Puma’s CEO steps down amid management shake-up - sportstextiles: Lea SportsTextiles

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Puma’s CEO steps down amid management shake-up

12/12/2012
Sportswear group Puma has announced that its CEO, Franz Koch, is to step down, as part of a senior management shake-up that saw its chairman leave the company this month and in what it describes as a “new chapter” for the brand.

Franz Koch will remain with the company until the end of March, and will work in close collaboration with the new chairman Jean-François Palus, a managing director at PPR, Puma’s owner.

Former chairman Jochen Zeitz’ resignation “marks the end of a chapter in the history of Puma”, said the company.

Mr Palus said: “Together with Jochen Zeitz, Franz Koch has been the driver of strategic key initiatives and has strongly contributed to Puma’s development over the past few years.”

The company expects to hire a new CEO by spring 2013, and will focus on product innovation and marketing after saying it expects earnings this year to be “significantly below” those of 2011.

Mr Palus continued: “We are going to write a new chapter for Puma and thanks to the commitment and enthusiasm of the teams I’ve been meeting around the world, I am fully confident in our ability to realise the potential of this iconic brand.”

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