Anta's H1 revenue boosted by growth of Fila brand

Anta Sports Products Limited, a leading sportswear company based in Xiamen of Fujian province, has seen its half-year revenue less affected by the impact of COVID-19, boosted mainly by the growth of its fashion sports brand Fila.

The group's revenue for the six months ending June 30 this year has decreased by 1 percent year-on-year to 14.67 billion yuan ($2.13 billion). The revenue of its main brand Anta declined by 10.7 percent to 6.78 billion yuan, while Fila maintained its revenue growth, increasing 9.4 percent to 7.15 billion yuan.

It marks the first time that the contribution from the Fila brand to the group's revenue, or 48.8 percent, has exceeded its main brand Anta, which stayed at 46.2 percent.

The company's gross profit margin increased by 0.7 percentage points to 56.8 percent, reaching a historical high. Adopting an "All-Staff Retail" system is how Anta group countered the impact from COVID-19 on its offline stores, with fast growth in online business, said the report.

Led by the strong growth of Descente, the combined revenue of all other brands of the retailer increased 8.3 percent to 740 million yuan with the gross profit margin increasing by 5.4 percentage points to 64.5 percent. Its operating profit has changed from a loss to a profit.

Looking ahead, the retailer will continue to expand its sales network and brand awareness while continuing to focus on consumer demands.

Ding Shizhong, chairman and CEO of Anta Sports, said: "The year 2020 is unlike any other. We needed to dig into the essence of the company by focusing on consumer demands, in order to accelerate our 'Customers, Products and Channels' reform to achieve a consumer orientation by enhancing our product power, brand power and retail power."