Tag: puma

WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE SAN FRANCISCO?

UPDATE 2-Puma abandons sailing for running as profit sinks

FRANKFURT, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Sportswear firm Puma said it is pulling out of the sailing market to concentrate on other sports such as soccer and running to rebuild its flagging business, leaving an Americas Cup team seeking a new sponsor.

The German company, which on Thursday reported a 70 percent drop in its annual profit, is going through its biggest reorganisation in 20 years to restore the business and get its products back in fashion in the United States, Europe and China.

The group is closing stores, cutting product lines and last month said it would stop sponsoring rugby union football, no longer providing kit forIreland‘s team after the next season.

Outgoing chief executive Franz Koch, leaving as part of a management shake-up instigated by Puma’s 82 percent owner PPR , told journalists on Thursday it would take “some time” before the restructuring brought visible success.

Sales this year are expected to remain on a level with 2012’s total of 3.27 billion euros. Net earnings, which dropped to 70.2 million euros from 230 million in 2011, are expected to improve significantly this year, Koch said.

Earnings in the final quarter were hit by costs of 98 million euros related to a payout in Spain to reclaim trademark rights from a former licence holder and costs for closing its operations inGreece, Cyprus and Bulgaria. It will continue to distribute products to these countries.

The company also cut its dividend for 2012 to 0.5 euros from 2 euros last time.

Puma’s shares, which have lost 5 percent of their value over the last year, were up 1.2 percent at 234.4 euros by 1424 GMT. “Investors are hoping that Puma can get back to reaching new heights after the restructuring,” said one trader.

 

DROPPING THE OCEAN RACING

The company has already said it wants to focus more on soccer and running and will now stop sponsoring the Oracle sailing team, current holder of the Americas Cup, after the 2013 season. The team wear race gear supplied by Puma and the company’s jumping cat logo can be seen on the sails.

Puma had also entered a team twice in the Volvo Ocean Race, ending in third place in the final in July 2012, but will not be entering another team.

Brands pay upwards of 10 million euros ($13 million) a year to sponsor the major sailing teams, according to sports market research company Repucom.

Koch declined to provide figures, saying only it had invested a “significant amount”.

Repucom said the sport was interesting to higher-end premium brands like Prada because out of the 331 million sailing enthusiasts worldwide around 19 percent are reckoned to be high earners.

However, for the big sportswear brands like Puma, and larger rivals Nike and Adidas, soccer and basketball are much bigger money-spinners due to the sheer number of people following such sports worldwide.

 

BACK ON HIS FEET

Koch will leave the group at the end of March, after less than two years as chief executive, and a replacement will be announced in the coming weeks, the 33 year-old said on Thursday.

With a profit warning, tumbling sales and criticism from predecessor Jochen Zeitz, the former professional hockey player said it had been a tough year. “But like a true sportsman, I am used to getting back on my feet again,” he told reporters.

Until a new chief executive is installed Chief Financial Officer Michael Laemmermann and Chief Commercial Officer Stefano Caroti are to lead the company with support from PPR’s Jean-Francois Palus, who chairs the Puma supervisory board.

LEG 3 OF VOLVO

I am have been troubled by this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. It has become less of an Ocean race frankly; The Legs are short both in distance and time, as the boats are so quick. It has lost it’s luster.
Speaking of losing it’s luster, the America’s Cup, over these last few years has been a soap opera. Still, we are all waiting with anticipation the 72 foot solid wing catamarans.

SMOKE, MIRRORS, AND REALITY
By Rod Davis, Emirates Team NZ
(January 23, 2012) – The trick is to keep the eye on the ball …

It has been a bizarre time for the America’s Cup; the war of words and press releases has been nonstop for five years when Oracle questioned Alinghi’s Challenger of Record. Since then we have been fed a fatty diet of spin doctoring.

Some would say “situation normal for the America’s Cup”. Not in my experience and I have been in the game a long time. Take the headline “Ainslie launches America’s Cup campaign”. What?

