Fila brand a winner for Chinese sportswear retailer Anta as first-half profit jumps 34 per cent
The company has been marketing the venerable former Italian brand to China’s youth
Anta Sports Products, China’s largest sportswear maker, posted a 34 per cent jump in first-half profit on Tuesday, driven by strong sales of Fila brand goods that the company has been aggressively marketing to the younger generation.
The firm’s net profit rose to 1.9 billion yuan (US$276 million) in the first six months of this year from the same period last year. Revenue grew 44 per cent to 10.6 billion yuan, beating the forecast of 9.6 billion yuan by analysts polled by Bloomberg.
Anta took over the venerable, former Italian brand’s business in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau in 2009.
Efforts in marketing Fila to younger customers paid off, the firm said. Fila signed popular teenage star Roy Wang as brand ambassador in June, and has collaborated with New York-based fashion designer Jason Wu, who was known for creating the dress worn by former US first lady Michelle Obama during her husband’s first inauguration.
“Fila had explosive growth in the first half of this year,” said James Zheng, executive director and group president of Anta. It launched a new sportswear series called Fila Fusion in June to target trendier shoppers and also opened two flagship stores in Shanghai in May.
