PUMA FIRST-HALF LOSS ABOUT 14 MLN MARKS
Puma AG Rudolf Dassler Sport <PUMA.F> said
it posted a 1987 first-half group loss of about 14 mln marks,
of which the largest portion was in the U.S.
    Managing board chairman Armin Dassler told the annual
shareholders' meeting parent company turnover was expected to
fall to 650 mln marks over the whole year from 698.4 mln in
1986.
    No comparative figure for 1986 first half group loss was
available. In the whole of 1986 Puma posted a group
consolidated loss of 41.05 mln marks.
    Dassler said Puma hoped to improve performance in the U.S.
This year, where heavy losses were mainly responsible for the
1986 deficit.
    He said Puma expected to post a group loss in the second
half of this year but the shortfall would be lower than in the
first half. The same applied to expected parent company losses,
he added.
    Dassler said Puma had taken measures to improve future
performance.
    Dassler said the measures included changing Puma's  
product range, closing down some unprofitable factories in West
Germany and France and introducing general cost-cutting.
    He said Puma hoped to break even in 1988 in the U.S., Its
most important export market.
    Dassler said a personal payment he would make to
shareholders instead of a 1986 dividend was a goodwill gesture
which would not be repeated.
    Dassler said the payment to holders of Puma's 280,000
non-voting preference shares would amount to about 1.2 mln
marks, or 4.50 marks per share.
    Armin Dassler and his brother Gerd hold all of Puma's
720,000 ordinary voting shares. They offered the preference
shares to the public in July last year.
    Dassler said shareholders would benefit if Puma improved
performance next year. He did not elaborate.
    Dassler said he and his brother were planning to leave the
managing board and join the supervisory board.
    He said he was leaving for health reasons and because he
wanted to make way for a new chairman from outside the company.
His successor has not been made known yet.
    Dassler said today's meeting was expected to approve
Manfred Emcke as Puma's new supervisory board chairman,
replacing Vinzenz Grothgar.
 REUTER
