FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Puma SE shares fell to their lowest level since October 2018 on Wednesday after key figures for 2023 and the outlook for 2024. With a discount of 6.6 percent to 40.16 euros, they were at the bottom of the MDax mid-cap index. This also weighed on the shares of competitor Adidas, which also slipped to last place in the Dax, down 1.7 percent.

Puma announced that its business development in 2023 had been affected by the extraordinary devaluation of the Argentinian peso. The outlook is based on the assumption that the peso devaluation will be fully compensated by corresponding price increases in Argentina.

For the current year, the Group expects currency-adjusted sales growth in the mid-single-digit percentage range and earnings before interest and taxes of EUR 620 to 700 million amid continued geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty. Analyst Piral Dadhania from the Canadian bank RBC was disappointed with the outlook, saying it implied limited growth.

According to market expert Andreas Lipkow, Puma's figures are also a good illustration of the consumer restraint and weakness in the sporting goods sector. Such tendencies had already been noticeable at direct competitors Nike and Adidas and also at fashion group Hugo Boss. Even if there are now some special problems at Puma, the basic problem will not change for the time being.

Since its interim high at the beginning of December, Puma has already lost more than a third of its value. Since the start of the year, the loss amounts to more than a fifth. This makes them the second weakest stock in the MDax. Adidas have lost almost eleven percent so far in 2024./ajx/mne/jha/