Puma Deepens Decline Over First Nine Months, Announces 900 Job Cuts

Puma is in the red. The German sports fashion group has closed the first nine months of the year with a new drop in sales of 8.5%, together with losses of more than €300 million, thus confirming the downward trend that began at the end of the first half of the year. The company’s poor performance during the period has already been reflected in Puma’s day-to-day business, with the announcement of the first job cuts.

Specifically, the German company closed the nine months of the current fiscal year with sales of €5.97 billion, compared to the €6.52 billion it sold in the same period of the previous year. Gross profit, meanwhile, stood at €2.75 billion, with a gross margin of 46.1%, 1.3 percentage points lower than in the previous year.

The German giant, which is immersed in a whirlwind of rumors regarding its possible acquisition by Adidas and would create the largest sports footwear giant in the European market, has also worsened its red numbers. After already anticipating the first red numbers in the second quarter of the year, Puma ended the first nine months of the financial year with a loss of €308.9 million, compared to the €257.1 million it earned in 2024.

Puma’s losses widened to €308.9 million at the end of the first nine months of the year

“In early July, we already warned that 2025 would be a year of new beginnings, and since then, we have taken important steps to clean up the company’s distribution, improve our cash management and reset our operating expenses,“ explained Arthur Hoeld, the company’s CEO. In this line of restructuring, in fact, the company has already announced that it will cut 900 employees from its workforce, along with a reduction in the number of items in each collection.

Hoeld has assured, however, that during this time the group has not only identified the areas that need more urgent action, but also established strategic priorities to return to growth: “we have a clear ambition to make Puma the third largest sports brand globally”. The group’s main forecasts are to close 2025 on a downward trend, while next year will be one of “transition”, with a view, finally, to returning to growth from 2027 onwards.

By market, the biggest drop in Puma’s sales was in the Americas, where the company posted a turnover of €2.21 billion, down 13.3% on the previous year. In Asia Pacific, sales came in at €1.188 billion, while in Europe, Puma posted sales of another €2.57 billion. In both regions the figure was down by 8.5% and 3.9%, respectively.

Puma’s cost-cutting strategy is, for the time being, based on its first actions: cutting staff and reducing part of its catalog

The German group’s business, in fact, has been declining in all markets, but also in all categories. In its core business, footwear, Puma recorded sales of €3.292 billion, 6.4% less than in the first nine months of the previous year. The worst drop was recorded by the company in apparel sales, reaching a turnover of €1,827 million, 12% less than in the previous year, while accessories generated sales of €853.4 million for Puma, 8.4% less than in the first nine months of the previous year.

By distribution channel, Puma’s main channel is through its wholesale network, with sales of up to €4.25 billion. The figure, however, is 12.5% lower than in the first nine months of 2024. The company’s sales through its own stores have been on the rise, generating a turnover of €1.71 billion, up 3.4%.