Our
third quarter
results
PUMA’s Sales and Profitability rebound in the Third Quarter
October 28, 2020PUMA’s Sales and Profitability rebound in the Third Quarter
October 28, 2020PUMA’s sales and profitability rebounded in the third quarter, as the business environment continued to improve. Overall, sales grew by 13.3% (adjusted for currency changes) to 1,583 million euros and developed better than expected, led by a very strong recovery in the Americas and EMEA.
Even though the business in the third quarter developed better than we had expected, the uncertainty for the fourth quarter remains very high.
Most of the brick and mortar stores – owned and operated as well as those of our retail partners – were open throughout the quarter, but were still limited by many local restrictions because of COVID-19. Our Direct to Consumer business continued to improve throughout the quarter, again led by a strong e-commerce business. Our Wholesale business also developed very positively during the third quarter.
The third quarter developed much better than I expected. Retail stores reopened, sports events resumed, consumer confidence improved and our sales increased week by week. I feel this strong performance confirms the strength of both PUMA as a brand and the sporting goods industry in general. October started well, but the recent development of COVID-19 and the number of infections we are seeing globally make us cautious for the rest of year.
Our operating result (EBIT) increased by 16.8% from 162.2 million euros last year to 189.5 million euros in the third quarter due to strong sales growth combined with operating leverage and despite a lower gross profit margin. In the first nine months of 2020, EBIT decreased from 385 million euros last year to 145.9 million due to the negative result in the first half of 2020, which was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We feel the strong third quarter confirms the strength of the PUMA brand and are optimistic about our mid- and long-term perspective.
