ANTA Group Surpassing Adidas for the First Time in the Chinese Market

ANTA Sports Products Limited (2020.HK) released the 2021 Mid-term Performance Report on August 24. As of June 30, 2021, the group’s revenue reached RMB 228.1 billion, an increase of 55.5% and 54% over the same periods in 2020 and 2019, respectively. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company reached RMB 3.84 billion, an increase of 131.6% and 65.3% over the same periods in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

The various brands of ANTA Group achieved remarkable revenue growth and drove the group’s gross profit margin to a record high. During the reporting period, the group’s gross profit margin increased by 6.4 percentage points reached 63.2% (56.8% in the first half of 2020), an increase of 7.1 percentage points over the same period in 2019.

It is worth noting that the revenue of ANTA Group has surpassed that of the German sports giant Adidas in the Chinese market during the reporting period.

To offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ANTA Group has stepped up E-commerce deployment and developed an independent organizational structure for its online business. The group’s e-commerce revenue increased by 61% year-on-year, accounting for 27% of its overall revenue.

At present, ANTA owns three sports brand categories: professional sports brands (ANTA, ANTA KIDS, etc.), fashion sports brands (FILA, FILA FUSION, FILA KIDS, etc.), and outdoor brands (DESCENTE, KOLON SPORT, etc.).

These brands have formed three different growth curves: the cornerstone growth curve centered on ANTA, which stands for popular, professional, and new Made-in-China sports goods, the high-quality, high-growth curve centered on FILA, which stands for elegant sports goods, and the high-potential growth curve centered on DESCENTE and other international outdoor brands.

According to Ding Shizhong, chairman and CEO of ANTA Group, the group will steadfastly implement a “single-focus, multi-brand, omni-channel” strategy, develop competitive advantages through multi-brand operations with consumers as the center, and continue to leverage the direct-to-consumer model and technological innovation to drive business growth.

| Writer: Binrong Jing, Jiaqi Wang