Footwear Sales Carry PUMA’s Q3 Results
have released their for quarter 3 of 2024, and while the Big Cat have only experienced a modest growth in sales, they are confident in their brand elevation journey. This includes the reintroduction of the zippy to the market, continued growth in performance models, key partnership deals, and the most successful in PUMA’s history. Overall it looks like PUMA are only just getting their engines ready for a take off in growth still to come.
Between Q3 2024 and the same period last year, PUMA experienced an increase in sales of 5 per cent, with growth across all three regions: Americas, Asia/Pacific and EMEA. However, that is currency-adjusted and it seems the German company is still battling ongoing currency headwinds, as in Euro terms, their sales remain flat at €2,308 million. This combined with a 1.1 per cent increase in operating expenses has resulted in a decrease in net income of 3 per cent to €127.8 million (Q3 2023: €131.7 million). When looking specifically at footwear though, sales are looking strong with an increase of 9.3 per cent to €1,240.3 million that is mainly driven by growth in the performance (in particular, football and running) and sportstyle categories.
PUMA’s CEO Arne Freundt said, ‘I'm pleased with the progress on our brand elevation journey as we are building the foundation for accelerated and sustainable growth. We know this takes time, but we have made strong strides in enhancing our brand equity and desirability, stepping up our performance business, and building up consumer relevance in the Sportstyle Prime market. Our new Speedcat Go-to-Market Strategy is performing very well and I am excited about the commercial launch of the Speedcat in a few weeks. I am also pleased that our wholesale business has returned to growth.’
The ‘brand elevation’ Freundt mentions is mainly in reference to the Speedcat, as it’s taken off in the trends and was listed in the top three ‘hottest products’ in the Q3 Lyst Index. Additionally, they’ve brought on hyped F1 Scuderia Ferrari HP driver Charles Leclerc as global brand ambassador, and combined with racing-inspired designs and capsule collections, the brand is well and truly strengthening their already very strong connection to the F1. In other areas of performance, the Big Cat are starting to make impressive progress in the stiff competition at marathons, coming in as the . This complements their at the Paris Olympics this year, with PUMA athletes winning 66 medals in Nitro tech. Over on the court, fourth signature shoe, the , continues to be a bestseller and his new model also elevates the brand’s off-court offerings.
While the sales results aren’t reflecting PUMA’s growth in this quarter, their strategies moving forward are solid. Notwithstanding the currency battles and cost increases, the Big Cat should be leaping over goals soon.