories increased from 49.2% to 52.4%.

OPEX flat

Operating expenditures were broadly unchanged for the quarter at € 297 million, despite increased marketing expenditures associated with the World Cup in Brazil.

Operating Result (EBIT) declines

The negative currency impact on sales and gross profit led to a decline in PUMA’s operating profit (EBIT) from € 31 million to € 13 million for the second quarter of 2014. The EBIT ratio decreased from 4.5% to 1.9%.

Financial Result

The financial result improved from € -4.1 million to € -1.3 million in the second quarter. The result remained negative due mainly to currency conversion impacts.

Net earnings

PUMA’s consolidated net earnings declined from € 18 million to € 4 million impacted in part by a slightly higher tax rate in the quarter due to tax expenses related to prior years. As a result, earnings per share decreased from € 1.17 to € 0.28 in the second quarter of the year.

Half Year 2014

Currency adjusted sales were flat in the first half of 2014 at € 1.38 billion. Continued currency weakness in the aforementioned countries led to a decline of 6.5% in Euro terms.

Varied regional performance in the first half

Sales in the EMEA region declined by 0.5% currency adjusted to € 593 million, where strong performances in the United Kingdom and Turkey were not enough to entirely offset lower sales in France and Scandinavia.

Currency adjusted sales in the Americas increased by 2.1% to € 486 million with improvements in some major markets including the USA and Canada, while Chile performed well in Latin America.

Asia/Pacific sales declined by 2.2% currency adjusted to € 299 million as decreases in Japan and Oceania could not be fully compensated for by increases in India and Korea.

Apparel and Accessories increase

In terms of product segments, Footwear sales declined by 8.0% currency adjusted to € 598 million in the first half of the year. Sales in Apparel increased by 7.6% currency adjusted to € 487 million, and Accessories sales also rose by 6.6% currency adjusted to € 292 million.

PUMA’s Retail sales rise

PUMA’s retail sales increased by 2.9% currency adjusted to € 270 million in the first half of 2014, equal to 19.6% of total sales, as comparable sales in our stores improved during the period.

Gross Profit Margin stable

PUMA’s half year gross profit margin was unchanged at 47.7%. The decline in Footwear margin from 45.1% to 43.4% was offset by the increase in the Apparel margin from 49.4% to 50.9%. Accessories margin was stable at 50.9% for the first six months of the year.

Slight decline in half year OPEX

PUMA’s operating expenditure improved slightly thanks to continued expenditure discipline despite the higher marketing costs associated with an event year. Half year OPEX improved by 1.2% from € 602 million to € 595 million.

Operating Result (EBIT) lower

Weak currencies continued to impact reported sales and gross profit. PUMA’s EBIT therefore declined from € 110 million to € 71 million for the half year, equivalent to 5.2% of sales. The negative currency development during 2014, particularly in Emerging Markets, had a negative impact of approx. € 15 million on the EBIT, equal to 1.1% of net sales.

Financial Result

For the half year, PUMA’s financial result improved from € -8.0 million to € -4.5 million. The negative result was caused mainly by the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.

Net Earnings / Earnings per share decline

Half year consolidated net earnings fell from € 68 million to € 40 million, with earnings per share declining from € 4.54 to € 2.66.

Net Assets and Financial Position

Working Capital position continues to improve

PUMA’s continued emphasis on the balance sheet delivered positive results. Inventories declined by 7.9% to € 584 million and trade receivables also decreased by 9.8% to € 463 million. As trade payables remained stable, the Group’s working capital improved by 13.0% to € 596 million.

Cashflow / Capex

PUMA’s Free Cashflow improved from € -112 million to € -72 million for the first six months of 2014. This was mainly due to lower Working Capital requirements.

Capital expenditure rose from € 19 million to € 31 million as PUMA continued to invest in the opening and refurbishment of selected retail stores, as well as office and IT equipment.

Net Cash Position

PUMA’s Net Cash Position at the end of the first half of the year improved from € 233 million to € 267 million.

Brand Update

At the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil, PUMA’s eight partnered teams secured a strong on-pitch visibility, participating in almost half of all games in the tournament. The World Cup proved to be a great stage for PUMA’s innovative football products: Both our national team jerseys featuring PUMA’s apparel innovation PWR ACTV as well as PUMA’s prominent pink and blue interpretation of its revolutionary evoPOWER and evoSPEED football boots ‘Tricks’, which could be seen in three quarters of all games, were eye-catchers, creating lots of positive headlines. Combined with high engagement rates on our social media channels, PUMA achieved its best ever sell-through of football boots, with Tricks now widely sold out.

Starting July 1st PUMA has become the official kit partner of top English Premier League club Arsenal FC. The company kicked off its new partnership with the launch of the much-anticipated new Arsenal Home, Away and Cup kits for the 2014/15 season. The jerseys were revealed through a spectacular twenty meter high water projection on London’s River Thames viewed from the North Bank, transforming the EDF Energy London Eye into the iconic Clock End. The jerseys generated impressive sell-through in its first week on sale.

The fastest sports in the world, Formula 1, is currently dominated by the world’s fastest team, PUMA-supplied Mercedes AMG Petronas, with 9 wins in the first 11 races. In a thrilling Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Formula 1′s four-week summer break, Lewis Hamilton finished third after starting from the back of the grid. The Briton reduced the deficit to his teammate Nico Rosberg, who is still leading the drivers’ standings by 11 points after his sensational win of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim a week before. With PUMA-partnered Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso currently ranking fourth in the standings, almost all the top drivers are equipped with PUMA race wear and the Evo Speed SLW Pro, the lightest shoe in the Motorsports world.

Strategy Update

Our strategy encompasses the repositioning of PUMA as the World’s Fastest Sports Brand, the improvement of our product engine, the optimization of our distribution quality and increasing the speed within our organization and infrastructure. In the second quarter we continued to progress well on all our key strategic priorities that are crucial to ensuring that 2014 marks the start of the turnaround.

In terms of our brand repositioning, we have created the biggest marketing campaign in PUMA’s history and are now ready to communicate the repositioning of PUMA as a true Sports Brand to our consumers and retail partners. The campaign demonstrates how our great athletes like Usain Bolt, Mario Balotelli, Rickie Fowler, Marta, Lexi Thompson and Ferrari are the epitome of our brand values: Brave, confident, determined, and joyful. The campaign will be kicked-off on August 7th in North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific and will be rolled out to Europe and EEMEA shortly afterwards. The launch of this campaign marks the start of a long-term marketing strategy, with continuous investment up to the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016 and beyond.

To improve our product engine, we initiated key projects to improve our product designs, develop more innovative technologies, and increase the commerciality of our product range. The first results have already been implemented for the coming Spring/Summer 2015 season, and the feedback from our retail partners, as well as our initial indications for H1/2015, make us very confident that we are heading in the right direction.

In order to improve the quality of our revenues and distribution, we are developing joint product and marketing programs with our key retailers to showcase our brand in the right retail environment and push sell-through with our partners. The PUMA Lab at Foot Locker, which we launched in Feb 2014, has developed very positively and we increased the presence to 126 doors in the US. The success of the PUMA Lab has not only improved our business with Footlocker but also generated a positive spill-over effect on to other key retailers in the US marketplace – both with performance and lifestyle accounts. In 2015, we will continue to foster our collaborations and will launch further product and marketing programs with our most important key accounts in every Region.

We have also continued to optimize our organizational structure and setup by making it faster. Our PUMA Village development center was closed on May 2nd. Our developers have moved to the sample rooms in our supplier factories and are now closer to the production process. As of May 31st, we have finalized the relocation of our Lifestyle Business Unit from London to our Headquarters in Herzogenaurach and closed the London office accordingly. The relocation of our Global and European Retail Organization from Oensingen, Switzerland, to our Headquarters in Herzogenaurach is progressing well and will be finalized as planned by the end of September.

Outlook for the Financial Year 2014

2014 continues to be a turnaround year for PUMA, where the brand will be re-established in the market place and brought back to a path of profitable and sustainable growth in the mid-term. To support this turnaround, PUMA will continue to invest strongly in marketing and sports assets, while maintaining tight control on other operating expenditures.

Given PUMA’s results in the first half of the year, we continue to expect flat full year currency adjusted net sales and a slight increase in the gross profit margin, as PUMA replaces lower tier distribution with higher tier distribution channels. OPEX is still expected to increase significantly based on increased Marketing investments, particularly in the second half of the year. PUMA’s full year guidance for EBIT and Net Earnings (approx. 5% and 3% of net sales respectively) remains unchanged from the first quarter; we reiterate that the continued volatile currency movements may have a negative impact of around 50 basis points on the EBIT and Net Earnings margin for the year.

Change of Managing Director

Andy Koehler, Chief Operating Officer (COO), informed the Administrative Board that he wishes to leave PUMA for personal reasons, effective 31 July 2014. During his time at PUMA, Andy Koehler laid the strategic groundwork to accelerate the transformation process in his area of responsibility. PUMA is thankful for his contributions and wishes him all the best for his professional and personal future. He will be available to the Kering Group as a consultant.

Lars Radoor Soerensen has been appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of PUMA SE as of 1 August 2014. Lars joined PUMA in November 2013 and has led the areas of Business Processes and Intelligence as well as Information Technology. Prior to joining PUMA, Lars was previously the Chief Operating Officer at Bestseller and Esprit and before that he held leadership roles at Adidas and Lego. PUMA is confident that Lars is the right person to lead its operations and looks forward to having him as its new COO.

NEGATIVE IMPACT OF VOLATILE CURRENCIES CONTINUES

2014 Third Quarter Facts

• Currency adjusted sales increase by 6.4% to € 843 million
• Footwear sales return to growth
• OPEX increase due to Forever Faster marketing campaign
• EBIT of € 46 million
• Net Earnings of € 29 million
• Strategic equity investment made in Borussia Dortmund

2014 Nine Month Facts

• Currency adjusted sales increase by 2.4% to € 2.22 billion
• Slight gross profit margin decline to 47.2%
• OPEX increased by 3.7%
• EBIT of € 117 million
• EPS amounts to € 4.59
• Successful launch of worldwide Forever Faster brand campaign

Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE: “In a good third quarter, PUMA achieved sales that were slightly better than expected. Footwear sales were up for the first time in seven quarters, and operating profits met our expectations. The launch of the Forever Faster marketing campaign was well received by both consumers and retailers. We told our consumers that PUMA is back and showed our retail partners that we deliver on our promises by investing in media campaigns. We feel that things are moving in the right direction, but as we have said all along: We know that the repositioning of PUMA and the turnaround of the business will take time as we need to continue to build confidence in the marketplace. I am convinced that our efforts have already translated into better products, better marketing and more efficient operations. In addition, we have now defined the key priorities which will mark the start of our IT infrastructure upgrade, laying the foundations for a fast, lean and efficient company in the future.”

