Poor sales at Puma and Zara owner fuel fears of slowing US consumer demand

Unexpectedly poor results from sports brand Puma and the fashion group Inditex, which owns Zara, have fuelled fears about slowing consumer appetite in the US amid uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Shares in Puma dived by more than a fifth as the company put out a trading statement warning that sales growth this year would be slower than hoped as “geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic challenges will continue, especially trade disputes and currency volatility, which is expected to weigh on consumer sentiment and demand”.

Piral Dadhania, a retail analyst at Royal Bank of Canada, said: “There are some concerns around brand heat, increasing competition and North America distribution.”

Inditex shares were down by 8% on Wednesday morning as the company said underlying sales fell by 4% in the five weeks to 10 March, well behind analysts’ expectations and a big drop from the 10.5% increase rung up for the year to 31 January.

The company indicated it was not concerned about this short period of tough trading, which was set against strong growth in the same period a year before, and pointed to an increase in growth to 7% in the most recent week.

One analyst, who declined to be named, said the slowdown was likely to be down largely to poor weather in Europe in January.

Inditex’s annual figures indicated a weakening of trade in the Americas compared with other markets, which some analysts suggested could be linked to uncertainty among US and Mexican consumers amid the Trump regime’s indecision over tariffs.

Ignacio Fernández, the finance director of Inditex, pointed to currency weaknesses in Brazil and Mexico that he said had been offset by “strong dollar sales”.

Oscar García Maceiras, the chief executive of Inditex, said: “The current environment is difficult to predict in terms of tariffs. Of course, we are continuously monitoring the situation.”

He said Inditex felt it was in a very good position “due to our levels of geographical diversification in terms of sourcing and sales”. He added that Inditex’s experience in many markets meant it was used to dealing with different tariff regimes.

García Maceiras said Inditex continued to expect to hold its profit margins despite the threat of US tariffs as it would benefit from its tactic of making most of its clothing in Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Turkey, which meant it had “a flexible business model with a competitive advantage”.