Puma AG, Europe's second-largest sporting-goods maker, raised its earnings and revenue forecasts for 2006 because of better-than-expected sales tied to the World Cup soccer tournament and U.S. demand. The shares surged.

Net income will drop 10 percent to 15 percent this year because of investments in new products, Chief Executive Jochen Zeitz told journalists in Nuremberg, Germany. Puma previously predicted a decline of 20 percent. Sales will climb 30 percent to 2.3 billion euros, aided by the purchase of license partners.

European orders at Puma benefited from World Cup-inspired demand for goods such as fashion-designed Italian national team jerseys and the v1.06 soccer collection. Zeitz aims to capitalize on the tournament, starting in Germany on June 9, to win market share from larger rivals Nike Inc. and Adidas-Salomon AG.

``Order backlog is much higher than what we were expecting and shows that the Puma story has a way to run yet,'' said Mark Josefson, an analyst at Kepler Equities in Frankfurt, who recommends that investors buy Puma stock.

Puma's order backlog was up 30 percent at the end of the quarter, or 17 percent excluding the acquisition of license partners. In Europe, orders rose 3.5 percent with better-than- expected spending ahead of the tournament. Orders climbed 64 percent in North America, where demand has risen among young consumers for Future Cat and Alpine Trail Racer sneakers.

Doubled Dividend

The stock jumped as much as 24.75 euros, or 9.2 percent, to 293 euros. They traded at 292.05 euros as of 1:15 p.m. in Frankfurt, bringing the gain in the last six months to 35 percent. That compares to a 13 percent advance for Adidas in that period and Nike's increase of 1.4 percent.

Zeitz said the company plans to double its dividend to 2 euros a share from 1 euro.

Fourth-quarter net income advanced 15 percent to 44.1 million euros, more than the 35 million euros expected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales rose 28 percent to 349.2 million euros. Analysts had expected 300 million euros.

The latest quarterly profit gain was the 22nd in a row for the company. Zeitz, who has compared Herzogenaurach, Germany-based Puma's brand to those of Apple Computer Inc. and Viacom Inc.'s MTV, has almost quadrupled sales in five years by drawing fashion- conscious consumers to designs inspired by the 1970s.

New Fashions

Puma, known for its leaping-cat logo, last year unveiled plans to invest in areas such as soccer and golf to tap 3.5 billion euros in potential sales over five years. The company plans to spend about 500 million euros worth of funds on fashion items such as golf shoes designed with Swedish clothier J. Lindeberg.

Zeitz cited positive reactions from retailers for the company's new golf line, which will reach stores in a few weeks.

For the monthlong World Cup, Puma has sought to stand out from Nike and Adidas by becoming the jersey supplier for lesser- known countries such as Ghana. The company's Italy jersey was fashioned by designer Neil Barrett.

Zeitz has said marketing spending in the World Cup year, which made up between 14 percent and 15 percent of sales in 2005, will rise ``significantly'' in 2006. Sales costs will advance by 3 percentage points in this year, he said in an interview.

Further investment may take the form of buying non-Puma brands, though no potential target has emerged that fits the company's criteria, Zeitz said. Puma is acquiring licensing partners such as Canadian distributor ATA Inc., which it agreed to buy earlier this week.

Operating profit will amount to 350 million euros from an earlier forecast of 300 to 330 million euros, still down 398 million euros in 2005 because of further brand investment.

Puma shares rose 23 percent in the three months through January on speculation the company's main investors, billionaire siblings Guenter and Daniela Herz, would make an offer. The Herz investment fund denied the speculation.

Zeitz confirmed today that Guenter Herz is seeking a position on the company's supervisory board.