Third Quarter 2014

Sales increase

PUMA’s 2014 third quarter sales performance was positive, as consolidated sales rose by 6.4% currency adjusted to € 843 million. This represents an increase of 3.7% in Euro terms, as continuing currency effects from various countries had a negative impact on sales.

Sales performance stronger in all regions and markets in Q3

Sales in the EMEA region increased by 4.4% currency adjusted to € 388 million. Performance improved in Western Europe, notably in Germany, where the new Borussia Dortmund jerseys were well received, as well as Switzerland and France, as sales of Teamsport and Lifestyle products rose.

Sales increased by 6.3% currency adjusted to € 265 million in the Americas, as North America continued to benefit from improved wholesale business, including key account initiatives like the PUMA Labs at Foot Locker. Sales in Latin America also rose, supported by a strong Teamsport business within the region.

Asia/Pacific sales increased by 10.7% currency adjusted to € 191 million due to growth in all key markets, including India, China, Korea and Japan. This growth was supported by the successful start of the Forever Faster brand campaign, the positive reception of PUMA’s new Arsenal jerseys and a strong Accessories business.

All product segments positive

Third quarter Footwear sales rose by 2.0% currency adjusted to € 374 million as Teamsport sales, particularly the PUMA evoSPEED boot, continued to improve.

PUMA’s third quarter Apparel sales rose by 11.4% currency adjusted to € 323 million, supported by strong demand for our Teamsport products, especially Arsenal jerseys and kit.

Accessories sales also improved by 7.5% currency adjusted to € 147 million due to continued demand for socks and bodywear. However, Golf equipment sales declined in the quarter as the golfing environment remained very weak.

Gross profit margin lower

PUMA’s gross profit margin declined from 47.1% to 46.3% for the third quarter of 2014 on the back of adverse currency impacts as well as shifts within the product mix which influenced the margin negatively. In addition, stronger sales in our distribution business within Latin America, particularly in Footwear, led to a decline in the Footwear margin from 44.4% to 41.9%. Apparel margin decreased slightly from 49.9% to 49.6%. However, the margin for Accessories improved from 48.6% to 50.3%.

OPEX increased

PUMA’s operating expenditures increased as expected in the third quarter, from € 309 million to € 349 million, due to the higher marketing expenditures associated with the Arsenal partnership and the launch of the Forever Faster brand campaign ahead of the back-to-school season.

Operating Result (EBIT) decreased

The decline in PUMA’s operating result (EBIT) from € 80 million to € 46 million in the third quarter of 2014 is mainly due to significantly higher marketing expenditures within the OPEX.

Financial Result

The financial result improved from € -1.5 million to € -0.7 million in the third quarter. The result remained negative due mainly to currency conversion impacts.

Net earnings

PUMA’s consolidated net earnings declined from € 53 million to € 29 million. As a result, earnings per share decreased from € 3.53 to € 1.93 in the third quarter of the year.

Nine Months 2014

Currency adjusted sales rose by 2.4% for the first nine months of the year to € 2.2 billion. As currency volatility continued to have a negative impact in the third quarter, albeit to a lesser extent, nine month sales in Euro terms declined by 2.9%.<7p>

Regional performances positive

Currency adjusted sales in the EMEA region rose by 1.4% to € 981 million, thanks to improvements in the United Kingdom and throughout Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Sales in the Americas increased by 3.5% currency adjusted to € 751 million, with sales growth evenly spread over North America and Latin America.

Asia/Pacific sales rose by 2.5% currency adjusted to € 490 million, with positive performances throughout the region except in Japan, where the business climate in the first half of the year prevented a better result.

Apparel and Accessories sales increased

In terms of product segments, Footwear sales declined by 4.4% currency adjusted to € 972 million in the first nine months of 2014. Sales in Apparel increased by 9.1% currency adjusted to € 810 million, and Accessories sales also rose by 6.9% currency adjusted to € 439 million.

PUMA’s Retail sales rose

PUMA’s own and operated retail sales for the first nine months of the year increased by 3.4% currency adjusted to € 432 million, equal to 19.5% of total sales, as comparable sales in our stores improved during the period.

Gross Profit Margin down slightly

PUMA’s nine month gross profit margin declined slightly to 47.2% due to negative impacts from currency/hedging. The decline in the Footwear gross profit margin from 44.9% to 42.9% was almost offset by increases in the Apparel margin, from 49.6% to 50.4%, and in the Accessories margin, from 50.2% to 50.7%.

OPEX increase for the first nine months of the year

PUMA’s operating expenditure increased due to increased marketing costs associated with the launch of the Forever Faster brand campaign and the Arsenal partnership. However, tight control was maintained on all other areas of expenditure. OPEX rose by 3.7% from € 911 million to € 944 million compared to the same period last year.

Operating Result (EBIT) lower

Continued currency weakness in a number of countries had a negative impact on sales and gross profit. In addition, marketing spending increased due to our Forever Faster Campaign and new assets like Arsenal. As a result, PUMA’s EBIT declined as expected from € 190 million to € 117 million for the first nine months of the year, equivalent to 5.3% of sales.

Improved Financial Result

PUMA’s financial result improved from € -9.5 million to € -5.2 million. The negative result was caused mainly by the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.

Net Earnings / Earnings per share decline

Consolidated net earnings fell from € 121 million to € 69 million for the first nine months of 2014, with earnings per share declining from € 8.07 to € 4.59.

Net Assets and Financial Position

Focus on Working Capital continues

PUMA retained its focus on working capital management in the third quarter. As a result, Inventories were broadly flat at € 573 million and trade receivables increased by 4.6% to € 547 million, in line with the sales growth.

Cashflow / Capex

PUMA’s Free Cashflow (before acquisitions) moved from € -75 million to € -91 million for the first nine months of 2014, due to lower Earnings but supported by a much improved working capital position.

Capital expenditure rose from € 34 million to € 48 million as PUMA continued to invest in the opening and refurbishment of selected retail stores, as well as office and IT equipment.

Net Cash Position

PUMA’s Net Cash Position at the end of September 2014 declined slightly from € 246 million to € 231 million, also impacted by the payment for a 5.0% equity stake in Borussia Dortmund.

Brand Update

In September, PUMA participated in the capital increase of its strategic partner Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA (BVB) by acquiring 4,600,000 shares of the club, representing 5.0% of the voting rights. As Borussia Dortmund’s technical supplier since July 2012, we look forward to continuing our successful partnership with BVB as its close partner and shareholder. As one of the top clubs in Germany and Europe, Borussia Dortmund is a perfect fit for PUMA, increasing our brand awareness on a national and international level.

In addition to Borussia Dortmund, PUMA also added top English Premier League club Arsenal FC to its list of Teamsport partners at the start of the quarter. Our sales of replica jerseys, fanwear and associated accessories have been very satisfying since the new kits were launched in July.

In Motorsports, the PUMA partnered Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team showed that they are truly Forever Faster, sealing the 2014 Constructor’s Championship with 3 races to go and thereby confirming their status as the fastest team in the world’s fastest sport. It has been a superb season for the team, with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg dominating the sport. PUMA has also extended its partnership with BMW Motorsport as the Official Supplier of Team and Racewear for all BMW Motorsport racing operations. With a relationship dating back to 2004 when PUMA first partnered the BMW Williams Formula One team, BMW Motorsport is PUMA’s longest standing partner in Motorsport and remains a core part of our Sports Marketing portfolio.

Strategy Update

Our strategy encompasses the repositioning of PUMA as the World’s Fastest Sports Brand, the improvement of our product engine, the optimization of our distribution quality and increasing the speed within our organization and infrastructure. In the third quarter we continued to progress well on all our key strategic priorities that are crucial to ensuring that 2014 marks the start of the turnaround.

In terms of our brand repositioning, August saw the launch of the biggest marketing campaign in PUMA’s history, which marked the start of our repositioning as a true Sports Brand to our consumers and retail partners. The objective of the campaign was to demonstrate that PUMA is back in sports and that our brand has great assets and a distinctive attitude: Brave, confident, determined, and joyful. We achieved this objective as our campaign reached our consumers in 35 countries, generating 1 billion TV impressions in our target group as well as 31 million online views. The market surveys showed a very positive consumer reception. The launch of this campaign marks the start of a long-term marketing strategy, with continuous investment up to the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016 and beyond.

To improve our product engine, we initiated key projects to improve our product designs, develop more innovative technologies and increase the commerciality of our product range. The first results have already been implemented for the coming Spring/Summer 2015 season, and the feedback from our retail partners make us very confident that we are heading in the right direction. With the continued positive feedback received for our Autumn/Winter 2015 collection, we are positive that we are on the right path.

In order to improve the quality of our revenues and distribution, we have developed joint product and marketing programs with our key retailers to showcase our brand in the right retail environment and push sell-through with our partners. Our most prominent example is currently the PUMA Lab at Foot Locker, which we launched in Feb 2014 and has developed very positively as we have expanded our presence in the US throughout the year. The success of the PUMA Lab has not only improved our business with Foot Locker but also generated a positive spill-over effect on to other key retailers in the US marketplace – both with performance and lifestyle accounts. In 2015, we will continue to foster our collaborations and will launch further product and marketing programs with our most important key accounts in every Region.

We have also continued to optimize our organizational structure and setup by making it faster. With the finalization of the relocation of our Global and European Retail Organization from Oensingen, Switzerland, to our Headquarters in Herzogenaurach as of September 30th, we finalized the last out of our three major consolidation projects in 2014. This relocation followed the closure of our PUMA Village Development Center in Vietnam as of May 2nd and the relocation of our Lifestyle Business Unit from London to our Headquarters in Herzogenaurach as of May 31st.

Going forward, our strategic priorities will be complemented with a further objective: the upgrade of our current IT infrastructure to match the industry’s best practice benchmark. The process and system due diligence of our new COO revealed significant improvement potential in our IT and process landscape and we have now defined the key priorities which will mark the start of our IT infrastructure upgrade. We are very confident that our investment in these areas will lay the foundations for a lean and efficient company in the future.

Outlook for the Financial Year 2014

2014 continues to be a turnaround year for PUMA, where the brand will be re-established in the market place and brought back to a path of profitable and sustainable growth in the mid-term. To support this turnaround, PUMA will continue to invest strongly in marketing and sports assets as well as start investing in IT infrastructure, while maintaining tight control on other operating expenditures.

