Xtep International Holdings reported satisfactory growth for the six months that ended on June 30. The company's solid performance came thanks to its continued efforts to enhance the brand, its product design and development capabilities, and growth of its retail network.
The leading mainland-based fashion sportswear enterprise announced in its interim results a 25.1 per cent increase in gross profit to 647.8 million yuan (HK$736.4 million) compared with a year earlier, while the gross profit margin increased by 1.8 percentage points to 38.6 per cent.
Revenue for the period surged 19.1 per cent from 1.41 billion yuan a year earlier, to 1.68 billion yuan.
The group achieved a 20 per cent increase in profit attributable to shareholders, an increase from 254.7 million yuan a year earlier, to 306.5 million yuan. The board recommended an interim dividend payment of 7 HK cents per share, a 40 per cent increase compared with a year earlier, which represented a 44 per cent dividend payout ratio, and an increase of 6 percentage points.
The average number of shares for the period amounted to 2.17 billion, which is a significant increase from 1.59 billion a year earlier. However, the group announced an 11.9 per cent drop in basic earnings per share from 16.01 fen a year earlier to 14.1 fen for the six months.
The Xtep brand accounts for 92.3 per cent of the group's total revenue. Sales of the two main product categories, Xtep-branded footwear and Xtep-branded apparel, surged by 10.7 per cent and 26.9 per cent respectively to 734 million yuan and 802 million yuan.