The continuous recovery of the sportswear industry in China has helped 361 Degrees achieve 28.3 per cent net profit growth in the first half.

In a competitive environment, 361 Degrees registered a net profit of 263.4 million yuan ($42.9 million) in the first six months compared to 205.3 million last year on turnover growth of 4.6 per cent to 2.1 billion yuan.

The company said consumer sentiment remained subdued in the face of uncertain economic times, however, the initiatives taken by the group over the last two years have helped put the retail operations on a much stronger footing.

With the group maintaining tight cost discipline, both selling and distribution as well as administration expenses were controlled to a lower level as compared with the same period last year, enabling an operating profit of 361.1 million yuan, which is an 18 per cent improvement over the first half of 2013.