Puma hopeful on World Cup boost

Puma sponsors Cameroon as well as many other African teams

German sportswear firm Puma has said it is hopeful next year's World Cup in South Africa will boost business.

Puma sponsors 12 African teams, so it expects a "home field advantage" with the tournament being in Africa.

"We hope to see first signs of an improving business environment in the run up to the football World Cup," said Puma head Jochen Zeitz.

However, Puma also said it expected trading to remain challenging in the final three months of this year.

The company's third-quarter pre-tax profits before interest fell 21.6% to 98m euros ($145.8m, £87m), which was broadly in line with analysts' expectations.

Puma sponsors Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Egypt, Tunisia, Namibia, Morocco, Angola, Senegal and Togo, and recently also signed up Algeria.

Since 2007, Puma has been majority-owned by PPR, the French luxury goods maker that also owns Gucci.