FRANKFURT, April 21 (Reuters) - Puma (PUMG.DE) reported a 3.3 percent drop in first-quarter like-for-like sales due to a lack of major sporting events this year, its parent company PPR (PRTP.PA) said on Tuesday 21 April.

Puma Spring 2009

The world's third-largest sportswear maker after No. 1 Nike (NKE.N) and Adidas (ADSG.DE) said sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) fell from a particularly high level in the first quarter of 2008, a year of major sporting events such as the Olympic Games and the Euro 2008 soccer tournament.

The decline offset a rise of 11.2 percent in Puma's first-quarter sales in the Americas thanks to strong demand for its footwear, PPR said.

PPR, the French retail and luxury group, overall posted slightly better-than-expected first-quarter sales, helped by shoppers' resilient appetite for Gucci leather goods. (Reporting by Eva Kuehnen, editing by Will Waterman)