EANS-News: PUMA AG announces its Consolidated Financial Results for the First Quarter of 2011

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Earnings

Herzogenaurach (euro adhoc) - Herzogenaurach, Germany, April 26, 2011
- PUMA AG announces its Consolidated Financial Results for the First
Quarter of 2011

Highlights January - March 2011:

• Consolidated sales increased by 13.2% in Euro terms to a record high of EUR
773 million
• Gross profit margin back to a strong, sector leading 52.4%
• EBIT 2.1% above last year at EUR 111.0 million
• Net earnings improved by 7.1% to EUR 77.7 million
• EPS increased to EUR 5.17 from EUR 4.81 last year

Outlook 2011:

• Based on the success of the past quarter and the positive business
development, Management targets the milestone of EUR 3 billion in sales
for
the full year 2011.

• To support business growth and the "Back on the Attack" growth strategy,
investments in marketing, sales, product development as well as process
optimization will continue to affect the OPEX ratio.

• Despite expected moderate price increases in sourcing costs related to
raw materials and wages for the 2nd half, Management still foresees
continuous improvement of net earnings by mid single-digits.

Jochen Zeitz, CEO: "The first quarter performance was a strong
start to 2011 and our Back on the Attack growth plan, as PUMA
managed to generate strong sales growth. We were even able to
mitigate the negative impact we saw from the disastrous events in
Japan last month as our Asian/ Pacific region contributed with an
increase in sales to the overall solid company performance. For
the full year 2011 we continue to expect an increase in net
earnings in the mid single-digit percentage range with sales
targeting the EUR 3 billion milestone for the first time. PUMA
continues to execute on the Back on the Attack company growth plan
and performs at levels consistent with reaching the long-term
target of EUR 4 billion in sales by 2015. The recent approval of our
shareholders

to convert PUMA from the German Aktiengesellschaft PUMA AG to the European
Corporation PUMA SE will provide our company with a broader international
profile, helping to tap into the many opportunities the international
Sportlifestyle market offers.

Sales and Earnings Development January-March 2011

Global Brand Sales

Worldwide PUMA brand sales - comprised of consolidated and license
sales - rose by 12.5% in Euro terms (8.8% currency adjusted) to EUR
811.1 million from EUR 720.8 million last year.

Consolidated Sales PUMA´s first quarter consolidated sales reached
EUR 773.4 million, rising 9.3% in currency adjusted terms and an
impressive 13.2% in Euro terms when compared to the first quarter of
2010. This represents PUMA´s best ever first quarter. All product
segments showed considerable growth: Footwear up 6.8% currency
adjusted at EUR 417.2 million, Apparel up 2.2% at EUR 241.8 million,
and Accessories posting a superb 42.4% increase at EUR 114.4 million.
The strong performance in the Accessories product segment was also
supported by the inclusion of Cobra Golf into the consolidation. In
regional terms, sales in EMEA grew by 4.4% currency adjusted to EUR
374.5 million, Asia/ Pacific posted a gain of 6.9% to EUR 163.9
million and PUMA continued its excellent performance in the Americas
with sales growing by 19.9% to EUR 235.1 million.

Gross Profit Margin The gross profit margin remained at an industry
leading 52.4%, which is testament to PUMA´s continuing efforts to
maximize returns and efficiencies. The Footwear segment had a gross
profit margin of 51.3%, up from 50.9%. Apparel stood at 53.7%, down
slightly from 53.9%. Accessories were at 54.0%, also down slightly
from 55.7%.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses before special items rose by 21.6% to EUR 298.6
million during the first quarter of 2011. As a percentage of sales,
this represents an increase from 35.9% to 38.6% compared to last
year. Reasons for this rise include currency fluctuations, as well as
additional investments in Marketing, Sales and Product Design to fuel
our "Back on the Attack" growth plan.

EBIT

Operating profit came in as expected, improving to EUR 111.0 million
from EUR 108.7 million. This represents 14.4% of consolidated sales,
down slightly from a rate of 15.9% at this time last year.

Financial Result / Income from associated companies

The financial result improved from EUR -1.4 million to EUR -0.2
million, including EUR 0.9 million from our investment in Wilderness.

Earnings before Taxes PUMA´s EBT rose from EUR 107.3 million to EUR
110.8 million. Tax expenses declined from EUR 34.8 million to EUR
33.1 million and the tax rate dropped from 32.4% to a normalized
tax rate of 29.9%.

Net Earnings Consolidated net earnings increased to EUR 77.7 million
from EUR 72.5 million in 2010, an increase of 7.1%. Earnings per
share rose from EUR 4.81 to EUR 5.17, and diluted earnings per
share rose from EUR 4.80 to EUR 5.15.