Given PUMA’s results through the first nine months of the year, we now expect a low single digit increase in currency adjusted net sales (previously flat) and a stable gross profit margin (previously slight increase) for the full year. As planned, OPEX will increase significantly based on increased Marketing investments throughout the second half of the year. PUMA’s full year guidance for EBIT and Net Earnings (approx. 5% and 3% of net sales respectively) remains unchanged; we reiterate that the continued volatile currency movements will have a negative impact of around 50 basis points on the EBIT and Net Earnings margin for the year.

Notes to the editors:

• This press release and financial reports are posted on about.puma.com.
• PUMA SE stock symbol:
  Reuters: PUMG.DE, Bloomberg: PUM GY,
  Börse Frankfurt: ISIN: DE0006969603– WKN: 6969603

Notes relating to forward-looking statements:

This document contains forward-looking information about the Company’s financial status and strategic initiatives. Such information is subject to a certain level of risk and uncertainty that could cause the Company's actual results to differ significantly from the information discussed in this document. The forward-looking information is based on the current expectations and prognosis of the management team. Therefore, this document is further subject to the risk that such expectations or prognosis, or the premise of such underlying expectations or prognosis, become erroneous. Circumstances that could alter the Company's actual results and procure such results to differ significantly from those contained in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company include, but are not limited to those discussed be above.

NEW STRATEGIC DIRECTION “FOREVER FASTER” SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED

2014 Fourth Quarter Facts

• Consolidated sales grow to € 751 million, a currency adjusted increase of 6.3%
• Positive trend in Footwear continues in Q4, up 4.3% currency adjusted
• Improvement of gross profit margin from 43.2% to 45.0%
• OPEX increase mainly due to “Forever Faster” marketing campaign
• EBIT before special items improves to € 11 million compared to € 1 million in Q4 2013
• Strong rise of net earnings due to special items booked in Q4 prior year
• Rihanna announced as new PUMA Brand Ambassador

2014 Full Year Facts

• PUMA’s full-year consolidated net sales increase by 3.3% currency adjusted to around
  € 3 billion
• Slight improvement of gross profit margin to 46.6% despite adverse currency fluctuations
• OPEX rise as planned due to “Forever Faster” marketing campaign as well as new sponsoring contracts
• EBIT reaches € 128 million
• Net earnings (2014: € 64.1 million; PY: € 5.3 million) and EPS (2014: € 4.29; PY:
  € 0.36) improved strongly; no special items booked in 2014

Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE: “The fourth quarter developed as we had hoped, with a solid increase in sales and even stronger improvement in EBIT and net earnings. We are especially pleased to see that we again, for the second quarter in a row, had growth in our footwear sales. Our full-year results are also in line with expectations. We stopped the decline in sales and made progress with all our strategic priorities. We now have a clear positioning, which will be strengthened through increased investment into marketing and a clear use and celebration of our assets. We are further focusing on communicating stories clearly. We have made strides in improving our product and are working with our retailers to further improve the quality of our distribution. Additionally, we have started to improve our IT foundation and operations, to ensure a faster, leaner, and more efficient set up in the coming years. In 2015, we will continue to work towards our mission of becoming the Fastest Sports Brand in the world while further improving our business along all strategic priorities. The addition of Rihanna, as a Brand Ambassador and as one of our creative directors, is a commitment to our increased focus on the female consumer segment, as we truly believe that the "future is female". We know that the turnaround will take time but feel that 2014 was a turning point. We expect 2015 to confirm that we are moving in the right direction.”

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

Strong fourth quarter performance

In comparison with last year, consolidated sales in the fourth quarter of 2014 recovered and rose from € 698.3 million to € 750.8 million, which represents a currency adjusted increase of 6.3%. This was driven mainly by a stronger demand in the Americas as well as a considerable upwards trend in Accessories and further recovery in footwear sales.

In the EMEA region, sales increased slightly by 0.6% currency adjusted to € 224.8 million, as economic conditions in some continental European countries remained challenging, while the UK enjoyed a very solid performance.

Revenues in the Americas region increased strongly by 15.0% currency adjusted to € 319.3 million. Solid performances in the USA and Canada and strong growth rates in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico drove this performance.

Sales in the Asia/Pacific region rose slightly by 0.7% currency adjusted to € 206.7 million. While China and India grew, Korea and Japan performed below last year’s levels.

PUMA’s Footwear sales in the fourth quarter improved, up for the second quarter in a row, by 4.3% currency adjusted to € 310.7 million. Apparel sales improved by 3.6% currency adjusted to € 293.0 million, while Accessories saw its sales increase sharply, up 17.1% currency adjusted to € 147.1 million despite adverse market developments in the Golf category.

PUMA’s gross profit margin increased from 43.2% to 45.0% in the fourth quarter of 2014. Lower price reductions supported by a better product mix in the quarter helped to improve the margin in Footwear and Apparel. Footwear gross profit margin increased from 39.5% to 41.6%. Apparel margin rose from 44.7% to 47.1%, while the margin for Accessories decreased slightly from 48.4% to 47.8% impacted by the current weakness within the Golf business.

After four consecutive quarters of decline, operating expenditures in the fourth quarter of 2014 increased as a result of the intensified marketing activities of PUMA. As a consequence – although PUMA maintained its focus on a strict cost management - total OPEX rose by 8.6% from € 306.2 million to € 332.4 million during the quarter. Combined with the increase in sales and the improved gross profit margin, this led to the higher EBIT (before special items) of € 10.6 million. As no special items were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2014 (prior year: € 129.0 million), the Operating Result (EBIT) increased significantly. Earnings per share in the fourth quarter of 2014 came in at € -0.30.

FULL YEAR 2014

PUMA’s full-year sales increased 3.3% currency adjusted

Consolidated sales were in line with the guidance for 2014 and increased by 3.3% currency adjusted to around € 3.0 billion, which corresponds to a slight decline of 0.4% in Euro terms, reflecting the currencies headwind registered throughout the year. All regions contributed to growth, posting currency adjusted growth rates in the year.

Sales in the EMEA region increased by 1.3% currency adjusted to € 1.2 billion, where strong performance in the United Kingdom more than offset weaker French and Italian markets.

In the Americas, sales improved significantly by 6.7% currency adjusted to € 1.1 billion thanks to a strong demand particularly from the U.S., Canada, Argentina and Mexico.

In Asia/Pacific, sales rose by 1.9% currency adjusted to € 696 million, as a strong demand from India and China outbalanced a decline in Japan, which was mostly related to the weaker Golf category.

In 2014, Footwear sales decreased due to a weaker first half by 2.4% currency adjusted to € 1.3 billion, while the second half showed growth in the segment. Sales in Apparel rose by 7.6% currency adjusted to € 1.1 billion. Sales in Accessories continued to improve and showed a significant increase of 9.3% currency adjusted to € 586 million.

Sales growth continued in PUMA’s Retail Business

In line with PUMA’s strategy, PUMA continued to optimize its retail network in 2014. While the company continued to open stores with a particular focus on profitable new locations in growth markets, it carried on its program of selective closures of unprofitable stores at the same time. As such, comparable store sales were positive in the year and full-year retail sales rose by 3.9% currency adjusted to € 618 million in 2014, equaling 20.8% of total sales.

Slightly improved Gross Profit Margin

PUMA’s full-year gross profit margin increased slightly from 46.5% to 46.6%, driven by positive margin developments in Apparel and Accessories that were able to more than offset the decline in Footwear. Footwear margin for the full-year stood at 42.6% versus 43.7% in the previous year. Margin in Apparel increased significantly from 48.3% to 49.5%. Accessories gross profit margin also increased from 49.8% to 50.0%.

Marketing efforts drive OPEX

Due to the increased marketing expenses for the „Forever Faster“ brand campaign, the football world cup in Brazil as well as the sponsoring of additional football clubs and athletes, the full-year OPEX increased by 4.9% from € 1,216.9 million to € 1,276.8 million. At the same time, savings were realized in other areas in line with the ongoing strict cost management.

Operating Result (EBIT) before special items in line with guidance

As a consequence of the effects outlined above, full-year EBIT before special items declined from € 191.4 million to € 128.0 million. This corresponds to a 4.3% margin on net sales.

No Special Items in 2014

PUMA’s 2014 results were not affected by any special items, while in the previous year, PUMA recorded € 129.0 million.

Operating Result (EBIT) after special items increased

As a result, PUMA’s EBIT after special items for the full year improved from € 62.5 million to € 128.0 million, equivalent to an increase from 2.1% to 4.3% as a percentage of sales.

Financial Result improved

For the full year, PUMA’s financial result improved from € -8.7 million to € -6.2 million.

Net Earnings / Earnings per share increase

Full-year consolidated net earnings rose from € 5.3 million in 2013 to € 64.1 million in 2014, with earnings per share increasing from € 0.36 to € 4.29.Sales growth continued in PUMA’s Retail BusinessSales growth continued in PUMA’s Retail Business

NET ASSETS AND FINANCIAL POSITION

Working Capital position continues to improve

The Group’s significantly declined by 13.8% from € 528.4 million to € 455.7 million.Inventories increased from € 521.3 million to € 571.5 million at the end of 2014, while trade receivables rose from € 423.4 million to € 449.2 million. As per the balance-sheet date, trade liabilities increased from € 373.1 million to € 515.2 million as a result of higher inventories and because of timing of payments.

Cashflow / Capex

PUMA’s Free Cashflow improved from € 29.2 million at the end of 2013 to € 39.3 million at the end of 2014. This was mainly due to lower Working Capital requirements and was achieved despite an increase in CAPEX.

Cash Position improved

PUMA’s year end Cash Position improved to € 401.5 million compared to last year’s € 390.1 million.

Dividend

The Administrative Board will propose a stable dividend of € 0.50 per share for the financial year 2014 at the Annual General Meeting on 6th May 2015.

STRATEGY UPDATE

To be the Fastest Sports Brand in the world

In 2013, Bjørn Gulden (CEO) introduced PUMA’s new mission statement: To be the Fastest Sports Brand in the world. The company’s mission not only reflects PUMA’s new brand positioning of being Forever Faster, it also serves as the guiding principle for the company expressed through all of its actions and decisions. Our objective is to be fast in reacting to new trends, fast in bringing new innovations to the market, fast in decision-making and fast in solving problems for our partners.

Strategic priorities

Our strategy encompasses five strategic priorities: the repositioning of PUMA as the World’s Fastest Sports Brand, the improvement of our product engine, the optimization of our distribution quality, increasing the speed within our organization and infrastructure, and renewing our IT infrastructure. In 2014, we continued to make further progress on all our key strategic priorities to ensure that the year marks the start of a turnaround.

