Puma: stronger than expected start of the year confirmed.

(CercleFinance.com) - Sports apparel maker Puma confirmed on Tuesday that it had a "stronger than expected start of the year," sending its shares sharply up again in Frankfurt.


Group EBIT soared 70.1% to 70.2 million euros in the first quarter, while its gross profit margin inched up from 46.8% in the first quarter 2016 to 47.1%, due to price adjustments and further improvements in sourcing.

Net earnings also rocketed 92.2% to 49.6 million euros, from 25.8 million euros a year ago.

In its press release, Puma points out a "good sell-through to the end consumer, both in (its) owned and operated retail and with (its) key retail partners."

As a reminder, the company said two weeks ago that it reported first-quarter sales of over 1 billion euros, having raised its outlook for the full year, having sent the shares up 9 percent.

Puma shares are currently up 2.6% at 368.30 euros on the XETRA market.

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