German sportswear brand Puma said that coronavirus pandemic has hit its second quarter sales and profitability.

The brand’s second-quarter sales fell a currency-adjusted 30.7 per cent to €831 million and earnings before interest and taxes slumped to a loss of €114.8 million from €80.3 million a year earlier in what Gulden called "the most difficult quarter I have ever experienced.

Sales lagged an average analyst forecast for €815 million and the EBIT loss was steeper than the analyst forecast of -€113 million.

The company focused on ensuring financing and liquidity to survive the crisis and banked on more e-commerce although that was not sufficient to compensate for losses elsewhere.

In May, it secured a revolving credit facility of €900 million, including €625 million from state-owned German bank KfW.

The second quarter started with a 55 per cent decline in sales in April and 38 per cent in May. By the end of June, there was a relative improvement, with sales only down 6 per cent and with 85 per cent of Puma's owned and operated stores open again.