Uncle Larry is underwriting Ben’s AC45 sailing and then he joins Oracle in the defence for the USA. Where is the Ben Ainslie America’s Cup campaign in that? Or the nine challengers listed in the America’s Cup web site, when, in reality only three have paid the money. The trick is to not allow the spin doctors to distract you from the real game.

When you blow away the smoke and see through the mirrors you find the America’s Cup as it is:

Here’s what you need to know:

1) The America’s Cup will be sailed in San Francisco in 2013 in 72ft winged cats.

2) Each team will have the most advanced and competitive boat that it can produce and then sail it the very best it can.

3) The challengers (Artemis, Luna Rosa, and Emirates Team New Zealand) will compete in a Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series to decide who goes to the America’s Cup.

4) Oracle goes directly to the finals (the America’s Cup match).

5) Each team is allowed to build two AC72 boats; the first cannot be launched before July this year.

Point No 2 is the most important and the one that must be done better than all the competition. Everything else is detail.

YOU CAN’T PLACE IF YOU DON’T FINISH

The Spanish team finished last night in Capetown, SA, There were six boats that started the race and now two still racing. The Spanish may well have throttled back once they were no longer being pressed by Puma, who lost their mast on November 21st.
On the other hand, with half of the fleet withdrawn from this first leg, there is plenty of opportunity for the points to be recouped. It is still a long way around.

HOW WELL DO YOU HANDLE ADVERSITY?

We all like to win, but in the words of “Highlander”: “there can be only one”. It is really about how well you deal with losing. Adversity is a normal event in life, how well you handle it will make all the difference.
Above it is “Puma”, The image below is the replacement bow section being fashioned for “Team Sanya”. We had our own mishap in the 2010 Bermuda race, A few minutes after the start, the clew of the mainsail failed, leaving us to watch our class sailing away. We ended up 2nd in class after the crew worked for 40 hours sewing.

PUMA DISMASTED

This is the monday of Thanksgiving week. We are accustomed to not much happening during this time. I do not believe I am revealing anything with these photos as the design has proved not to be good enough. It will be interesting to know why this mast and that of Abu Dhabi broke. Both came down in three pieces in similar conditions.

Considering that there were no mast failures in the last race; it is interesting that in a much smaller fleet the percentage failure is quite high.

Thanks to Jack C who alerted me to these events.

The PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG team has suffered a broken mast on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, which began 17 days ago from Alicante, Spain. The crew are unhurt.
The rig onboard PUMA’s Mar Mostro failed at around 15:00 UTC in the southern Atlantic Ocean, about 2,150 nautical miles from Cape Town, South Africa.
Skipper Ken read reported: “We were sailing on a port tack, beam reaching in 22-23 knots of breeze, heading east northeast with eight to 10 foot waves when the mast failed. There were no warning signs.
“There was no panic onboard, and all crew are safe and well.
“Thanks to amazing seamanship, the three pieces of the mast and all of the sails were recovered. We haven’t suspended racing at this point and are weighing are options.
“At this point we are not using our engine, but are taking some time to clear our heads and evaluate next steps. Our plans may include heading to the island of Tristan da Cunha – about 700 nautical miles from us, nearly on the way to Cape Town.
“This is the saddest and most disappointed 11 people on earth. We were in a comfortable second position, traveling south to get into the final front and head across the southern Atlantic towards Cape Town.
“We were planning to be there in five days. At this stage, my goal is to make sure we get this crew back safely and we will look at options as to how to get back in this race.”
The Brazilian search and rescue organization have been informed and are on standby to assist if necessary.
PUMA Ocean Racing’s shore team is working on a recovery plan to ensure the yacht can rejoin the race as soon as practically possible and will work closely with Volvo Ocean Race to determine the cause of the dismasting.
Volvo Ocean Race control is in constant contact with the team to establish the full extent of the damage and ensure the crew are given full support to enable them to deal with the situation.
The causes of the dismasting are not known at this stage. However, the rig is of a different origin and manufacture to that of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Azzam which suffered a failure earlier during Leg 1