PUMA accelerates growth throughout 2024 and initiates program to increase profitability

(Correction: This updated version corrects the region in second paragraph to EEMEA) Sports company PUMA announced today preliminary 2024 results, reporting a currency adjusted (ca) sales growth of 9.8% to € 2,289 million (+15.5% reported) in the fourth quarter of 2024. On a full-year basis, sales grew by 4.4% (ca) to € 8,817 million (+2.5% reported) and in line with the outlook.

All regions contributed to the sales growth (ca) in the fourth quarter, driven by a strong improvement in the Wholesale business (+6.9%) and continued growth in Direct-to-Consumer (+16.1%). When compared to the first nine months 2024, a stronger growth trajectory was achieved across EEMEA (+14.3%), Europe (+10.3%), Greater China (+7.4%), Other APAC (+19.0%) and North America (+2.6%), while LATAM's sales growth was softer with +7.0%. PUMA’s Footwear business grew 9.2% and Apparel was up 8.8%, while Accessories increased 14.5%.

For the full year 2024, all regions, product divisions and distribution channels improved currency adjusted sales compared to last year. This growth was accompanied by a 110 basis point improvement in gross profit margin to 47.4%.

The full-year 2024 operating result (EBIT) came in at € 622 million, which is at last year’s level (2023: € 622 million) and in line with the EBIT outlook for the full year 2024. The full-year 2024 EBIT margin was 7.1%. Net income came in at € 282 million, which is below prior year’s level (2023: € 305 million) and expectations. This was mainly caused by higher net interest expenses and higher non-controlling interests.

"While we achieved solid sales growth in 2024 and made meaningful progress on our strategic initiatives, we are not satisfied with our profitability,“ said Arne Freundt, CEO of PUMA. “With a heightened focus on translating top-line growth to increased profitability growth, we have initiated “nextlevel”, a comprehensive efficiency program targeting cost optimization and operational improvements. Combined with decisive actions already taken, we will implement further cost control measures in 2025. While we continue to operate in a dynamic environment, we are encouraged by our improved growth throughout 2024 and expect 2025 to grow stronger than 2024.”

The programme “nextlevel” has been initiated with the aim to achieve an EBIT margin of 8.5% by 2027 by optimizing direct and indirect costs, including personnel expenses through better resource allocation aligned with our strategic growth areas. The cost efficiency initiative complements PUMA’s brand elevation strategy which is building the foundation for sustainable and accelerated growth. In what remains a dynamic environment, PUMA will continue to make strategic investments in its brand to accelerate growth, complemented by the “nextlevel” programme that ensures an improvement of the underlying operating result starting in 2025. In combination with our brand elevation strategy, we are committed to achieve a 10% EBIT margin in the long-term.

The financial results are preliminary and unaudited. PUMA SE will publish its results for the financial year 2024 and 2025 outlook on 12 March 2025.

Originally published by Puma.