The new crown pneumonia pandemic has hit brand sales hard. Pumas’s sales in the first half of 2020 showed a net loss compared with the same period in 2019. Last year, it made a profit of 144.1 million euros, and this year it turned negative to 59.4 million euros. (equivalent to US$69.6 million).
According to exchange rate adjustments, sales in the first six months of this year decreased by 15.4% to 2.13 billion euros, and calculated on a published basis, they fell 16.3%.
Sales in all regions experienced double-digit declines, including a 12.1% drop in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), a 20.9% drop in the Americas, and a 20.9% drop in the Asia-Pacific region. down 13%. Sales fell year-on-year in all product divisions, with footwear down 15.2%, ready-to-wear down 18.6% and accessories down 9% on a currency-adjusted basis.
Looking at second quarter sales, on a currency-adjusted basis, sales decreased by 30.7%, and on a published basis, sales fell by 32.3% to 832.2 million euros, all regions and sales fell across all product segments. The net loss in the second quarter reached 95.6 million euros, compared with a net profit of 49.7 million euros in the same period last year.
Pumas CEO Björn Gulden said: The second quarter of 2020 was the most difficult quarter I have ever experienced. The new coronavirus has disrupted 85% of the global sporting goods business and fashion retail business, which is an unexpected experience. Our first concern is the health and safety of our employees, secondly ensuring financial and financial liquidity sufficient to weather the crisis, and ultimately, keeping the business open as short-term as possible without disrupting the brand’s medium-term sales momentum.
This quarter, sales have been falling since April, down 55%. There was some improvement in May, but still a serious drop of 38%. There was a substantial improvement in June, with a decrease of only 6%.
Cooperating with wholesale partners to improve sales flexibility, handling promotional activities in self-operated retail stores and investing greater attention in e-commerce business have always been short-term strategies. Full investment in product development in 2021, continued investment in marketing, digital sales meetings with retail partners and a high degree of local decision-making are the current medium-term strategies.
The uncertain outlook caused by the virus and the fact that the number of infected people around the world is still soaring make it impossible to accurately judge the full-year financial outlook. We continue to feel that global consumers and retail partners have optimistic global preferences for Pumas products, and we will do our best to meet their needs.
The group will regain confidence in the future market prospects by the end of 2020, and 2021 will be a “year of growth.” The group has prioritized three main goals: mitigating the impact on sales as much as possible, ensuring the safe operation of the supply chain, and ensuring capital flow and cost control.
The sporting goods industry is expected to be in a strong position after this crisis. Even under difficulty, people will do as much exercise as possible. There are many signs that health and exercise will be more important than ever. The influence of leisure trends and sports brands is also expected to further increase. Pumas has consolidated its positioning for upward growth and will continue to invest in new product lines in 2021. </p
