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p : 7 | C : 1 To our ShareholderS<br />

fOREwORd<br />

LETTER FROM YOUR CEO,<br />

FRANZ KOCH<br />

DEAR SHAREHOLDERS AND FRiENDS OF <strong>PUMA</strong>,<br />

2012 was an exceptional year for <strong>PUMA</strong> in many ways. First of all, I am happy to see that we<br />

finished the year with a satisfactory sales growth rate. <strong>PUMA</strong>’s full year consolidated sales<br />

rose by almost 9 percent in Euro terms which enabled us to achieve the record sales mark<br />

just short of 3.3 billion Euros. In the light of the continuously challenging business environment,<br />

especially in Europe, we are pleased with that sales performance. So let’s delve into<br />

some of the highlights from an eventful sports year that fuelled <strong>PUMA</strong>’s sales growth.<br />

“USAiN BOLT - THE BiggEST STORY OF THE gAMES”<br />

The success of our Running category was highlighted by the Olympic Games: The outstanding<br />

athletic performances of The Fastest Man on Earth, Usain Bolt, who finished his second<br />

successive Olympics with three gold medals, was undoubtedly the biggest story of<br />

the Games. In the World of Football we once again underlined our ambition to be the clear<br />

Number 3 brand. <strong>PUMA</strong> partnered “Squadra Azzurra” from Italy had an excellent tournament<br />

at the 2012 Euro C<strong>up</strong> reaching the final.<br />

Our successful season in Formula 1 was crowned by <strong>PUMA</strong> sponsored Ferrari driver<br />

Fernando Alonso. With 278 points in the drivers’ standings the Spaniard belonged to the<br />

dominating F1 drivers again falling just short of his third Formula One title. Our Golf category<br />

contained many highlights throughout 2012, making the past year a great success for<br />

COBRA <strong>PUMA</strong> GOLF. Ian Poulter was the undisputed player of the prestigious Ryder C<strong>up</strong>,<br />

and our iconic brand ambassador Rickie Fowler won his first PGA Tour title in May at the<br />

Wells Fargo Championship, cementing him as one of the top players of the world.<br />

In our Sailing category, our <strong>PUMA</strong> Ocean Racing team forged an amazing comeback at the<br />

around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12, finishing in the third place at the beginning of<br />

July. In our Lifestyle business, we did not only successfully introduce the evolution of our<br />

<strong>PUMA</strong> Social Campaign TEAMMATES, but also continued to fuse the influences of Sport<br />

and Fashion with some of the world’s leading design houses such as Alexander McQueen<br />

PuMa BuSineSS and SuSTainaBiliTy rePorT 2012<br />

and Mihara. We will continue to rejuvenate our Lifestyle category throughout 2013, connecting<br />

with a more youthful audience and shifting the focus from brand- to more productoriented<br />

marketing campaigns.<br />

In the area of sustainability we continue on our pioneering path. After a sneak peek into our<br />

first collection of biodegradable and recyclable products last October, our <strong>PUMA</strong> InCycle<br />

collection hit the stores at the beginning of this year. All these product and marketing initiatives<br />

are aimed at increasing <strong>PUMA</strong>’s brand desirability to make further strides on our<br />

mission to become the most desirable and sustainable Sportlifestyle company in the world.<br />

“<strong>PUMA</strong>’S TRANSFORMATiON AND COST<br />

REDUCTiON PROgRAM iS ALREADY DELivERiNg RESULTS”<br />

2012 was also an exceptionally busy year as we continued with the implementation of our<br />

Transformation and Cost Reduction Program. I am pleased to see that the program is<br />

already delivering its first results. The program entails the set <strong>up</strong> of a new business model<br />

in Europe. To reduce complexity and further harmonize structures, we have lowered the<br />

number of reporting entities from 23 countries to seven areas. The newly created S<strong>up</strong>ply<br />

Chain Management function is fully <strong>up</strong> and running and has created new tools to manage<br />

s<strong>up</strong>ply and demand more efficiently on a regional level, delivering immediate results.<br />

“ANNUAL BOTTOM LiNE UNDER PRESSURE”<br />

While our sales performance in 2012 met our expectations, our annual bottom line results,<br />

however, took a major hit. <strong>PUMA</strong>’s lower profitability resulted mainly from increased<br />

pressure on our margins after we had to reduce inventory levels through discounting on<br />

our products in the second half of the year particularly. Furthermore, costs rose as we<br />

continued to make strategic investments into the growth drivers of our business such as<br />

Research, Design and Development, Marketing, our s<strong>up</strong>ply chain and IT systems as well<br />

as the expansion of our retail operations. In addition, the scope of the one-time expenses

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