Anta Sports revenue leaps 19 per cent

A carefully executed omni-channel retail strategy has boosted the bottom line of listed apparel company Anta Sports Products, which operates Fila and Descente stores across China, among others.

Anta grew its half-year revenue by 19.2 per cent to RMB7.32 billion (US$1.09 billion), says chairman Ding Shizhong.

Gross profit margin increased by 2.7 points to 50.6 per cent, while profit attributable to equity shareholders rose year-on-year by 28.5 per cent to RMB1.45 billion, its unaudited figures show.

“Despite the intense competition within the Chinese sportswear market, our ‘single-focus, multi-brand and omni-channel’ strategy continues to deliver breakthroughs in terms of market share and profitability,” says Ding.

He describes the omni-channel strategy particularly as an unprecedented success.

“We reached out to our target consumer base through the development of different retail channels, including street stores, shopping malls, department stores, outlet stores and e-commerce, allowing room for sales to grow further.”

Anta Sports

Meanwhile, the company expects its new logistics centre to be activated early next year.

During the six months to June 30, the company entered into a trademark/copyright licence agreement with Chemours Company relative to its Teflon EcoElite renewably sourced, water-repellent material, and launched products incorporating it in Anta’s latest spring/summer collection.

A strategic alliance was also formed with Noble Biomaterials to incorporate its XT2 odour-elimination technology into Anta’s fitness, training and leisure products.

Also introduced was A-Livefoam technology to improve the comfort level of running shoes as well as enhance their breathability, says the company.

As well as setting up a design centre in Japan, the company opened a Launch design centre in the US.

During the period, the company also launched its eighth-generation Anta stores. At the end of June, there were 9041 Anta outlets, including Anta Kids standalone stores, in China, up from 8860 a year earlier.

Ding says its Fila brand mainly sought to expand its retail network across the high-end market in Mainland China. At the end of the period there were 869 Fila stores in China, Hong Kong, Macao and Singapore (including Fila Kids standalone stores), compare with 802 a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the Descente brand expanded into high-end shopping malls in more than 10 major cities in China, the first opening in August last year. At June 30, the number of stores had grown to 21 from six at the end of last year.

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