Kingmaker Footwear Holdings has discontinued its retailing and wholesaling business in China and Hong Kong to concentrate on manufacturing and selling footwear products.

Final negotiations for the sale of its retailing and wholesaling business were in progress at the end of its financial year on March 31, the group says. It entered into a sale-and-purchase agreement in December with Talent Union (Hong Kong) Investments, which will see the disposal of 100 per cent equity interest in Kingmaker Footwear (Zhong Shan), a wholly owned subsidiary of the group, for a cash consideration of RMB168 million (US$24.8 million).

During the year, the group achieved an approximate 10.3 per cent year-on-year growth in profit attributable to equity holders of the company against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty and a weakened footwear retail market.

Kingmaker says it maintains a robust manufacturing platform, primarily in Cambodia and central and southern Vietnam, supplemented by a plant in Zhuhai.

“The Vietnam centre has built a solid geographical market mix with balanced sales to Asia, Europe and the US, enabling it to weather the shocks brought by the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement,” says the company.

Through its JV with Evervan Group in central Vietnam, the group says it has equipped itself with innovative footwear technologies to expand its manufacturing beyond footwear products.