In terms of our brand repositioning, August 2014 saw the successful launch of our worldwide Forever Faster brand campaign – the biggest marketing campaign in PUMA’s history. This marked the start of our repositioning as a true sports brand to our consumers and retail partners. The objective of the campaign is to demonstrate that PUMA is back in sports and that our brand has great assets and a distinctive attitude: Brave, confident, determined, and joyful. We achieved this goal by focusing our campaign on customers in 35 countries. In the first three months after the start, our advertising generated 1 billion TV impressions in our target group as well as 31 million online views. The market surveys showed a very positive consumer reception. The launch of this campaign marked the start of a long-term marketing strategy, which will be continued in 2015 and run through the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016 and beyond.

To improve our product engine, we initiated key projects to enhance our product designs, develop more innovative technologies and increase the commercial appeal of our product range. The first results have already been implemented for the 2015 collections, and the feedback from our retail partners make us very confident that we are heading in the right direction.

In order to improve the quality of our revenues and distribution, we have developed joint product and marketing programs with our key retailers to showcase our brand in the right retail environment and drive sell-through with our partners. In February 2014, together with our partner Foot Locker USA, we introduced the jointly developed retail concept "PUMA Lab" and successfully rolled it out in the US market. The success of the PUMA Lab has not only improved our business with Foot Locker USA but also generated a positive spill-over effect onto other key retailers in the US marketplace – both with performance and lifestyle accounts. In 2015, we will continue to foster collaborations and launch further product and marketing programs with our most important key accounts in every region.

In 2014, we also continued to optimize our organizational structure and setup by making them leaner and faster. With the finalization of the relocation of our Global and European Retail Organization from Oensingen, Switzerland, to our Headquarters in Herzogenaurach as of September 30th, we completed the last out of our three major consolidation projects in 2014. This relocation followed the closure of our PUMA Village Development Center in Vietnam in May and the relocation of our Lifestyle Business Unit from London to our Headquarters in Herzogenaurach in June. In 2015, we will be focusing on standardizing and optimizing processes between PUMA and its partners. The key projects in this area are the implementation of a sourcing organization to manage global order and invoice flows and the conceptual design of a European trading company to optimize regional flows of goods.

Another strategic priority is the renewal and expansion of our IT infrastructure to create a basis for more extensive optimization measures. In 2015, we will focus on three areas: optimize our basic IT infrastructure, start the implementation of a standard ERP system to support sourcing and trading functions, and set-up platforms to improve the design, development and planning processes. We are very confident that our investments in these areas will lay the foundation for a lean and efficient company in the future.

BRAND AND MARKETING UPDATE

At the end of 2014, we added global cultural icon Rihanna to our roster. Through this new multi-year partnership, Rihanna will serve as a global brand ambassador. She will play a key role in PUMA’s brand campaign Forever Faster, featuring along PUMA’s world-class athletes such as Usain Bolt and Sergio Aguero. From Spring/ Summer 2016 on, she will serve as one of the Creative Directors for PUMA, specially focusing on Women. Rihanna will directly influence our Women’s collections with her fresh, forward thinking and non-traditional approach to sports, fitness and lifestyle. This marks the start of a renewed focus on Women for the PUMA brand. In 2015, we will further underscore our increased focus on female consumers by launching an extended training range, starting with the Pulse XT, which will be endorsed by Rihanna.

Our Autumn/Winter 2014 collection in Lifestyle saw a star reborn, when we reissued the Becker OG, the classic mid top shoe that 17-year old Boris Becker wore during his famous and groundbreaking Wimbledon win in 1985. A timeless silhouette originally made for the tennis court, the Becker OG merges the best of PUMA’s performance heritage and design language.

In Motorsports, Lewis Hamilton of the PUMA-partnered Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team clinched his second drivers' World Championship ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton wore the PUMA F1 Pro SLW, weighing only 99 grams. It is the lightest Formula 1 shoe that currently exists.

The year 2015 has started very positively for PUMA as the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations proved to be a fantastic stage for our football products with Ivory Coast beating Ghana 9:8 in a thrilling penalty shootout, with both teams being outfitted by PUMA. Led by their captain and PUMA star player Yaya Touré, the “Elephants” put on a brilliant performance to claim their second Africa Cup of Nations title after 1992. On the pitch in Equatorial Guinea, Touré sported the next generation of our evoPOWER football boot, designed to bring Power and Accuracy to a higher level. The innovative shoe was launched at the beginning of this year through a “Head to Head” campaign featuring PUMA key assets Mario Balotelli and Cesc Fàbregas.

In February 2015, a further innovation was launched in our running category. Our most innovative running footwear technology to date, introduced by the World’s Fastest Man, Usain Bolt on New York City’s Times Square: IGNITE. Developed together with BASF over multiple years, IGNITE is revolutionary to the business. PUMA’s best ever, PU foam provides the highest return of energy we have ever created, step-in comfort and long-lasting durability with ForEverFoam. In subsequent seasons, additional styles will be introduced and the IGNITE line will be expanded further within our Running and Training category. In the second half of 2015, we will continue our training and Ignite story with IGNITE XT trainer.

OUTLOOK FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2015

After the successful launch of PUMA’s Forever Faster campaign in autumn 2014, PUMA will continue its marketing investments in order to reposition PUMA as the fastest sports brand of the world. The objective of PUMA’s brand repositioning is to increase brand heat and further replace lower tier distribution with higher tier distribution in order to improve sales quality and sell-through.

Together with improvements in the product offering, PUMA expects an increase of its currency-adjusted net sales in the medium single-digit range for the full year 2015, with sales in the first half expected to be flat and growth occurring in the second half. The gross profit margin is anticipated to improve slightly based on lower discounts and a favorable product mix.

For 2015, PUMA is planning further strong investments in the “Forever Faster” marketing campaign as well as in the upgrade of our current IT. We are very confident that our investment in IT will lay the foundation for a lean and efficient company in the future. As a consequence, PUMA’s OPEX will increase while management will continue to put a strong emphasis on strict control of other operating costs.

The recent adverse developments of foreign exchange rates, particularly the strengthening of the US-Dollar versus nearly all other currencies, could lead to a significant negative impact on the reported gross profit margin and the overall reported EBIT and net earnings of the PUMA group.

Because of these negative currency developments, PUMA has already taken and will continue to take countermeasures, which should support a slight increase in reported EBIT and net earnings.

Last year, PUMA has successfully taken the first steps to re-establish the brand in the market place. 2015 will be the year to further enhance and reinforce this brand positioning and to take a further step in getting PUMA back to a path of profitable and sustainable growth.

NOTES

Media Relations:

Kerstin Neuber - Corporate Communications - PUMA SE - +49 9132 81 2984 - kerstin.neuber@puma.com

Investor Relations

Beate Gabriel – Finance - PUMA SE - +49 9132 81 2375 – beate.gabriel@puma.com

Notes to the editors

This press release and financial reports are posted on about.puma.com.
PUMA SE stock symbol: Reuters: PUMG.DE, Bloomberg: PUM GY, Börse Frankfurt: ISIN: DE0006969603– WKN: 6969603

Notes relating to forward-looking statements

This document contains forward-looking information about the Company’s financial status and strategic initiatives. Such information is subject to a certain level of risk and uncertainty that could cause the Company's actual results to differ significantly from the information discussed in this document. The forward-looking information is based on the current expectations and prognosis of the management team. Therefore, this document is further subject to the risk that such expectations or prognosis, or the premise of such underlying expectations or prognosis, become erroneous. Circumstances that could alter the Company's actual results and procure such results to differ significantly from those contained in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company include, but are not limited to those discussed be above.

The previous guidance for 2015 (increase in the medium single-digit range for full-year currency-adjusted net sales, slight increase of the gross profit margin, slight increase of the operating result (EBIT) and of the net earnings compared to 2014) is therefore amended.

From today’s perspective, we continue to expect an increase in the medium single-digit range for full-year currency-adjusted net sales. However, due to the negative currency effects we expect a drop in the gross profit margin for the full year in a range of 100 to 150 basis points versus last year (2014: 46.6%). The operating result (EBIT) for the full year is expected in a range between 80 million and 100 million EUR. The net earnings guidance is amended according to the adjustment of the guidance for the operating result (EBIT).

CURRENCY EFFECTS WEIGH ON REPORTED MARGINS

2015 First Quarter Facts

• Sales up by 4.4% currency-adjusted (+13.2% reported) to € 821 million, growth across all regions and mainly driven by Footwear
• Gross profit margin down, solely due to foreign currency impacts  OPEX increase because of marketing expenses, investments in IT, opening of new retail stores, also strongly impacted by unfavorable currency rates
• EBIT stands at € 38 million
• PUMA IGNITE running shoe technology successfully launched in February
• Outlook adjusted to reflect currency impact

Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE: “PUMA´s first quarter sales grew slightly stronger than expected. This was mainly caused by a very positive development in footwear. We are working very hard to improve our product offer, and although we know we have some ways to go, we feel that this growth in footwear confirms that we are on the right path.

The negative development in currencies, had a significant negative impact on our gross profit margin and operational expenses and therefore also on our EBIT and net earnings. We do work hard to „counter“ these negative currency effects, but do currently not have enough leverage to fully neutralize the impact and have therefore adjusted our outlook for the full year EBIT and net earnings.

We will continue our strategy to become the Fastest Sports Brand in the World and will continue to invest in Product, Marketing, Retail and IT to lay the foundation for solid profitable growth in the future.”

Sales growth in the first quarter

PUMA’s first quarter sales performance in 2015 was slightly ahead of our expectations. Currency-adjusted sales increased by 4.4% to € 821 million. In reported terms, this corresponds to a growth of 13.2%.

Positive sales development in all regions

Sales in the EMEA region rose by 0.2% currency-adjusted to € 342 million. Southern European countries developed positively in the first quarter, while the United Kingdom saw a decline due to a softer Lifestyle business. The Middle East and Africa regions continued to show a solid performance in most of the countries and across all categories.

In the Americas region, sales grew by 5.6% currency-adjusted to € 289 million, with both North America and Latin America developing positively.

Asia/Pacific sales increased by 10.9% currency-adjusted to € 191 million with strong performance in China and India supported by the improved Footwear business.

Footwear leads segment performance in the first quarter

Footwear sales increased by 7.8% currency-adjusted to € 378 million. This was driven by a higher demand for PUMA’s Running, Training & Fitness products, which was partly triggered by the successful launch of the PUMA IGNITE running shoe in mid-February.

Apparel sales increased by 5.7% currency-adjusted to € 280 million. A strong demand for PUMA’s Fundamentals, Running, Training & Fitness and Golf products underpinned this good performance.

Accessories sales decreased by 4.6% currency-adjusted to € 163 million. This is related to lower sales of socks and bodywear in the North American market.

