HERZOGENAURACH (dpa-AFX) - Sporting goods manufacturer Puma has reaffirmed its outlook for the current year after strong sales growth in the second quarter, but left room for improvement. Thus, on Wednesday, when publishing its quarterly figures, the company held out the prospect of raising its forecast "should business continue to develop positively in the third quarter." Meanwhile, results will continue to be weighed down by heavy discounting and increased costs for the time being. On the other hand, there are signs of normalization in overhanging inventories.

The share price rose in the morning and was recently one of the biggest winners on the MDax, up 2.3 percent. It thus continued the recovery rally that began in early June. "The company remains on track to achieve its full-year targets," wrote analyst Adam Cochrane of Deutsche Bank. Following competitor Adidas' figures, he said it was good to see that Puma had performed better than expected in terms of sales - even if that was partly due to price discounts. The sporting goods manufacturer presented impressive sales growth from its own efforts, also noted Jefferies analyst James Grzinic.

Puma CEO Arne Freundt announced a review of both sales and earnings guidance in a conference call, but pointed to the volatile market environment. Thus, the company is looking from "quarter to quarter." However, the situation had brightened in the three months to the end of June. In terms of sales in particular, Puma has so far exceeded expected growth rates at the half-year point. For the time being, however, the company continues to expect currency-adjusted sales growth in the high single-digit percentage range and earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) of 590 to 670 million euros.

In the second quarter, earnings increased by just under six percent to 2.1 billion euros. Adjusted for foreign exchange, growth was a good eleven percent. The drivers were the European region EMEA and the continuing recovery in Greater China, where sales increased by more than a third after adjusting for foreign exchange. In North America, however, sales declined. Here, Puma pointed to a difficult macro-economic environment and a strong focus on wholesale characterized by discounting. Freundt announced tighter control here in the future.

Earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) fell by a good fifth to 115 million euros, impacted by ongoing discounts to reduce high inventory levels, higher procurement prices and freight costs, and negative currency effects. Below the line, Puma earned 55 million euros, more than a third less than a year earlier.

Inventories rose slightly, but returned to a "normalized" level, according to Puma. Nike had also recently reported an easing in the sector. The sporting goods industry has recently been struggling with high inventories, some of which it can only reduce through discounts. Last year, as a result of the supply chain problems, retailers had ordered a considerable amount of additional products in order to be able to meet the then still high demand. However, consumers initially held back on purchases in the wake of rising inflation./nas/ngu/zb