LONDON (Reuters) -Sportswear brand Puma reported a decline in first-quarter profit margin on Thursday and flat first-quarter sales as the company cuts costs in an attempt to turn its performance around.

Puma's sales of 2.076 billion euros ($2.35 billion) were slightly better than analysts' forecast of 2.041 billion euros, up by 0.1% compared with the first quarter last year.

Weaker sales to retailers in the U.S. and China drove Puma's wholesale business - its main sales driver - down by 3.6%.

Puma is in a period of limbo, having named former Adidas sales chief Arthur Hoeld its new CEO last month to turn performance around. Arne Freundt stepped down on April 11, and the board is leading the company until July 1 when Hoeld takes over.

Puma stuck to its 2025 outlook for "low-to mid-single-digit" sales growth, but said that excludes any impact from U.S. tariffs.

($1 = 0.8846 euros)