Puma upbeat on growing demand, shares jump
Sales meet expectations as Americas return to growth
Order book 'building quarter over quarter'
Puma increasing production of Palermo shoes
Puma wins first big marathon podium spot in decades
Shares jump nearly 12%
Adds comments from investor call, traders in paragraphs 1-6, updates share move
By Linda Pasquini and Helen Reid
May 8 (Reuters) -A return to growth in the Americas helped Puma PUMG.DE meet first-quarter sales forecasts and its order book for the rest of the year was looking "very good", the German sportswear retailer said on Wednesday, helping lift its shares nearly 12%.
Revamped and newly trendy shoes from the 1970s and 80s like Puma's Palermo and Adidas' Samba have helped boost sales for sportswear brands at a time when consumers have cut back on spending and retailers are struggling with excess stocks.
Puma predicted growing demand for its retro Palermo shoes.
"The order book is building quarter over quarter with the second half looking very good, in particular on the Q4 side," CEO Arne Freundt said on an investor call following Puma's quarterly results.
He said he felt 'very comfortable' with market expectations of 2%-3% constant currency sales growth for the second quarter.
The upbeat comments helped dispel worries about weaker demand in the market following Hugo Boss' cautious outlook in April, traders said, pointing to a short squeeze.
"We are only six months now in the market with the Palermo, and we see how the franchises are continuing to grow in strength month over month," Freundt told a news conference.
Puma is increasing production of the Palermo shoes while being careful to avoid oversupply, Freundt said, echoing comments by Adidas' CEO last week about managing the trend.
"The terrace trend is very real and is something that provides material contribution to sales," said Felix Jonathan Dennl, analyst at Metzler Capital Markets in Frankfurt. "Puma was, I would say, late and jumped on that trend later than Adidas did."
Retailers, where Puma makes most of its sales, are still working through excess inventories, but the company sees further improvement in the second quarter after Puma's inventories fell by 16.8% compared with March 31 last year.
Currency-adjusted sales rose 0.5% to 2.1 billion euros ($2.26 billion), in line with analysts' forecasts, as sales in the Americas grew for the first time in four quarters to 790 million euros, partly due to improvement in the key U.S. market.
Puma is investing in advertising to boost its brand, and is on a drive to improve its credentials as a performance sportswear maker, particularly in running where it has worked on its shoe technology.
At last month's Boston Marathon, Puma-sponsored athlete Edna Kiplagat came third, marking the brand's first podium spot at a World Marathon Major in decades.
Competition is fierce in running, however, with newer brands like On Running and Hoka taking market share from the likes of Nike and Adidas.
"The running category is as crowded as ever," Morningstar analyst David Swartz said, adding that Puma has a lot of work to do as it has a small market share.
($1 = 0.9310 euros)
Reporting by Linda Pasquini and Helen Reid, additional reporting by Isabel Demetz and Danilo Masoni; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Alexander Smith and Elaine Hardcastle
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.