Puma Q3 sales miss market expectations

By Linda Pasquini and Helen Reid

(Reuters) -German sportswear maker Puma (OTC:PMMAF )'s third-quarter sales missed expectations on Wednesday, despite a 5% rise driven by running and soccer shoes demand, as negative effects from foreign exchange rates continued to weigh on the business.

Shares in the company fell 2% in early Frankfurt trade.

Quarterly currency-adjusted sales rose to 2.31 billion euros ($2.48 billion), broadly stable from a year earlier but short of the 2.36 billion euros expected by analysts, according to LSEG data.

Puma's results were driven by selling more soccer and running shoes in the quarter, with footwear sales up 9.3%.

Demand for the recently relaunched Formula 1-inspired 'Speedcat' shoe was strong, CEO Arne Freundt said in a statement.



However, sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), its biggest market, rose only by 0.8% in the period.

The company confirmed its full-year outlook for currency adjusted revenue in mid single-digit percentage, and core profit (EBIT) of between 620 million to 670 million euros, citing a strong order book for the remainder of the year.

Source: Investing.com