Chinese sportswear manufacturer Anta Sports Products Limited reported a significant 30 percent jump in its net profits and record earnings for 2019. The Jinjiang-based firm accredited the growth to the rising popularity of its Anta and Fila sports fashion brands.
Net profits for the year hit 5.34 billion yuan or roughly $754 million. Earnings for the entire year hit a record high of around 34 billion yuan, representing a 40 percent year-on-year increase.
Anta revealed in its full-year earnings report on Tuesday that its Anta brand managed to contribute 17.45 billion yuan to its total revenues, a 21.8 percent increase when compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, its Fila brand managed to rake in 14.77 billion for the year, a 73.9 percent year-on-year increase.
The company stated that the surge in its revenues and profits for the year were due to the continued expansion of its physical stores and the continued development of its brands. As of 2019, the company had a total of 12,943 stores in China, 10,516 of which are Anta stores that include its Anta kids standalone outlets. The rest of the 1,951 stores are under its Fila branding, including its Fila Fusion and Fila Kids standalone outlets.
The sportswear manufacturer revealed plans of investing over 1 billion yuan over the next five years to balance out its product ratio and to put up more Fila-branded stores. The company's efforts to develop its Fila brand had resulted in the establishment of two sub-brands, which have so far achieved total retail sales values of over 1 billion for each brand.
Its Fila Kids sub-brand currently targets customers between 3 to 15 years-old, while its Fila Fusion sub-brand is targeting the Generation Z. The company also recently launched its Descente brand of sportswear, which is targeting the high-end professional sports market. It launched the brand back in 2016, after two years of research and development. Since then, the brand has managed to increase its sales value by more than 75 percent.
Despite the ongoing health and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak, Anta remains positive that it will reach double-digit growth numbers by the end of the year. Anta pointed out that most of its growth will likely come in the second half of the year as the domestic economy rebounds following the resolution of the current crisis.
The company expects to experience a decrease in its business for the first half of the year, which it expects will be followed by a significant rebound during the second half as more customers choose to live a healthier lifestyle.
