ESPRIT Asia is engaged in the retail and distribution of quality fashion products under the Esprit brand name. This time last year, Salomon Brothers put a buy on the stock, saying an improvement in Hong Kong sales and operations in Australia and China would help shares rise. This proved good advice as the stock soared following the company's announcement it would buy parts of Esprit Europe and Esprit USA. Twelve months ago, Esprit shares traded at $2.75. Now they are worth $3.62, having outperformed the Hang Seng Index by 15.6 per cent.
