Puma reaffirms positive outlook despite supply chain strain

German sportswear company Puma said on Thursday it remained concerned about the strain the coronavirus pandemic is putting on its supply chain, but reiterated the mid-term outlook for the sector and company remained positive.

Chief Executive Bjorn Gulden said Puma was able to overcome shortages of freight capacity, harbour congestion and COVID-19 restrictions in some countries to report strong sales and earnings growth in the second quarter thanks to strong demand.

"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," Gulden said in a statement.

"But we continue to be very positive for the mid-term outlook for our sector in general and specifically for PUMA."

The company, which outfitted Puma European soccer champions Italy, confirmed preliminary second-quarter sales and earnings figures released two weeks ago with currency-adjusted sales nearly doubling to 1.59 billion euros ($1.88 billion) and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of around 109 million euros.

The company also reaffirmed its 2021 outlook for currency-adjusted sales increase of at least 20% after earlier predicting percentage growth in mid-teens.