Satisfying retail performance

PUMA’s first quarter Retail sales increased by 7.3% on a currency-adjusted basis to € 144 million, with comparable sales in full-price stores and outlets slightly up. PUMA also operated a higher number of stores. Retail sales represented 17.5% of total sales compared to 17.1% last year.

Negative currency impacts affect gross profit margin

PUMA’s gross profit margin declined from 48.5% to 46.9% in the first quarter, solely due to negative currency impacts. The strength of the US Dollar compared to major “unhedged” and not fully hedged currencies including Russian Ruble, Mexican Peso, Brazilian Real, Turkish Lira and Argentinian Peso led to this decrease. The Footwear gross profit margin declined from 44.1% to 42.9%.  Apparel decreased from 53.6% to 50.7%, and Accessories remained at previous year’s level of 49.6% (Q1 2014: 49.7%). In absolute figures, gross profit increased by 9.3% in reported terms from € 352 million to € 385 million.

Higher OPEX in line with expectations

As communicated previously, PUMA continued to invest in the “Forever Faster” marketing campaign in the first quarter 2015. There was no major campaign in the first quarter in 2014. In addition, we have started to invest in our IT infrastructure and we continued with our retail strategy to open additional retail stores, mainly in emerging markets. As with the gross profit margin, OPEX was heavily impacted by the unfavorable currency developments. As a consequence, PUMA’s OPEX increased by 17.7% to € 351 million. PUMA’s management continues to put a strong emphasis on strict control of other operating costs. In constant currencies, the increase in OPEX amounts to 9.5%.

Operating result (EBIT) declines

Despite the sales growth in the first quarter 2015, the lower gross profit margin and increased operating expenditures both impacted by negative currency developments led to a decrease of PUMA’s operating result (EBIT) from € 59 million to € 38 million. The EBIT ratio decreased from 8.1% to 4.6%.

Financial result improves

The financial result improved from € -3.2 million to € 0.9 million in the first quarter. The result turned positive due to currency conversion impacts.

Net earnings decrease

PUMA’s consolidated net earnings declined by 30.3% from € 36 million to € 25 million. As a result, earnings per share decreased from € 2.38 to € 1.66 in the first quarter of the year.

Net Assets and Financial Position

Working capital rose in line with sales

Inventories increased by 23.7% (11.9% currency adjusted) to € 648 million due to earlier deliveries in order to better service our key strategic accounts. Trade receivables increased by 17.9% (6.2% currency adjusted) to € 596 million compared to 31 March 2014, which was driven by higher sales. Trade payables were similarly affected by currency exchange rates and increased by 36.7% to € 467 million. As a result, PUMA’s working capital rose by 10.6% from € 674 million to € 745 million at the end of March 2015.

Cashflow / Capex

The free cashflow before acquisitions declined to € -233 million mainly due to lower cashflows from operating activities as a result of the increased working capital.

Capex increased from € 12 million to € 16 million, which was mainly invested in the opening of selected retail stores as well as IT equipment.

Stable cash position

PUMA’s cash and cash equivalents position at € 295 million as of 31 March 2015 remained broadly stable at last year’s level of € 301 million.

Brand and Product Update

Following the launch of our latest running innovation PUMA IGNITE by the World’s Fastest Man Usain Bolt on New York City’s Times Square, the sell-through of this innovative footwear technology has been off to a good start both in retail and wholesale. The innovative IGNITE foam technology offers the highest energy return in the industry and strongly represents our new “Forever Faster” positioning.

In order to further strengthen our dominant position in Motorsport, we recently announced a new long-term Formula 1 partnership with INFINITI RED BULL RACING. Effective 1 January 2016, we will be the official, licensed supplier of team and race wear. In addition, we will exclusively produce and distribute INFINITI RED BULL RACING licensed replica, fanwear and lifestyle collections for global distribution. We will also prominently feature INFINITI RED BULL RACING in our brand and motorsport marketing campaigns in 2016 and beyond.

Our partnership with Red Bull will span beyond Formula 1 racing. We have also signed a new multi-year partnership with the “Wings for Life World Run”, which was co-founded by Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz to fund scientific research for spinal cord injuries. This will serve as a platform to promote our IGNITE running and CELL apparel technology. As the exclusive official sportswear partner, event staff and athletes participating in the Wings for Life World Run sported PUMA footwear, apparel and accessories. 100% of all starting fees and donations will go directly to spinal cord research.

Our Teamsport category saw the extension of one of PUMA’s longest-standing and most successful partnerships in Football: through our new long-term contract with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), PUMA has increased its marketing rights as well as retained the exclusive Master License to actively manage the entire global licensing portfolio of the Federation. PUMA, who first became partner of “Gli Azzurri” in 2003, will also continue as the official technical supplier to all associated FIGC teams.

In March, PUMA won the “2014 Marketing Leader Award” from Foot Locker Europe. The award has recognized PUMA’s “Forever Faster” marketing campaign, which was launched in Autumn/Winter 2014 and the growth of brand awareness through the effective use of advertising, public relations and event marketing. This underlines the impact of our “Forever Faster” campaign and the close collaboration with our retail partners.

Strategy Update

We have made further progress towards becoming the Fastest Sports Brand in the World. We have launched successful products for this year’s Spring Summer season, including our new IGNITE running technology. Over the coming seasons we will continue to develop the IGNITE platform with innovations, material updates and product launches supported by dedicated media activities.

We have said that we would enhance our product communication, telling better and simpler stories to the consumers and utilize our assets. This promise is reflected in our ongoing marketing campaign “Forever Faster”. The current theme is more product-focused and features Usain Bolt running in the IGNITE as well as star-footballers including Mario Balotelli and Cesc Fàbregas in action with our latest football boot innovation evoPOWER.

Our new multi-year partnership with Rihanna has already generated a lot of positive PR and social media buzz. Rihanna is an ideal brand ambassador, thanks to both her personality and iconic style. She is currently featured in an in-store marketing campaign promoting PUMA’s key training styles of the season. In August, Rihanna will also play a key role in the brand campaign Forever Faster, featured along PUMA’s world-class athletes such as Usain Bolt and Sergio Aguero. Later she will be the Creative Director for her own line of training & lifestyle products.

In terms of improving the quality of our distribution, our sales organizations are working hard to intensify our relationships with key strategic accounts as well as building new partnerships with strong retailers in both established and emerging markets. Amongst others we have continued our collaboration with Foot Locker and opened the first European PUMA Lab at the Foot Locker store in Milan in February. We have also added new locations to their US portfolio in Philadelphia and Atlanta.

As for PUMA’s own retail, we have developed a new instore concept which will ensure that our PUMA stores better tell our product stories, reveal the technologies behind them and strengthen PUMA’s positioning as a sports brand. Last month, we started the global roll-out with our PUMA store in Herzogenaurach. It will continue to be implemented in our stores world-wide, with the shops in Hong Kong and Mexico City being next in line. Continuing our efforts to improve and expand our online presence, we have expanded the selection of our eCommerce website to include our more exclusive PUMA Select products as of May.

We continue to work on simplifying our organizational structure and setup. In Indonesia we have transitioned from a distributor to a new subsidiary which will improve our presence in this important market. In terms of our IT enhancement, we continue to work on our focus areas including standardized ERP systems, overall IT infrastructure and also tools to enable more efficient design and planning processes. These investments are essential in order to achieve our vision of becoming the Fastest Sports Brand in the World. We will continue to drive our growth strategy forward with better, and faster collections, continued investments into our brand, our organization, our distribution and our IT infrastructure.

Outlook for the Financial Year 2015

In 2015, PUMA will continue its strong marketing investments to further enhance and reinforce our brand positioning, making a further step in getting PUMA back on a path of more profitable and sustainable growth.

After the positive sales development in the first quarter 2015, we continue to expect an increase in the medium single-digit range for full-year currency-adjusted net sales.

However, as already indicated in the outlook for 2015 at the beginning of this year, the continued adverse developments of foreign exchange rates during the recent months, particularly the strengthening of the US Dollar versus nearly all other currencies, had a significant negative impact on PUMA’s reported gross profit margin. PUMA has already taken and will continue to take countermeasures, but the impact will not fully offset the negative currency impact on the gross profit margin. As a consequence, we now foresee a drop in the gross profit margin for the full year in a range of 100 to 150 basis points versus last year (2014: 46.6%).

As announced at the beginning of this year, we will continue to invest strongly in marketing, in the upgrade of PUMA’s current IT infrastructure and the extension of our own retail store network. This will result in an increase in OPEX, that will be further exacerbated by negative currency impacts. At the same time, PUMA’s management will continue to put a strong emphasis on strict control of other operating costs.

As a consequence of the now expected drop in gross profit margin and adverse currency effects on OPEX, we now expect EBIT for the full year to come in at a range between € 80 million and € 100 million. Net earnings will be impacted accordingly.

Notes to the editors:

This press release and financial reports are posted on about.PUMA.com.
PUMA SE stock symbol:
Reuters: PUMG.DE, Bloomberg: PUM GY,
Börse Frankfurt: ISIN: DE0006969603– WKN: 6969603

 

Notes relating to forward-looking statements:

This document contains forward-looking information about the Company’s financial status and strategic initiatives. Such information is subject to a certain level of risk and uncertainty that could cause the Company's actual results to differ significantly from the information discussed in this document. The forward-looking information is based on the current expectations and prognosis of the management team. Therefore, this document is further subject to the risk that such expectations or prognosis, or the premise of such underlying expectations or prognosis, become erroneous. Circumstances that could alter the Company's actual results and procure such results to differ significantly from those contained in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company include, but are not limited to those discussed be above.

CURRENCY EFFECTS CONTINUE TO HAVE NEGATIVE IMPACT ON MARGINS

2015 Second Quarter Facts

• Currency adjusted sales up by 7.6% to € 772.7 million (+18.5% reported)
• Strong growth in Footwear driven by Running and Training categories
• Gross profit margin stable at 46.7% despite adverse currency effects
• OPEX increase based on additional marketing activity, IT investments and currency impacts
• Operating income (EBIT) comes in at € 6.8 million
• Tretorn trademark rights sold
• PUMA-sponsored national football team of Chile wins Copa América title for the first time

2015 Half Year Facts

• Currency adjusted sales grow across all regions by 5.9% to € 1,594.1 million, exceeding expectations
• Gross profit margin falls by 90 basis points to 46.8% due to currency effects
• OPEX rise by 19.1% to € 708.5 million due to higher marketing activities, retail expansion and IT investments as well as adverse currency impacts compared to last year
• Operating income (EBIT) amounts to € 44.3 million
• Earnings per share come in at € 1.44
• Innovative IGNITE running product platform shows good sell-through

Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE: "We saw a continued positive development of our sales in Q2. This was again driven by a strong growth in Footwear. We have said that growth in footwear is key for us to turn the company around and feel that the investment in new and innovative products is starting to pay off. The negative effect of currencies is continuing to hurt our gross profit margin and increase our operational expenses, thus reducing our earnings. We are of course working to offset the impact of this by gradually increasing sales prices in markets that are hurt by the negative effects, and we are, when possible, moving some of the sourcing to the local markets. These measures are currently not enough to totally offset the loss in reported gross profit margin. Despite the pressure on margins, we have decided to continue our investments in marketing, IT, and in the modernizing of our retail network. We believe these investments are needed to regain the strength of the brand and to ensure long-term growth for the company. We have a vision of becoming the fastest sports brand in the world and know that we have to invest now to achieve our goal long term. Furthermore, we confirm our financial guidance from Q1.”

