(Reuters) -Puma shares opened down 18% on Friday after the German sportswear brand said it now expects annual sales will decline and it will make a loss for 2025, as well as reporting weaker-than-expected quarterly sales.
Puma has been struggling to attract shoppers as re-released retro sneakers, such as the Speedcat, have not sold as well as hoped, and the company said "muted brand momentum" would continue, with U.S. tariffs another factor hurting its performance.
Puma said in its earnings report
late on Thursday that annual sales would decline by at least 10%, a "low double-digit percentage", rather than grow by low to single digits as earlier forecast.
In an attempt to turn performance around, Puma's board in April named a new chief executive, former Adidas sales chief Arthur Hoeld, who officially started in the role on July 1.
Despite such mitigation efforts as supply chain optimization and pricing adjustments, Puma said U.S. tariffs on imports would likely reduce its 2025 gross profit by about 80 million euros, Puma said.
Like bigger sportswear retailers Nike and Adidas, Puma ships sneakers, running shoes, and clothing into the U.S. from China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh, exposing it to tariffs on those countries.
Analysts at J.P. Morgan said Puma's quarterly results and revised outlook came in significantly lower than expectations.
"We expect consensus earnings per share (EPS) to come down accordingly following the revised guidance and expect a negative share reaction as the market opens," they added.
Puma will hold a press conference at 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) and an analyst call at 3 p.m.
(Reporting by Ozan Ergenay in Gdansk and Helen Reid in London; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Tomasz Janowski)
