Puma sees 'female future' as Rihanna helps drive sales

Puma said strong demand for shoes it launched as part of a partnership with singer Rihanna helped drive better-than-expected sales growth in the fourth quarter, making the German sportswear firm optimistic for a better 2016.

After losing ground to market leaders Nike and Adidas, Puma is trying to tap into booming sales of women's sportswear by appointing Rihanna as creative director, saying on Thursday: "We believe the future is female".

Puma said quarterly sales rose a currency-adjusted 11.5 percent to 879 million euros ($979 million), beating average analyst forecasts for 839 million.

Earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) rose 2.6 percent to 10.9 million, also ahead of forecasts for 6.5 million, although the net loss of 4.3 million was more than the 2 million analysts had predicted.

Given a busy sports calendar with the Rio Olympics, European soccer championships and Copa America, Puma said it expected sales growth of a high single digit rate as well as improved EBIT and net earnings for 2016.