Second Quarter 2015

Currency adjusted sales exceed expectations

In the second quarter of 2015, PUMA’s consolidated sales improved by 7.6% currency adjusted to € 772.7 million and were above our expectations. This positive development was primarily driven by the growth in Footwear sales across all regions. In reported terms, consolidated sales rose a strong 18.5%.

Growth in all regions

Second-quarter sales for the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa) rose by 3.9% currency adjusted to € 270.5 million. The development was particularly encouraging in Germany, France and Turkey, while Italy and Switzerland suffered a decline on high comparables (last year’s World Cup replica sales not repeating this year).

Sales performance in the Americas was stronger in the second quarter with growth in both, North and Latin America. Currency adjusted sales increased by 11.6% to € 328.4 million. In particular, Argentina and Mexico showed above average sales developments.

Asia/Pacific (APAC) showed a satisfying second-quarter performance, with sales rising by 6.2% currency adjusted to € 173.8 million. The increase was primarily attributable to good performances in China and India, each reporting double-digit growth.

Footwear leads product segment performance

Sales in Footwear increased for the fourth quarter in a row, rising by 16.2% currency adjusted to € 358.8 million. This development was mainly driven by the Running, Training and Sportstyle categories and especially the PUMA IGNITE product platform.

Apparel sales were broadly flat at € 263.3 million. This is against high comparables in the second quarter 2014, when sales in replica jerseys driven by the FIFA World Cup were particularly strong.

Accessories grew by 3.6% currency adjusted to € 150.7 million and developed in line with our expectations.

Gross profit margin stable

Gross profit margin was stable at 46.7%, despite significant negative currency effects. The footwear gross profit margin decreased slightly from 42.7% to 42.3%, the apparel margin rose from 48.2% to 50.7% and the margin for accessories fell from 52.4% to 50.0%.

Higher OPEX in line with expectations

Operating expenditures (OPEX) - significantly impacted by adverse currency effects - saw an increase of 20.4% in reported terms, rising to € 357.4 million. During the quarter, we continued to invest heavily in marketing activities to strengthen PUMA’s positioning as the Fastest Sports Brand in the World. The main cause for the increase was higher media spend and the partnerships with global sports and pop culture icons Rihanna and Arsenal, which both commenced in the second half of 2014. The opening of new retail stores at selected locations and investing into the IT-infrastructure also contributed to the increase of OPEX in the second quarter. In constant currencies, the increase in OPEX amounts to 10.6% versus last year.

Operating income (EBIT)

The rise in operating expenses led to a decrease of operating income (EBIT) from € 12.6 million to € 6.8 million.

Financial result

In the second quarter, the financial result declined from € -1.3 million last year to € -5.7 million this year due to unfavorable impacts from currency conversion.

Net earnings

Net earnings came in at € -3.3 million in the second quarter, resulting in earnings per share of € -0.22.

First Half-Year 2015

In the first half-year 2015, consolidated sales increased by 5.9% currency adjusted to € 1,594.1 million and were above our expectations. In reported terms, the improvement is significantly higher with an increase of 15.7%.

All regions contribute to sales growth

In the EMEA region, sales rose by 1.8% currency adjusted to € 612.2 million. Germany, France, Spain and Turkey showed a positive development in Europe, while the Middle East and Africa regions continued their solid performance.

In the Americas, sales grew by 8.7% currency adjusted to € 617.4 million. Argentina and Mexico stood out within the Latin American region, driving double-digit growth, while North America was growing at a mid-single-digit pace with acceleration in the second quarter.

Asia/Pacific also developed well, with an increase of 8.6% currency adjusted to € 364.5 million. Performances in China and India were strong, while sales in Japan were stagnant and Korea declined in a difficult economic environment.

Footwear supported by IGNITE

In terms of product segments, Footwear was positively impacted by the successful launch of the PUMA IGNITE product platform, leading to an overall increase of 11.7% currency adjusted to € 736.9 million. The Running, Training, and Football categories were the main growth drivers. Apparel also grew with sales amounting to € 543.1 million (+2.7%), while Accessories decreased slightly to € 314.1 million (-0.9%).

PUMA’s retail sales grew

Supported by the increased number of stores operating (44 more stores compared to one year ago; 4 less than at the end of 2014), retail sales increased by 9.3% currency adjusted to € 322.2 million in the first half of 2015. This represented 20.2% of total sales compared to 19.6% last year.

Gross profit margin impacted by adverse currency effects

PUMA has already taken and will continue to take countermeasures to offset the negative currency impact on the gross profit margin. The effect of these measures helped us to limit the impact on the gross profit margin to 90 basis points for the first half-year, as the second quarter gross profit margin was stable. However, PUMA cannot currently fully neutralize the impact of volatile currencies, as prices can only be adjusted very carefully in order not to impact consumer demand. Furthermore, in some countries, the costs of hedging outweigh its financial benefits, or in some instances, currency hedging is not possible at all. In addition, we are considering to source products more in local markets in order to reduce the exposure to foreign currencies in these markets. PUMA’s gross profit margin for the first half-year went down by 90 basis points to 46.8%. The footwear gross profit margin decreased from 43.4% to 42.6%, apparel margin was largely stable at 50.7% and the margin for accessories decreased from 50.9% to 49.8%.

Continued higher OPEX due to heavy marketing activities

PUMA’s operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 19.1% to € 708.5 million, as negative currency effects continued to have an impact and the company continued its marketing activities. Opening up new stores and investing into IT-infrastructure also contributed to the rise in OPEX. At the same time, PUMAs management continued to put a strong emphasis on strict control of other operating costs. In constant currencies, the increase in OPEX amounts to 9.7% versus last year.

Operating result (EBIT)

Operating income was down by 37.7% to € 44.3 million in the first half 2015, impacted by the negative currency effects already described.

Financial result

The financial result was almost stable at € -4.8 million compared to € -4.5 million in the first half year of 2014.

Net earnings / earnings per share

Half-year consolidated net earnings came in at € 21.5 million, representing earnings per share of € 1.44 compared to € 2.66 in the prior year.

Net Assets and Financial Position

Increase in inventory and trade receivables broadly aligned with sales growth

To ensure product availability and support sales growth as well as a higher demand from new stores, inventories increased by 20.6% to € 704.5 million. This represents a currency adjusted increase of 13.4%. Trade receivables went up by 13.1% to € 523.8 million, broadly in line with reported sales growth. Trade payables were at € 557.9 million, rising 27.6% compared to last year´s figure. In total, working capital rose 7.3% to € 640.0 million.

Cashflow / Capex

As a consequence of the higher working capital requirement, the free cash flow before acquisitions was at € -167.8 million compared with € -69.7 million for the same period last year.

Cash and cash equivalents

PUMA´s cash and cash equivalents went up from € 300.0 million to € 337.9 million, while borrowings increased due to the higher working capital requirements as part of PUMA’s short term financing activities.

Tretorn

PUMA sold trademark rights of Tretorn

Continuing our focus on our core categories under the PUMA and COBRA brands, we have divested of our industrial property rights of the Tretorn subgroup, which include trademark rights, patents and designs. In addition, the related operating business was sold and the respective entities were excluded from the scope of consolidation accordingly. Due to the very small size of the Tretorn business with respect to sales, profit and net assets, these transactions had no material impact on the results and financial position of the PUMA group.

Brand and Product Update

Underlining our strong position in Teamsport, PUMA achieved a great visibility at both the Copa América in Chile and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. At the Copa América, PUMA partnered host nation Chile crowned their stellar performance throughout the tournament with their first continental trophy. The PUMA team secured their triumph with a penalty shootout over archrival Argentina and its PUMA star Sergio Agüero, who was amongst the tournament’s best goal scorers with three goals. Agüero’s run of success follows an outstanding English Premier League 2014/15 season, finishing as the top scorer with 26 goals. In Germany, Bundesliga’s top scorer list was led by PUMA player Alexander Meier of Eintracht Frankfurt with 19 goals. At the FIFA Women’s World Cup, PUMA star Marta made the headlines by becoming the all-time leading scorer of Women’s World Cup history, while Germany’s Célia Šašić finished the tournament as the top goal scorer with six goals. Together with the three participating PUMA teams Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Switzerland, more than 50 PUMA players contributed to a strong on-pitch presence for PUMA.

Both the Copa América and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada served as a great stage for the introduction of PUMA’s innovative football boot evoSPEED SL. The newly revealed boot is PUMA’s lightest match boot to date thanks to a super light and almost translucent textile upper material. Whilst maintaining the necessary stability, the low weight PUMA SPEEDFRAME adds to the overall lightweight theme of the evoSPEED SL. Designed to give footballers a new game advantage enhancing speed and agility, the evoSPEED SL is worn on pitch by some of the world’s best players including Sergio Agüero, Marco Reus, Radamel Falcao, Marco Verratti, and Antoine Griezmann.

At the end of May, our top football club Arsenal FC became the most successful club in the history of the English FA Cup with a record of 12 wins by outplaying Aston Villa to win 4:0 in the Final. Two weeks later, we launched the much anticipated 2015/16 Arsenal home kit for the second year of our partnership. The kit combines a modern approach to materials with a traditional silhouette and was launched through a live show at the Emirates Stadium by club legend and PUMA ambassador Thierry Henry.

In our Running and Training category, we built on the successful introduction of our revolutionary running technology IGNITE and continued to develop the IGNITE platform with the launch of IGNITE PWRCOOL. PWRCOOL is PUMA’s innovative cooling technology designed to keep the body at an optimal temperature to preserve energy and is incorporated into a complete collection of thermo-regulated apparel and Footwear designed with CoolCELL: highly functional materials that draw sweat away from the skin while anatomically placed air flow features offer superior temperature regulation. PUMA’s long history of working with Jamaican athletes such as the Fastest Man in the World, Usain Bolt, and Olympic medalist Hansle Parchment, provided the perfect conditions to test PWRCOOL as part of the development process.

