Puma suffers loss due to World Cup marketing

Marketing expenses for the World Cup is the reason for Puma's eight percent drop in net profit in 2006.

Puma is the world's third-largest maker of sportswear and equipment, behind Nike and Adidas, and supplied 12 nations at the World Cup, including Cup winners Italy.

Turnover rose by 33 percent to EUR 2.37 billion, but a 54 percent rise in marketing costs for the tournament last summer in Germany took a bite out of the net profit, which fell to EUR 263 million.

The firm also had an increase in expenses when it moved into new areas such as motorcycle racing and golf.

However, orders totalled EUR 1.12 billion at the end of 2006 compared to EUR 1.07 billion for the same period a year earlier.

Puma said it expects the turnover in 2007 to grow by between 5-10 percent, allowing for interest rate changes, and predicted net profit would rise by at least 10 percent.

The group is looking to push further into Africa with an eye on the 2010 football World Cup in South Africa and announced it had regained the contract to supply Morocco's national football club.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.