Puma Grew Strongly In The Four Quarter Of 2019, Ahead Of Expectations.

Puma SE (PUMG.DE) Puma management's cautious outlook on the growth prospects of the new year once again alerted investors.

The world's third largest sporting goods group expects to achieve about 10% of fixed exchange rate revenue growth in the 2019 fiscal year, consistent with last year's expectations in early 2018. But last year, the group's fixed exchange rate income increased by 17.6%, and its fourth quarter growth increased to 20.1%. In the past year, management has increased its growth forecast for the three quarter, stimulating PumaSE (PUMG.DE) to soar 46% in the first 12 months as of Wednesday.

Bj RN Gulden, chief executive, admits that this year's goal is prudent, but it meets the medium-term plan of 2018-2022 annual revenue growth of 10%. Early Thursday, the group's share price fell by 8.7% to 439.5 euros.

Fourth quarter Puma SE revenue rose 17.9% to 1 billion 226 million euros, better than the market expectations of $1 billion 170 million. In the Asia Pacific region, the growth rate of the Asia Pacific region was significantly increased after the exchange rate was removed. The growth rate accelerated to 38.5% in the past nine months, and exceeded the scale of 378 million euros in the EMEA area, which increased by 8.7% to 375 million 300 thousand euros, becoming the second largest market of the group in terms of 378 million euros. Bj RN Gulden told analysts at the conference call that China had no signs of slowing down, and local consumers increasingly favored international brands.

In September last year, the group returned to the basketball market for the first time in 20 years. Cooperation with celebrities such as Selena Gomes, Selena Gomez and Jay-Z also promoted sales in the Americas to rise by 17.4% to 473 million 100 thousand euros. According to the category, each group accounted for 40% of the group's income of footwear and clothing category respectively 17.4% and 28.6% growth, of which shoe sales for the first time broke 2 billion euros.

Bj RN Gulden said in its earnings report that double-digit growth in all regions and product sectors has fully demonstrated that the group has enhanced Puma brand and its product portfolio worldwide. "Although we still have many areas to improve, we believe that brands and groups are moving in the right direction."

Fourth quarter EBIT increased by 26.1% to 37 million 600 thousand euros a year, slightly lower than the market expected 39 million euros; net profit increased from 2 million 200 thousand euros to 15 million 700 thousand euros. RBC CapitalMarkets LLC analyst Piral Dadhania pointed out that the growth of 17.1% of the fourth quarter operating expenses reflects high competitive costs. The bank therefore believes that the profit margin target of the group in the next two years is "too optimistic".

In the 2018 fiscal year, Puma SE revenue totaled 4 billion 648 million 300 thousand euros, up 12.4% from 4 billion 135 million 900 thousand euros in 2017, EBIT grew 37.9% to 337 million 460 thousand euros, and EBIT profit margin also improved from 5.9% in the previous year to 7.3%, a step closer to the target of 10% in 2022. Net profit increased by 38% to 187 million 400 thousand euros.

Management expects that the EBIT of the fiscal year will be between 3.95-4.14 billion and the market expectation of 430 million euros, which means that the profit margin of EBIT can reach up to 8.1%.