(Reuters) - German sports apparel company Puma plans to return up to 50% of its net income to shareholders, it said on Thursday

The company will now return between 25-40% of the Group's net income in dividends, up from 25-35%, the statement said.

The first tranche of a share buyback programme will begin in March 2024 and end on May 6 2025, the statement added, with Puma expecting to buy back and then cancel 100 million euros' ($108.43 million) worth of shares.

($1 = 0.9223 euros)

(Reporting by Louis van Boxel-Woolf; Editing by Miranda Murray)