Net Assets and Financial Position

Equity

Total assets (as of 31st March 2011) increased by 11.3% from EUR
2.068,5 million to EUR 2.303,2 million. This rise stems mainly from
the expansion of the consolidated group, as Cobra Golf is included
this year. The equity ratio declined slightly from 61.2% to 60.6%.
However, in absolute figures, shareholders' equity increased by 10.3%
to EUR 1.395,9 million from EUR 1.265,7 million. As a consequence,
PUMA´s balance sheet remains very strong.

Working Capital

PUMA´s overall Working Capital went up by 13.9% to EUR 598.1 million.
On the asset side, inventories went up by 24.9% from EUR 371.8
million to EUR 464.3 million, supporting our expected sales growth in
the upcoming quarters and trade receivables also increased, up 11.0%
from EUR 520.4 million to EUR 577.8 million. Considering the change
in scope and the strong increase in sales during the quarter, the
trade receivables developed positively. On the liabilities side,
trade liabilities rose 25.8% from EUR 270.4 million to EUR 340.2
million.

Cashflow/Capex

The Free Cashflow (before acquisitions) came in at EUR -113.5
million versus EUR -71.6 million last year. The additional
outflow was caused mainly by the increase in working capital and
tax payments. The payments for acquisitions are related to the
purchase of the remaining shares of PUMA China, as announced in
our third quarter results last year. For Capex, the company spent EUR
10.8 million versus EUR 7.7 million in last year´s first quarter. The
increase derives from investments in the improvement of
organizational processes and IT, which are necessary components of
our growth strategy.

Cash Position

Total cash (as of 31st March 2011) dropped by 29.1% to EUR 300.8
million from EUR 424.2 million last year. Bank debts were reduced by
25.9% from EUR 52.3 million to EUR 38.8 million. As a result, the net
cash position decreased 29.6%, from EUR 371.9 million to EUR 262.0
million.

Share buyback

PUMA continued with its share buy back program and purchased 51.720
shares for EUR 10.9 million during the first quarter.

Other Events

PUMA AG converts to a Societas Europaea (SE)

As previously reported, PUMA´s shareholders returned a positive vote
in April´s Annual General Meeting on the conversion from a German
`Aktiengesellschaft´, or AG, to a European `Societas Europaea´, or
SE. The conversion is expected to be completed latest by July.

Outlook 2011

As the first quarter visibly demonstrates, PUMA´s "Back on the
Attack" strategy is already taking effect, with higher investment in
marketing and product being offset by significant increases in sales
with a stable gross profit margin. Taking into account the risk
of higher input prices in the form of raw materials and wages
for the second half of the year, PUMA´s outlook for 2011
continues to be favourable. We continue to expect an
improvement in net earnings in the mid single digit range for
2011 whilst targeting the EUR 3 billion milestone in sales.

This document contains forward-looking information about the
Company´s financial status and strategic initiatives. Such
information is subject to a certain level of risk and uncertainty
that could cause the Company's actual results to differ
significantly from the information discussed in this document.
The forward-looking information is based on the current
expectations and prognosis of the management team. Therefore,
this document is further subject to the risk that such
expectations or prognosis, or the premise of such underlying
expectations or prognosis, become erroneous. Circumstances that
could alter the Company's actual results and procure such results
to differ significantly from those contained in forward-looking
statements made by or on behalf of the Company include, but are not
limited to those discussed be above.

###

PUMA is one of the world´s leading sportlifestyle companies that
designs and develops footwear, apparel and accessories. It is
committed to working in ways that contribute to the world by
supporting Creativity, SAFE Sustainability and Peace, and by
staying true to the principles of being Fair, Honest, Positive
and Creative in decisions made and actions taken. PUMA starts in
Sport and ends in Fashion. Its Sport Performance and Lifestyle
labels include categories such as Football, Running, Motorsports,
Golf and Sailing. Sport Fashion features collaborations with
renowned designer labels such as Alexander McQueen, Yasuhiro
Mihara and Sergio Rossi. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA,
Cobra and Tretorn. The company, which was founded in 1948,
distributes its products in ore than 120 countries, employs more
than 9,000 people worldwide and has headquarters in
Herzogenaurach/Germany, Boston, London and Hong Kong. For more
information, please visit www.puma.com

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Puma AG Rudolf Dassler Sport
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Kerstin Neuber

Telefon: +49 (0)9132 81-2984

E-Mail: Kerstin.Neuber@puma.com

Branche: Consumer Goods
ISIN: DE0006969603
WKN: 696960
Index: Midcap Market Index, MDAX, CDAX, Classic All Share, HDAX,
Prime All Share
Börsen: Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
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