In early May, COBRA PUMA GOLF athlete Rickie Fowler powered his way to a stunning victory at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, with the greatest finish in the 34-year history of the event. Fowler was decked out in PUMA Golf apparel and equipped with his COBRA Golf clubs. With this signature style and world class performance, Rickie Fowler continues to reinforce COBRA PUMA GOLF’s message of game enjoyment coupled with excellence.

Strategy Update

The first half of this year has shown that PUMA is well under way in improving its product engine. Our stronger sales performance, especially in Footwear underlines the increased attractiveness of our products. With our successful product initiatives in the Spring/Summer season we have underlined PUMA’s mission of becoming the Fastest Sports Brand in the World.

One of the important initiatives was the launch of our new running technology IGNITE in Q1. IGNITE has delivered very solid sell-in and sell-through performance in both Wholesale and own Retail. In the second quarter, we have further nurtured this product platform with the introduction of IGNITE PWR COOL.

In Teamsport, we are claiming back territory with our two footwear platforms evoSPEED and evoPOWER, which we continue to support with new designs, materials and innovations such as the newly launched EvoSPEED SL, which only weighs 103 grams. Both platforms have been prominently featured in our marketing campaign this year and delivered high sell-through across geographies.

PUMA and Kering Eyewear signed an eyewear partnership agreement for optical frames and sunglasses to be launched in Spring/Summer 2016. These will be divided into three main segments: Performance, Active and Sportstyle. In line with PUMA’s focus on sports performance, the range will also include eyewear items specifically designed for Running and Golf.

We have continued to strengthen the PUMA brand with ongoing marketing investments and enhanced marketing communication. Our campaign in the first half of this year has focused on showing our athletes and products in action.

In the second quarter, we have started featuring our newest brand ambassador Rihanna prominently through an in-store marketing campaign focusing on the season’s female training styles. With this campaign we have affirmed our strong commitment to women athlete consumers. Rihanna is an ideal brand ambassador admired by women across the world, thanks to both her personality and iconic style. While she is already generating positive PR buzz for PUMA, Rihanna will be at the center of our ongoing marketing campaign over the upcoming months. In a television commercial as well as online and other offline media she will feature our IGNITE XT training shoe and other commercial products. Rihanna is currently working closely with our design teams. While the first Rihanna-inspired styles are already being launched in the second half of 2015, her own collection will be in stores in 2016.

The new in-store concept for PUMA’s own retail was first revealed in our full price store in Herzogenaurach earlier this year. Since then further stores have been opened, including Hong Kong, Turkey and Mexico. In the new PUMA stores we can better tell our product stories, reveal the technologies behind them and strengthen PUMA’s positioning as a sports brand. All new and refurbished stores are showing above average performance and an increased share of footwear sales.

Outlook for the Financial Year 2015

The positive sales development registered in the first half-year 2015 came in above our expectations. Nonetheless, we still continue to expect an increase in the medium single-digit range for full-year currency-adjusted net sales. For the second half of 2015, we anticipate higher sales growth in Q4 than in Q3.

However, as already expressed in the release of the first quarter results, the adverse developments of foreign exchange rates since the beginning of the year, particularly the strengthening of the US Dollar versus nearly all other currencies, had a significant negative impact on PUMA’s reported gross profit margin. PUMA has already taken and will continue to take countermeasures, but the impact will not fully offset the negative currency impact on the gross profit margin. Therefore, we still expect a drop in the gross profit margin for the full year in a range of 100 to 150 basis points versus last year (2014: 46.6%).

In 2015, PUMA will continue to invest strongly in marketing to further enhance and reinforce its new brand positioning. The investments in the upgrade of PUMA’s current IT-infrastructure and the extension of our own retail store network will also continue. This will result in an increase in OPEX that will be further impacted by negative currency effects. At the same time, PUMA’s management will continue to put a strong emphasis on strict control of other operating costs.

Based on the business development in the first half-year 2015, we reiterate our expectation that adverse currency effects will continue to impact our gross profit margin, OPEX and EBIT. At the current exchange rate levels and thanks to the countermeasures, that we have already implemented, we reiterate our expectation for a full-year EBIT in a range between € 80 million and
€ 100 million, with net earnings impacted accordingly. 

Notes to the editors

• This press release and financial reports are posted on about.puma.com.
• PUMA SE stock symbol:
• Reuters: PUMG.DE, Bloomberg: PUM GY,
• Börse Frankfurt: ISIN: DE0006969603– WKN: 6969603

Notes relating to forward-looking statements:

This document contains forward-looking information about the Company’s financial status and strategic initiatives. Such information is subject to a certain level of risk and uncertainty that could cause the Company's actual results to differ significantly from the information discussed in this document. The forward-looking information is based on the current expectations and prognosis of the management team. Therefore, this document is further subject to the risk that such expectations or prognosis, or the premise of such underlying expectations or prognosis, become erroneous. Circumstances that could alter the Company's actual results and procure such results to differ significantly from those contained in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company include, but are not limited to those discussed be above.

GROWTH IN ALL PRODUCT CATEGORIES / POSITIVE TREND IN FOOTWEAR CONTINUES

2015 Third Quarter Facts

• Reported sales up by 8.4% to € 914 million (+3.1% currency adjusted)
• Growth in Footwear driven by Running and Training category
• Gross profit margin down 50 basis points to 45.8% due to adverse currency effects
• OPEX increase due to marketing/retail activity, IT investments, and currency impacts
• Operating result (EBIT) comes in at € 41 million
• First appearance of Rihanna in PUMA TV ads and first Rihanna inspired footwear launch
• Second wave of Forever Faster marketing campaign focuses on Training featuring IGNITE XT and PUMA brand ambassadors
• PUMA athlete Usain Bolt wins three gold medals in Beijing, underlining PUMA being the Fastest Sports Brand in the World

2015 Nine Month Facts

• Reported sales grow by 12.9% (+4.9% currency adjusted) to € 2,509 million, in line with expectations
• Gross profit margin falls by 80 basis points to 46.4% due to currency effects
• OPEX amount to € 1,090 million due to higher marketing activities, retail expansion, and IT investments as well as adverse currency impacts
• Operating result (EBIT) amounts to € 85 million
• Earnings per share come in at € 2.77
• Performance products especially in Running and Training have continued to show good sell-through

Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE:

“PUMA’s sales in the third quarter developed as expected with growth in all product categories. I am happy to see that our footwear category has increased for the fifth quarter in a row. I am especially pleased to see that also the sell-out at retail to the end consumer is continuously improving in all categories. The launch of the first PUMA BY RIHANNA shoe, the "Creeper”, has been extremely successful and most retailers have sold out within hours or days. We have generally seen a very positive development in our Women's business and we will put even more focus on the female consumer going forward. The continued volatile currency trends in some markets and the weakness of the Euro, especially towards the US Dollar, continues to put pressure on gross profit margin, OPEX, and net earnings.  We have taken and will continue to take countermeasures but, as already indicated in the last two quarters, we cannot fully offset these negative impacts on our earnings. Good feedback from retailers, better sell-out and a solid order book validate our outlook for the fourth quarter and allow us to confirm our full-year guidance.“

Third Quarter 2015

Currency adjusted sales in line with expectations

In the third quarter of 2015, sales developed as anticipated: PUMA generated consolidated sales of € 914.4 million, representing an increase of 3.1% currency adjusted. In reported terms, the growth versus last year was 8.4%.

Americas outperform EMEA and Asia/Pacific region

In the third quarter, sales in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) declined slightly by 3.6% currency adjusted to € 375.7 million. This result compares against high prior year figures, when last year´s performance was positively impacted by the Arsenal launch in the third quarter and included sales of Tretorn (the trademark rights were sold in the second quarter 2015). Without these effects, sales in the EMEA region would have been flat in the third quarter.

Growth in the Americas continued, with North and Latin America both showing strong performances, with sales up 10.8% currency adjusted to € 325.1 million. The United States were one of the key growth drivers with sales increasing double-digit.

In Asia/Pacific (APAC), sales were up 5.0% currency adjusted to € 213.6 million. While China and India showed substantial growth within the region, sales in Korea declined.

Performance products drive sales growth in all product segments

Footwear continued to grow as in the last quarters and is the main driver of PUMA’s total increase in net sales: Sales of € 408.4 million represent a rise of 3.5% currency adjusted. This development is mainly due to the growth of our Running and Training category with the IGNITE and Descendant product platforms.

In the Apparel segment, the sales growth of 2.5% currency adjusted to € 346.9 million was mainly attributable to the success of the Training products.

Sales with Accessories went up 3.7% currency adjusted to € 159.1 million, supported by strong sales in Europe and North America.

Gross profit margin impacted by currency effects

At 45.8%, gross profit margin fell short of last year´s figure by 50 basis points, due to negative currency effects impacting cost of goods sold. The footwear gross profit margin decreased from 41.9% to 41.2%, the apparel margin rose from 49.6% to 49.8% and the margin for accessories fell from 50.3% to 49.1%.

OPEX in line with expectations

Operating expenditures (OPEX) amounted to € 381.9 million in the third quarter. This represents an increase of 9.3% in reported terms versus the third quarter in 2014. As in previous quarters, OPEX was again impacted by negative currency effects, while PUMA continued to invest in marketing activities to further strengthen the brand´s positioning as the Fastest Sports Brand in the World. Ongoing campaigns as well as an increased number of own retail stores in operation also contributed to the higher OPEX. At constant currencies, the increase in OPEX is limited to 4.3% versus last year, reflecting tight underlying cost control.

Operating result (EBIT)

At € 41.1 million, the operating result was 11.2% below the last year´s figure.

Financial result

Unfavorable differences from currency conversions continued to weigh on the financial result, which came in at € -5.1 million.

Net earnings

Net earnings of the third quarter amounted to € 20.0 million (compared to € 28.9 million in the third quarter last year), resulting in earnings per share of € 1.34 (compared to € 1.93 last year).

Nine Months 2015

In the period from January to September 2015, consolidated sales developed in line with our expectations, rising by 4.9% currency adjusted to € 2,508.5 million. In reported terms, the increase is significantly higher at 12.9% as major currencies, in particular the US Dollar and the Chinese Renminbi, strengthened against the Euro.

Americas particularly strong

In the EMEA region, sales were flat at € 987.9 million, as stronger sales in Germany and Poland could not compensate for declines in other markets such as Switzerland and Benelux.

The Americas showed the highest growth among the regions, with both North and Latin America contributing to the increase of 9.4% currency adjusted to € 942.4 million. Within Latin America, Argentina as well as Mexico stood out with a solid double-digit growth.

