China’s largest sportswear brand Anta posts 29pc profit growth on increased sales
Analysts expect the cash-rich company to sustain double-digit profit growth in 2018, with a potential acquisition
Anta Sports, China’s largest sportswear brand and the third largest in the world by market capitalisation, has posted a 29.4 per cent growth in 2017 net profit, attributing it to increased sales that resulted from its multi-brand strategy and through its e-commerce channels.
The company, whose market capitalisation tops HK$100 billion (US$12.78 billion), said its net profit for the 12 months ended December 31 reached 3.09 billion yuan (US$489.95 million), or 1.17 yuan per share, compared with 2.39 billion yuan in net profit for 2016, in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday.
Revenue for the period rose 25.1 per cent to 16.69 billion yuan, from 13.35 billion yuan in 2016.
The results were slightly higher than analysts’ estimated net profit of 3.02 billion yuan for the period, according to Reuters.
Anta has proposed a final dividend of 41 HK cents per share and a special dividend of 16 HK cents per share.
“As domestic consumption continues to grow and the external economic environment remains stable, we believe the overall consumer market will maintain steady growth,” said Anta chairman Ding Shizhong in the statement.
“With the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games approaching, we believe that our sponsorship of the Chinese Olympic Committee Winter Olympic Delegation will again enhance Anta's influence globally.”