Puma scores own goal with timid forecasts

Shares in Puma slid on Thursday, after the German sportswear company posted a healthy set of fourth-quarter numbers but predicted a more conservative performance for 2019.

Puma said fourth-quarter sales increased 20.1% after the impact of currency fluctuations were stripped out, to €1.2bn, while earnings before interest and tax were ahead €8m at €38m.

Both apparel and footwear showed “strong growth” in the quarter, Puma said, helped by fashionable “chunky” trainers such as the RS-X and popular advertising campaigns featuring the likes of footballer Antoine Griezmann.

Full-year sales were ahead 17.6% on the same basis, at €4.6bn, with earnings ahead 37.9% at €337.4m. Net earnings per share rose to €12.54 from €9.09.

Bjorn Gulden, chief executive, said: “We are very happy with how our business developed in 2018. The double-digit growth in all regions is proof that we have strengthened the Puma brand globally, and the double-digit growth in all product divisions shows that we have enhanced our product portfolio.”

But investors were disappointed that the company did not provide more ambitious targets for 2019. Gulden said that currency-adjusted sales were expected to grow by around 10%, with earnings likely to come in between €395m and €415m. Analysts had been hoping for as much as €430m.

The gross profit margin was expected to show “a slight improvement”, Puma added.

Gulden conceded the target was cautious, but told Reuters: “When there is upside, we’ll take it. Then we will do more.”

By 1230 GMT, shares in Frankfurt-listed Puma were off nearly 6% at €455.