Anta, new owner of Salomon, grows strongly in China in H1

By

Olivier Guyot

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Sep 2, 2019

Chinese sport giant Anta Sports is coy about its plans for the Amer Sports group (owner among others of Salomon, Atomic, Prince and Arc'Teryx). However, Anta’s President Shizhong Ding said that the European group’s acquisition, through an investor consortium, gives Anta a more extensive global reach. “We made progress on the road to internationalisation in the last few years. Setting up a consortium of investors to acquire Amer Sports enabled us to take a new step on the international market. Amer Sports’s extensive portfolio of sporting brands will generate synergies for both groups,” said Ding in a letter to shareholders.

With the publication of the H1 2019 results for Anta, a major player in sportswear and equipment in China, a few details were released about the performance of Amer Sports, owned by the Mascot Bidco Oy consortium. In brief, net sales from continuing operations for Amer Sports in the second quarter amounted to €518.9 million, compared to €455.1 million a year earlier. Net losses in the period were €51.2 million, as opposed to €28.9 million a year earlier. These are probably the last detailed results to be published for the group, since its new owner announced Amer Sports will be de-listed from the stock exchange in Helsinki, Finland.

On the other hand, Anta is enjoying robust health, and is looking forward to tap the growth opportunities provided by the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to expand further. For the six months ending on June 30 2019, Anta recorded a revenue of CHY14.81 billion (€1.863 billion), up by more than 40%. The eponymous brand remains Anta’s driving force, accounting for over 50% of revenue and growing by more than 18%. A major leap forward was also made by Fila, owned by Anta in the Greater China region. Fila’s sales increased by nearly 80% compared to the same period a year ago, and accounted for 44% of the Chinese group's sales. The Anta group’s other brands (which do not include those owned by Amer Sports) only accounted for less than 5% of revenue. The group’s operating income increased by 58.4% over last year, reaching CHY4.26 billion.