Puma’s revenues rose by 6.6 percent on a constant currency basis and reached €673.3 million in the first quarter, says PPR Group, which took control of the company last year. Retail stores accounted for 15 percent of the brand’s revenues, showing double-digit growth. Footwear performed poorly because of the slowdown of the U.S. economy, while apparel and accessories saw good growth. Puma’s sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific increased by double-digits across all categories. Puma will have more to say on its results on Wednesday. The shoe brand performed better than PPR’s Gucci Group, whose sales rose by 4.0 percent to €816.2 million (more in Shoe Intelligence). Overall, PPR had first-quarter revenues of €4.9 billion, which was up 19.8 percent in reported terms from the same period in 2007 and up 4.1 percent allowing for changes in operations and currency fluctuations.