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Herzogenaurach (dpa) - After a sharp drop in profits in the Corona year 2020, the Franconian sporting goods manufacturer Puma is hoping for improvement in the current year.
With the major events of the Olympic Games and the European Football Championship in mind, the Herzogenaurach-based company wants to return to growth, as CEO Björn Gulden said at the company's balance sheet press conference.
However, Gulden is cautious with a forecast of three to five percent in sales growth for the current year.
The former football professional from Norway believes that the uncertainty is still too great for overly optimistic forecasts.
Currently in Europe, for example, more than 50 percent of all shops in which Puma products are sold are closed.
In other parts of the world the shops are partially open.
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The corona crisis had ruined Puma's sales last year, especially in the second quarter, when the lockdown hit Europe with full force.
Revenues fell in the past year compared to the previous year by 1.4 percent currency-adjusted to 5.234 billion euros, as Puma announced in Herzogenaurach.
The bottom line was that the company earned only 78.9 million euros, after 264.4 million euros in 2019. "The second quarter ruined everything," said Gulden.
A good third and a decent fourth quarter made the numbers forgiving, he said.
“2020 was definitely the most difficult year that I have ever experienced.
The Covid-19 pandemic has put us in a situation we have never been in before. "
The 16,000 employees around the world would have had to work under sometimes difficult conditions; almost 900 were infected with the corona pathogen.
Despite the sometimes persistent difficulties, the company wants to pay its shareholders a dividend again and thus bring back a “piece of normalcy”.
The proposal to the general meeting of 16 cents per share does not look like much, but it is a sign.
A credit line with the participation of the state KfW Bank was not used and has since been canceled.
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The strategy for the future includes a greater focus on digitization, women's sports and more sustainability.
In this respect, Gulden expects "dramatic changes" in the choice of materials.
"We have a lot to do there," he said.
In the running shoe sector, a new product line with super-light nitro-foam soles is expected to come onto the market in March.
By collaborating with competitive sports, Puma wants to gain further market shares in US basketball.
Another top European football club was signed with the Ukrainian top team Shakhtar Donetsk.
"More to come," emphasized Gulden.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210224-99-572848 / 2