Covid-19: quarterly results, stores reopening, footwear... equipment manufacturers are taking action

In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, Puma posted a turnover of €1.29bn in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020 (January, February, March), down 1.3% compared to Q1 2019 (€1.32bn), according to the German group on 07/05/2020. Operating profit (EBIT) fell by 50.1% to €71.2m, versus to €142.5m in Q1 2019, as did net profit, which fell by 61.6% from €94.4m in Q1 2019 to €36.2m in Q1 2020. "We are looking at three phases: survive, recover, grow again," said Bjørn Gulden, CEO of Puma.

"China, Japan and Korea were the most severely impacted countries and led to a decline of first quarter sales in the Asia/Pacific region of 12.0% currency adjusted. In terms of product divisions, Footwear grew by 1.9% in constant currency while Apparel and Accessories were down 6.3% and 0.2%. Our sales in e-commerce grew around 40% in the first quarter," explained Puma.

Under Armour also posted lower revenues for Q1 2020: -22.7% in turnover ($930m/€840m), an operating loss of $558m (versus $35m in Q1 2019) and a net loss of $589m versus a net profit of $22.4m in Q1 2019, according to the business report…