Shoe manufacturer Yue Yuen Industrial had a 5.8 per cent increase in net profit to US$95.3 million for the first quarter of this year.
Yue Yuen profits can be seen as an indicator of how shoe retailers in general are tracking throughout the region.
The group says its financial performance for the period was hit by a loss in share of results of joint ventures of about $12.6 million. This included the disposal of equity interests in Symphony Holdings last year.
A non-recurring operating gain of $14 million was recognised, which included $14.5 million from fair-value changes on derivative financial instruments. Excluding this, the recurring operating profit attributable to owners of the company for the period amounted to about $81.3 million, a 5.4 per cent decrease.
About 2 per cent more shoes were manufactured in the quarter, with sales growing by 7.6 per cent to 80.2 million pairs.
Yue Yuen designs and makes athletic and casual outdoor shoes as well as sandals, and also makes shoe components. It works for such brands such as Adidas, Asics, Converse, New Balance, Nike, Puma, Reebok, Timberland and Under Armour. It has factories in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico, the US and other areas in Asia.