Finance Notes: Puma Reports Falling Earnings As Sales In Europe, China Decline

Puma reported "lower-than-expected second quarter results, hurt by falling sales in China and southern Europe as well as the effects of the weak yen in Japan, its second-biggest market." Puma said on Tuesday that sales in the Asia/Pacific region fell by 7.2% (REUTERS, 7/24). ... Dutch tax authorities have "laid a claim on nine properties and a parking spot" owned by former footballer Ruud Gullit for not paying enough income tax in '10. The properties are all located in Amsterdam, "and include a house located in the southern part of the city where Gullit’s estranged third wife, Estelle Cruijff, lives, according to Dutch Land Registry documents." The documents did not "make clear how much money Gullit owes the Dutch state" (BLOOMBERG, 7/24).