Puma says China powered strong first-quarter sales

BERLIN (Reuters) - German sportswear maker Puma said rising demand in China helped powered a jump in first-quarter sales and earnings, even though the threat of a U.S.-China trade war weighed on its optimism for the rest of the year.

Puma had already nudged up its 2018 forecasts earlier this month when it reported first-quarter operating profit of 112 million euros ($137 million), up 60 percent, on currency-adjusted sales that were up 21 percent to 1.13 billion euros.

On Tuesday, it said all regions and product segments had contributed to the growth, especially Asia/Pacific, which saw sales leap 35 percent, while running, training and sportstyle were the areas with fastest growth.

 

($1 = 0.8188 euros)

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Tom Sims)