Sales in Asia/Pacific were also strong, rising 7.2% currency adjusted to € 578.2 million. This increase was supported by the positive development in China and India, while sales in Japan were more muted.

All product segments contribute to growth

Footwear was the best performing segment in the first nine months, showing an increase of 8.6% currency adjusted to € 1,145.3 million. The Running and Training and the Teamsport categories supported this good result, reflecting the relevance of PUMA´s strategy to focus on performance.

Apparel rose 2.6% currency adjusted to € 890.0 million, positively impacted by the development of Training products. Accessories increased slightly by 0.6% currency adjusted to € 473.1 million.

PUMA’s retail sales increase in absolute terms and on a comparable store basis

PUMA increased the share of retail sales in total net sales from 19.5% to 20.4%. In absolute terms, retail sales rose to € 510.9 million (+9.5% currency adjusted). This result was supported by improved sales on a comparable store basis as well as an increased number of retail stores operating (33 more stores compared to one year ago).

Gross profit margin impacted by adverse currency effects

Again, PUMA’s gross profit margin for the period was strongly impacted by negative currency effects. At 46.4%, it fell short of last year´s result by 80 basis points. The footwear gross profit margin decreased from 42.9% to 42.1%, apparel margin was stable at 50.4% and the margin for accessories decreased from 50.7% to 49.6%. PUMA will continue to take countermeasures such as selective price increases to secure profitability, but such adjustments are to be done carefully in order not to impact consumer demand. Furthermore, in some countries, the costs of hedging outweigh its financial benefits, or in some cases, currency hedging is not possible at all. In addition, we are aiming to reduce such exposure to volatile currencies by increasing the share of locally sourced products in some of the most impacted markets.

OPEX increase as a result of strong marketing and retail activities

In the first nine months of 2015, operating expenses (OPEX) amounted to € 1,090.4 million, a 15.5% increase in reported terms. This rise stems from unfavorable currency effects as well as strong marketing activities including media investments and sponsorships of brand ambassadors. Opening up new stores and investing into IT infrastructure also contributed to the development. At constant currencies, the increase in OPEX is limited to 7.8% versus last year, as PUMA continued to put a strong emphasis on strict control of other operating costs.

Operating income came in at € 85.4 million compared to € 117.4 million in the previous year.

Unfavorable differences from currency conversions weighed on the financial result, which fell to
€ -9.9 million. These effects were in particular related to Latin American countries and Turkey.

Net earnings for the first nine months came in at € 41.5 million compared to € 68.6 million in the previous year, representing earnings per share of € 2.77 (1-9/2014: € 4.59).

Net Assets and Financial Position

Increase in working capital to serve higher demand

To support sales growth and serving the higher demand from new retail stores as well as ensuring product availability, inventories increased by 20.2% to € 689.5 million. Trade receivables went up by 3.3% to € 565.6 million. Trade payables were at € 509.0 million, rising 10.9% compared to last year´s figure. In total, working capital rose 11.8% to € 711.4 million.

As a result of the higher working capital requirements, the free cashflow went down to € -248.0 million for the nine-month-period 2015 compared to € -114.4 million as of September 30, 2014. The free cashflow was also impacted by higher CAPEX, which grew from € 47.8 million last year to
€ 54.6 million. This reflects our increased investment in IT and retail stores.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents were also impacted by the higher working capital requirements and decreased by 12.1% to 269.6 million, while borrowing increased as part of PUMA’s short term financing activities.

Brand and Product Update

In our Running and Training category, we benefitted from excellent athlete and team performances at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing with 18 podium positions for PUMA sponsored athletes and teams. The World’s Fastest Man Usain Bolt once again proved his status as the greatest athlete of all time with triumphs in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relays, extending his record-breaking personal haul of IAAF World Championships gold medals to 11. The stellar performances of the Jamaican Team, which finished second in the medals table after Kenya, as well as the performances of the other PUMA teams including the Bahamas, Cuba, Grenada, Cayman Islands, Switzerland and the Dominican Republic, secured a strong brand visibility of PUMA throughout the competition.

The great achievements of our athletes in Beijing’s National Stadium came only shortly after the launch of our second major Forever Faster brand campaign, which had a dedicated focus on Training. Asking the question “What are you training for?” the campaign was brought to life through the unique training stories of PUMA’s most elite ambassadors such as Usain Bolt, Rihanna, Sergio Agüero, Arsenal Football Club, and the Cuban National Boxing team. The films intimately capture our athletes’ motivations and tactics to constantly improve through training. Underpinning this campaign was PUMA’s latest innovative footwear offering within the IGNITE franchise: the IGNITE XT. This high intensity training shoe’s responsive design maximizes energy and movement throughout high intensity workouts.

In our Teamsport category, we recently launched the latest iteration of our eye-catching Duality football boots, continuing the theme of two distinct coloured boots in one pair. This was applied to PUMA’s two football boot families, evoPOWER and evoSPEED, and worn by PUMA stars such as Cesc Fàbregas, Sergio Agüero, Marco Reus, and Antoine Griezmann. Furthermore, PUMA introduced the new bright blue colourway of its lightest football boot to date, the evoSPEED SL. It is worn on pitch by PUMA stars including midfielder Marco Verratti, who helped to secure the qualification of the PUMA partnered Italian national team for the 2016 UEFA European Championship next year in France. PUMA teams Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Switzerland have also qualified.

In our successful Motorsports category, PUMA continues to be a leading supplier with its outstanding Mercedes AMG Petronas and Scuderia Ferrari F1 teams. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won his third Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship with his 10th victory of 2015 at a thrilling United States Grand Prix two weeks ago. Having already grasped the Constructors' Championship title for the second consecutive year prior to this, the “Silver Arrows” are enjoying their most dominant season in more than 60 years.

In September, COBRA PUMA GOLF golfer Rickie Fowler enjoyed another victory at The Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. Wearing his signature orange apparel and equipped with his COBRA Fly-Z+ Driver, Fowler powered his way to a victory. His looks consisted of PUMA apparel and footwear from our 2015 Autumn/Winter collection, for example the Titantour, the coolest shoe in golf. COBRA PUMA GOLF athlete Lexi Thompson recently won the LPGA KEG Hana Bank Championship in South Korea, proving her outstanding talent once again with her second victory of the year and sixth overall.

Strategy Update

Our sales for the first nine months of this year and the very positive feedback from retailers around the world regarding our new products as well as a strong order book confirm that we are on the right track. Our stronger sales performance in Footwear underlines our progress in becoming the Fastest Sports Brand in the World.

We have continued to improve our product offering for women and our communication approach to them. Building on a strong heritage and credibility with women, we have emphasized female consumers as a key growth segment for PUMA. A key element of this strategy is our collaboration with world-famous artist Rihanna as brand ambassador and Creative Director, which we have taken to a new level. She plays a prominent role in our second Forever Faster brand campaign, a multi-million euro media investment with a dedicated focus on Training. Within the campaign, Rihanna is featuring the training shoe IGNITE XT. Her first TV commercial for PUMA initially aired in September.

Beyond a mere endorsement, PUMA has just launched the first in a series of Rihanna-inspired footwear and apparel styles. The “Creeper” is the first sneaker from PUMA by Rihanna under her FENTY Label. It remixes the iconic PUMA Suede with a creeper sole inspired by the NYC punk rock scene with high-end details and Rihanna's signature branding. The first limited edition black and white colorway of the Creeper was available only on our PUMA.com website and a PUMA-hosted pop-up store in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. The shoe generated unprecedented social media and PR coverage for PUMA and sold out within hours. More colorways are currently being sold via PUMA.com and key retail partners worldwide.

We will further optimize our product offering for women across our performance and lifestyle categories in the coming seasons. This is not limited to, but includes additional Rihanna-associated styles, such as the boxing-inspired Eskiva shoe available in November 2015 and a complete collection of footwear and apparel styles to be launched in 2016.

Our efforts to further improve our close collaboration with key retailers are critical in our go-to-market strategy. The Creeper launch would not have been possible without the close alignment of our product and marketing teams with key retailers. Additionally in North America we have improved our presence with shop-in-shops, special wall units and permanent in-store communication at major sports accounts including Finish Line and Champs. As for PUMA’s owned and operated stores, we have continued to roll out our new Forever Faster store layout to currently eleven locations worldwide.

Social, economic and environmental sustainability is a core value for all of us at PUMA. We believe that keeping these dimensions in balance is crucial to achieving sustainable business development. Therefore we welcomed the opportunity of becoming an official partner of COP21. As an official partner of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, we will equip 180 students in charge of welcoming visitors from all over the world. These trainee hosts and hostesses will wear specifically designed PUMA outfits that are entirely made of organic cotton.

Outlook for the Financial Year 2015

The business development in the first nine months of 2015 was in line with our expectations and our full-year guidance for 2015 remains unchanged.

We reiterate our expectation that adverse currency effects, particularly the strengthening of the US Dollar versus nearly all other currencies, will continue to impact PUMA’s reported gross profit margin, OPEX and EBIT. PUMA has already taken and will continue to take countermeasures, but the impact will not fully offset the negative currency effects.

In the remainder of 2015, PUMA will continue to invest strongly in marketing to further enhance and reinforce its new brand positioning. The investments in the upgrade of PUMA’s current IT-infrastructure and the extension of our own retail store network will also continue. This will result in an increase in OPEX that will be further impacted by negative currency effects. At the same time, PUMA’s management will continue to put a strong emphasis on strict control of other operating costs.

Thanks to the countermeasures implemented and at the current exchange rate levels, we expect a slightly softer drop in the gross profit margin for the full-year at the lower end of the range of minus 100 to 150 basis points versus last year. The improvement in gross profit margin due to these countermeasures, however, comes at a slight negative effect on net sales. Nonetheless, we continue to expect an increase in the medium single-digit range for full-year currency-adjusted net sales and we reiterate our expectation for a full-year EBIT in a range between € 80 million and € 100 million, with net earnings impacted accordingly.

Notes to the editors:

• This press release and financial reports are posted on about.puma.com.
• PUMA SE stock symbol:

Reuters: PUMG.DE, Bloomberg: PUM GY,
Börse Frankfurt: ISIN: DE0006969603– WKN: 6969603

Notes relating to forward-looking statements:

This document contains forward-looking information about the Company’s financial status and strategic initiatives. Such information is subject to a certain level of risk and uncertainty that could cause the Company's actual results to differ significantly from the information discussed in this document. The forward-looking information is based on the current expectations and prognosis of the management team. Therefore, this document is further subject to the risk that such expectations or prognosis, or the premise of such underlying expectations or prognosis, become erroneous. Circumstances that could alter the Company's actual results and procure such results to differ significantly from those contained in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company include, but are not limited to those discussed be above.