FRANKFURT—German sportswear maker Puma reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results on Wednesday as high demand from both retailers and consumers more than offset the impact of the war in Ukraine and supply chain bottlenecks.
“We see that sports participation has grown again during COVID and also after COVID,” Chief Executive Bjorn Gulden told a news conference, adding Puma had also benefited from the trend to wear sneakers as part of everyday clothing.
The company said its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose 27 percent to 196 million euros ($208.62 million) in the first three months of 2022, compared with analysts’ average forecast for EBIT of 181.5 million euros.
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