Rihanna helps Puma's pounce on women's sportswear as sales jump

Puma’s attempts to tap into the burgeoning market for women’s sportswear appear to be working as the company revealed a jump in sales.

For its latest campaign the German business signed up singer Rihanna as creative director, which has been a hit with shoppers, and it hopes to win more business by teaming up with US reality TV star Kylie Jenner, Kanye West’s sister-in-law.

Puma said “we believe the future is female” as quarterly sales jumped 11.5% to €879 million (£684 million) with underlying profits, which strip out one-off costs, rising 2.6% to €10.9 million and beating forecasts of €6.5 million.

The brand has lost ground to rivals Nike and Adidas, which have both grown significantly in recent years by cementing their positions. But Puma thinks it can win over the women’s sports market, which Nike admits is growing faster than men’s sportswear.

Several women’s sportswear brands have launched in recent years due, in part, to an increased emphasis on the style of clothing — especially at the premium end of the market.

Reebok and Under Armour have also launched pushes into women’s sportswear, along with SuperDry, Boohoo, Missguided and Net-a-Porter.

Puma reckons sales will also grow strongly on the back of the Rio Olympics, the UEFA European Championship and the Copa America, all later this year.