PUMA SE DGAP-News: PUMA SE / Key word(s): Half Year Results/Quarter Results PUMA SE: PUMA reports strong Growth in the second Quarter due to continued Brand Momentum and operational Flexibility 2021-07-29 / 08:00 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. =---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRESS RELEASE Q2 2021 PUMA reports strong Growth in the second Quarter due to continued Brand Momentum and operational Flexibility Herzogenaurach, July 29, 2021 2021 Second Quarter Facts - Sales increase by 96% currency adjusted (ca) to EUR 1,589 million (Q2 2020: EUR 831 million) - Gross profit margin improves to 47.5% (Q2 2020: 43.9%) - Operating expenses (OPEX) increase to EUR 650 million (Q2 2020: EUR 484 million) - Operating result (EBIT) improves to EUR 109 million (Q2 2020: EUR -115 million) - Net earnings improve to EUR 49 million (Q2 2020: EUR -96 million) - PUMA team Italy wins the UEFA Euro 2020 - In the FASTER+ programme, PUMA joins forces with MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 to create its fastest ever track & field spikes - PUMA athlete Karsten Warholm breaks the 29-year-old 400m hurdles World Record, wearing the spikes developed in the FASTER+ programme - PUMA signs a long-term partnership with Breanna "Stewie" Stewart, the most valuable player in the WNBA - PUMA athlete LaMelo Ball is NBA's Rookie of the Year - PUMA commits to protecting forests in partnership with NGO Canopy - PUMA appoints Hubert Hinterseher as its new Chief Financial Officer and Arne Freundt as its new Chief Commercial Officer starting June 1 2021 Half-Year Facts - Sales increase by 54% (ca) to EUR 3,138 million (H1 2020: EUR 2,131 million) - Gross profit margin improves to 48.0% (H1 2020: 46.2%) - Operating expenses (OPEX) increase to EUR 1,252 million (H1 2020: EUR 1,037 million) - Operating result (EBIT) improves to EUR 263 million (H1 2020: EUR -44 million) - Net earnings improve to EUR 158 million (H1 2020: EUR -59 million) - PUMA launches new running technology NITRO - PUMA launches the SHE MOVES US communication platform to celebrate women - PUMA unveils ONLY SEE GREAT brand campaign to spark optimism and self-belief - PUMA's new multi-channel distribution center in Geiselwind, Germany, starts operations Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE: "The second quarter was a very good quarter for us. Despite a lot of operational issues, we saw very strong growth both in sales and profitability. Supply has been difficult with a shortage in freight capacity, harbor congestion and COVID-19 restrictions in certain sourcing countries. I am very proud of how our organization has maneuvered through all of these issues and how we managed to achieve these results in the second quarter. Demand for our products in performance, comfort and lifestyle has been strong. The cooperation with our sourcing and retail partners has become even stronger during the COVID-19 pandemic and this continued to help us in the second quarter. We are, of course, still worried about the impact COVID-19 will continue to have on our business in the short-term, now especially in the supply chain, but we continue to be very positive for the mid-term outlook for our sector in general and specifically for PUMA. We are very proud of Italy having won the European Championship in football, playing in our products, and we look forward to great Olympic Games in Tokyo." Second Quarter 2021 Sales increased by 95.8% (ca) to EUR 1,589.1 million (+91.2% reported). All regions and product divisions contributed with at least double-digit sales increases (ca). Americas reported the strongest growth of 181.8% (ca), driven by strong demand for the PUMA brand in the North American market, followed by EMEA, which improved 85.4% (ca) and Asia/ Pacific being up 29.6% (ca). Footwear was the growth driver (+114.0% ca), based on continued strong performance of our Running and Training as well as Sportstyle categories. Also, Apparel (+85.5% ca) and Accessories (+72.2% ca) showed strong growth in the second quarter of 2021. Compared to the second quarter of 2019, sales were up 36.3% (ca) with all regions and product divisions delivering double-digit increases. PUMA's Wholesale business grew by 114.2% (ca) to EUR 1,200.0 million. The Direct to Consumer business (DTC) increased by 54.7% (ca) to EUR 389.1 million with growth in owned & operated retail stores (+107.0% ca) and e-commerce (+8.5% ca). After stores gradually reopened in the second quarter, demand shifted partially from the e-commerce channel to retail stores, while the overall underlying demand for the PUMA brand was strong. The gross profit margin in the second quarter improved by 360 basis points to 47.5% (Q2 2020: 43.9% / Q2 2019: 49.3%). The improvement in gross profit margin was driven by better sell-through and less promotional activity, while inefficiencies in the supply chain including inbound freight had a negative impact. Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 34.5% to EUR 650.4 million (Q2 2020: EUR 483.5 million / Q2 2019: EUR 531.6 million) due to higher marketing expenses as well as sales-related distribution and warehousing costs. As a result of COVID-19, we continued to face operating inefficiencies in our business. The OPEX ratio in percent of total sales decreased from 58.2% in the second quarter of 2020 to 40.9% in the second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2019: 43.3%). The operating result (EBIT) in the second quarter increased to EUR 108.9 million (Q2 2020: EUR -114.8 million / Q2 2019: EUR 80.3 million) due to strong sales growth, higher gross profit margin and continued OPEX control. This resulted in an improved EBIT margin of 6.9% in the second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2020: -13.8% / Q2 2019: 6.5%). Net earnings increased from EUR -95.6 million to EUR 48.7 million and earnings per share improved from EUR -0.64 in the second quarter of 2020 to EUR 0.33 in the second quarter of 2021. First Half-Year 2021 Sales increased by 53.6% (ca) to EUR 3,137.9 million (+47.3% reported). The strong sales development was driven by double-digit growth rates in all regions and product divisions. Compared to the first half of 2019, PUMA's sales grew 30.0% (ca). The Wholesale business was up 57.3% (ca) to EUR 2,402.0 million while the Direct to Consumer business (DTC) increased by 42.7% (ca) to EUR 735.9 million with growth in owned & operated retails stores (+49.2% ca) as well as e-commerce (+33.5% ca). The gross profit margin in the first half of 2021 improved by 180 basis points to 48.0% (H1 2020: 46.2% / H1 2019: 49.2%). The improvement in gross profit margin was driven by better sell-through, less promotional activity and a low base in 2020 due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Operating expenses (OPEX) increased by 20.7% to EUR 1,251.5 million (H1 2020: EUR 1,036.8 million / H1 2019: EUR 1,042.3 million) due to higher marketing expenses, sales-related distribution and warehousing costs as well as operating inefficiencies due to COVID-19. The respective OPEX ratio in percent of total sales decreased from 48.7% in the first half of 2020 to 39.9% in the first half of 2021 (H1 2019: 40.9%). The operating result (EBIT) in the first half of 2021 increased significantly to EUR 263.2 million (H1 2020: EUR -43.6 million / H1 2019: EUR 222.8 million) due to strong sales growth, higher gross profit margin and continued OPEX control. This resulted in an improved EBIT margin of 8.4% in the first half of 2021 (H1 2020: -2.0% / H1 2019: 8.8%). Net earnings increased from EUR -59.4 million to EUR 157.8 million and earnings per share were up from EUR -0.40 in the first half of 2020 to EUR 1.06 in the first half of 2021. Working Capital The working capital increased by 6.1% to EUR 691.9 million (June 30, 2020: 652.1 million). Inventories were up by 7.7% at EUR 1,388.7 million despite the supply chain constraints due to container shortages and port congestion. As a result of the strong sales development in the second quarter, trade receivables rose by 62.6% to EUR 931.1 million and on the liabilities side, trade payables were up by 39.9% to EUR 1,270.6 million. Cash Flow and Liquidity Situation The free cash flow in the first half of 2021 improved significantly to EUR 24.6 million (H1 2020: EUR -206.0 million). This development was a result of the strong increase of earnings before taxes (EBT), while cash outflows for working capital and capital expenditures increased. PUMA's cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2021 amounted to EUR 755.2 million (June 30, 2020: EUR 437.0 million). In addition, at the end of the second quarter, PUMA had unutilized credit facilities amounting to a total of EUR 934 million (June 30, 2020: EUR 1,263 million). Outlook 2021 2021 started with an all-time high of COVID-19 cases globally and continued restrictions for our operations in numerous markets as well as supply chain constraints due to container shortages and port congestion. In addition to the implications from the COVID-19 pandemic, political tensions in some of our key markets also had a significant impact on our business. Despite the uncertainty, PUMA has maneuvered well throughout the first half of the year based on continued brand momentum, successful product launches with high sell-through and a strong focus on flexibility in our operations. In light of the sales and profitability growth, especially in the second quarter, PUMA now expects the currency-adjusted sales to increase at least 20% (previous outlook: mid-teens currency-adjusted sales growth) in the financial year 2021. The outlook for the operating result (EBIT) has been further specified and is now anticipated to come in between EUR 400 million and EUR 500 million (previous outlook: significant improvement). In line with the previous outlook, we do not provide a detailed outlook on our gross profit margin and OPEX-ratio. Our net earnings are still expected to improve significantly in 2021.
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