Puma beats guidance, but warns of coronavirus hit

Puma SE beat its 2019 earnings guidance as profit and sales grew strongly but warned that its results for the first quarter of this year will take a hit due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The German sporting-goods company reported net profit of 17.8 million euros ($19.3 million) for the quarter, up from EUR11.5 million the year previous.

Earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, for the quarter rose 47% to EUR55.2 million.

EBIT for the year rose 31% to EUR440.2 million, beating the company’s guidance of EUR420 million to EU430 million for 2019 and outpacing analysts’ expectations of EUR437.2 million, according to FactSet.

Sales for the quarter were EUR1.48 billion, a touch above expectations of EUR1.43 billion, according to a consensus estimate provided by FactSet. Full-year sales rose 18% to EUR5.5 billion.

Puma proposed a dividend of EUR0.50 a share, up from EUR0.35 a share the year before.

For 2020, the company guided for currency-adjusted sales growth of around 10%. EBIT is expected to be between EUR500 million and EUR520 million, Puma said.

The company warned that its sales and EBIT will likely be negatively impacted by the coronavirus during the first quarter of the year.

The viral outbreak has negatively hit Puma’s business since the start of this month, especially in China where more than half its stores remain closed. Business has also been negatively affected in other markets, especially in Asia, due to a drop in Chinese tourism, the company said.

Puma is currently working under the assumption that the situation around the virus will normalize in the short term and that it will be able to meet its goals for the year, it said.

Source: Read Full Article