Puma says no longer sees coronavirus situation returning to normal soon

BERLIN (Reuters) - German sportswear maker Puma <PUMG.DE> said on Wednesday that its business, hammered by the coronavirus epidemic, would not return to normal soon despite first encouraging signs coming out of China.

With the disease now taking hold around the world, Puma said that it was abandoning the forward guidance it gave on Feb. 19 that was based on the assumption that the situation would normalise in the short term.

"Given the duration of the situation in China, the negative impact in other Asian countries and now also the spread to Europe and the U.S., we unfortunately have to conclude that a short-term normalization will not occur," the company said.

"The development over the coming weeks and months is impossible to predict and we currently cannot quantify the negative effect this could have on our full-year revenue and earnings."

(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; editing by Thomas Seythal)