Dear shareholders,
PUMA has one of the most significant archives in our industry, with more than 77 years of history alongside the world’s most successful athletes. PUMA stands for unforgettable moments in sports and sports culture and many great innovations. PUMA is also one of only a few brands in our industry that is popular in many major global sports.
That is why being CEO of PUMA is a fantastic job. I was delighted to take on this position in July 2025 because I see great potential in this sports brand.
PUMA creates some of the best technologies and performance products that help our athletes succeed. NITRO™ is the most innovative running technology currently available on the market. In 2025, our athletes used NITRO™ to set records and new personal bests.
In addition to the many successes and personal bests our athletes achieved with PUMA’s NITRO™ technology at major marathons around the world, we were also very happy with the many medals won by our athletes and federations at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. For example, pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis set yet another new world record and was even named World Athlete of the Year at the end of 2025.
The collaboration with athletes, federations, clubs and other partners is essential for us as a sports brand, as it aids our credibility in sports and connects us with fans and athletes. That is why I am glad that we were able to further strengthen some of our leading partnerships in 2025. Important examples here are the contract extensions with Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and HYROX, the world series of fitness racing.
Despite the many unforgettable moments in 2025, we also realised that the PUMA brand had become too commercial over the years. This is reflected in low brand heat, poor sales quality and a product range that did not cut through.
That is why we made 2025 a year of reset and realigned our strategy. The aim is to establish PUMA as a Top 3 sports brand worldwide, return to above industry growth and create healthy profits in the medium term. PUMA will become one global sports brand with global product ranges and global storytelling across markets.
In doing so, we want to follow the winning principles of a leading sports brand. PUMA must be clearly positioned as a brand, the product development and storytelling processes must be better integrated, and the sales and go-to-market processes must be actively managed. With attractive products, exciting product stories and distribution in the right channels, we will be able to once again make our customers and consumers excited about PUMA.
To make PUMA less commercial, we have decided to withdraw from wholesale channels that damage our brand’s desirability. In doing so, we are also reducing sales promotion measures such as discounts in our own DTC business. At the same time, we will further develop our sales channel mix to aim for a higher DTC share and bring PUMA closer to the industry average.
In our product strategy, PUMA will focus on better positioning its various product icons. We firmly believe that PUMA, with its extensive archive, has a clear opportunity to better establish its product icons, such as the PUMA Suede. Within our categories, we will prioritise Football, Running, Training and Sportstyle Select/Prime. At the same time, we have created a structure for 2025 to better align the processes for product development and storytelling. This will enable us to create authentic and effective product stories that will convince both our wholesale partners and consumers.
In 2025, we also took important steps to optimise our cost base, eliminate operational inefficiencies and reduce the number of new items introduced each season. The optimisation of our cost base also includes the decision to cut a further 900 office positions worldwide by the end of 2026, following the reduction of around 500 positions in 2025.
Despite the challenges I have just described, I firmly believe in PUMA’s potential and successful future. I am convinced that with the reset in 2025, we have set the right course to return to growth after the transition year of 2026.
My thanks go to our employees, wholesale partners, suppliers, brand ambassadors and athletes who have been a part of PUMA in 2025. I’m also very grateful to our Supervisory Board for their support in implementing PUMA’s reset.
I would also like to thank you, dear shareholders, for your trust and support for the path we have chosen.
Arthur Hoeld
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) PUMA
