German sportswear firm Puma SE (PMMAF.PK) reported Wednesday that its first-quarter net earnings increased significantly to 109.2 million euros from 36.2 million euros last year.
Earnings per share were up to 0.73 euro from 0.24 euro a year ago.
Operating result or EBIT improved 116.7 percent to 154 million euros from last year’s 71 million euros due to strong sales growth, higher gross profit margin and continued OPEX control.
Sales climbed 19.2 percent from last year to 1.55 billion euros. The sales growth was 26 percent in constant currency, despite COVID-19-related lockdown measures and supply chain constraints due to port congestion especially in North America.
Looking ahead, the company noted that it is now in a position to further specify initial outlook of “at least moderate sales growth with upside potential” to “mid-teens sales growth” for the full year 2021.
The company said its outlook for both the operating result and net earnings has not changed and continues to foresee a significant improvement compared to 2020 despite the global uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the end of April 2021, approximately 30 percent of the retail stores selling its products in Europe and Latin America are still closed due to lockdown measures and the remaining 70 percent are mostly operating with significant restrictions.
With global COVID-19 cases rising again sharply, the company sees new restrictions and lockdowns in other parts of the world such as India, Canada and Turkey.
The company said, “Our strong and profitable growth in the first quarter, a very positive orderbook and strong product pipeline for the rest of the year and very good feedback from retail partners and consumers make us confident for the mid-term success and growth of PUMA.”
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