By Helen Reid
(Reuters) -Sportswear brand Puma said on Thursday former Adidas sales chief Arthur Hoeld would take over as CEO, replacing Arne Freundt due to what the company called “differing views on strategy execution”.
Puma has struggled to boost sales and profitability for more than a year. Its pick for the top job marks the latest talent swap between the competing brands, two years after its CEO Bjorn Gulden jumped ship to lead Adidas through a successful turnaround.
Based across the road from each other in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the companies have a rivalry going back 75 years to a feud between shoemaker brothers Adolf Dassler, founder of Adidas, and Rudolf Dassler, who started Puma.
Puma said Freundt, CEO since November 2022, would step down on April 11 and Hoeld would take over as chairman and CEO effective July 1, with the board leading the company in the transition phase.
“I am incredibly excited to join the PUMA family as their new CEO,” Hoeld, who left Adidas in October last year, said in a statement.
Adidas has enjoyed strong sales growth as it surfed a trend for its Samba and Gazelle sneakers, while Puma sales have been sluggish as it struggles to boost interest in new sneakers like the Speedcat.
Puma last month warned its 2025 sales would likely be weaker than last year, and said uncertainty was denting consumer spending in the U.S., which accounts for between 20-25% of its global sales.
“We expect this news to be taken positively, given ongoing investor concerns around performance and strategic execution,” said Citi analyst Monique Pollard.
U.S. tariffs on China, Vietnam, Indonesia and other key manufacturing hubs hit sportswear retailers, sending Puma shares down 10% on Thursday.
Puma sourced 28% of its products in China last year, while Vietnam was its second-biggest sourcing country with 26%, and Cambodia was third with 16%.
The share price, pummelled by slowing sales, is close to its lowest in nine years.
“We are convinced that thanks to his strategic vision and focus on product and brand, Arthur will lead Puma into a new chapter of strength and growth,” said Heloise Temple-Boyer, chair of the supervisory board at Puma.
(Reporting by Helen Reid in London and Tristan Veyet in Gdansk, editing by Friederike Heine, David Evans and Richard Chang)
