Major German sports groups Puma and Adidas have spoken of the early effect on their businesses of the coronavirus outbreak. They have focused on China, although the virus is now a pandemic and is spreading in many other countries in the world.

Puma said its finished-product suppliers in China are now working at between 80% and 100% of capacity again. Its material suppliers are also up and running again and road and sea transportation links are also functioning now.

However, it said its sales in this market in the month of February were “severely affected” by delayed return from the Lunar New Year holiday, imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. “There are now early signs of improvement,” it said. “Most of our stores in China and those of our partners are now open again.”

Between Lunar New Year (January 25 this year) and the end of February, adidas said its revenues in China were down by about 80% year on year. But since then, it has started to experience “a slight improvement”, with stores and warehouses gradually opening and consumer traffic slowly picking up.

Based on the latest information available, adidas said it expected revenues in China in the first quarter of 2020 to be between €800 million and €1 billion below the prior-year level.

Source: Sports Textiles