Puma Posts Narrower Q4 Net Loss

posted a narrower loss for the fourth quarter. Puma posted a quarterly net loss of EUR4.6 million ($5.24 million), versus a year-ago loss of EUR115 million. The year-ago results included EUR129 million in special items. Its revenue gained 7.5% to EUR750.8 million, while operating profit, before special items, surged to EUR10.6 million from EUR1.1 million. PUMA's gross profit margin widened to 45.0% from 43.2%. For the full year, Puma posted a net profit of EUR64.1 million on revenue of EUR2.97 million. Bjørn Gulden, Chief Executive Officer of PUMA SE said, "The fourth quarter developed as we had hoped, with a solid increase in sales and even stronger improvement in EBIT and net earnings. We are especially pleased to see that we again, for the second quarter in a row, had growth in our footwear sales. Our full-year results are also in line with expectations."