ANTA SPORTS further consolidated its leading position. Despite challenging market conditions, ANTA SPORTS achieved double-digit growth of 14.3% in the first half, reaching revenue of 38.54 billion yuan. All brands under the group achieved record-high revenues in the first half. The main brand revenue grew 5.4% year-on-year to 16.95 billion yuan, while FILA revenue increased 8.6% year-on-year to 14.18 billion yuan. All other brands, including Kolon and Descente, generated revenue of 7.41 billion yuan, up 61.1% year-on-year, with their proportion further increasing to 19.2%. Amer Sports, controlled by the group, turned profitable in the first half year-on-year, contributing 434 million yuan in profit from joint ventures to ANTA SPORTS. Affected by the high base formed by Amer Sports' listing in the same period of 2024, ANTA SPORTS' attributable net profit decreased 8.9% year-on-year to 7.03 billion yuan in the first half. After excluding one-time gains from Amer Sports' listing and gains/losses from associates, ANTA SPORTS' attributable net profit was 6.6 billion yuan, up 7.1% year-on-year; attributable net profit margin decreased 1.2 percentage points year-on-year to 17.1%.
Market pressure remains severe in the second half. Management indicated that retail sales performance of the main ANTA SPORTS brand and FILA were under pressure in July and August, with trends weaker than the second quarter, though signs of recovery have emerged in the most recent week. Against this backdrop, ANTA SPORTS adjusted its full-year revenue guidance: main brand growth was revised down from high single digits to mid-single digits; other brands including Kolon and Descente were revised up from 30% to 40%; FILA maintained unchanged expectations for mid-single digit growth.
For ANTA SPORTS, while improving operational efficiency of existing brands, it also needs to continuously search for and integrate acquisition targets, facing diverse and complex challenges. Whether it can maintain overall growth momentum, drive the main brand and FILA to break through single-digit growth, maintain profit levels, and ensure high-quality operations of new brands are all closely watched by the market.
**Growth Differentiation**
Under the dividend period of the outdoor market, emerging brands represented by Kolon and Descente remain core drivers of growth. Kolon performed particularly well, leading with nearly 80% year-on-year growth, becoming the fastest-growing brand in the first half while maintaining discount rates above 85%, achieving high-quality growth. According to Lai Shixian, Executive Director and Co-CEO of ANTA SPORTS, Kolon historically performed well in Northeast and northern regions, and has achieved breakthroughs in regions outside the Northeast this year.
Descente's store efficiency improved from approximately 2.3 million yuan last year to about 2.7 million yuan, with stores generating 50 million yuan in efficiency growing from 16 to 33. For Descente and Kolon, which focus on efficient, high-quality large stores, regional penetration will continue to provide growth opportunities. Huaxing Securities analyst Jiang Xuefeng noted that Descente and Kolon store numbers grow at approximately 10% annually. According to his observations, with the increase in spring-summer SKUs, Descente will gradually expand from its core Northeast region to the south.
However, overall, the high-end niche brand positioning determines strict store location standards and relatively low store opening ceilings. Store efficiency improvement is becoming increasingly important for ANTA SPORTS' overall long-term growth. Over the past five years, ANTA SPORTS achieved 1.6 times revenue growth while maintaining relatively stable total store count, reflecting significant optimization in retail efficiency.
However, the two cornerstone brands - ANTA SPORTS main brand and FILA - have yet to break through single-digit growth bottlenecks and are still in the adjustment period of operational efficiency improvement. The main brand's current core narrative revolves around channel upgrades. To solve the homogenization dilemma of "thousand stores, one face," in 2024, the ANTA SPORTS brand subdivided its store system into five major tiers to precisely match different business districts and customer needs. Palace-level and Arena-level stores target high-end, landmark business districts, while ANTA SPORTS Champion and ANTA SPORTS Works collections focus on outdoor scenarios and mid-to-high-end trendy shoes respectively.
Arena-level stores achieve monthly average store efficiency exceeding 1 million yuan, more than three times that of traditional stores; Palace-level stores and ANTA SPORTS Champion stores achieve monthly efficiency around 500,000 yuan. While exploring new store formats, low-efficiency stores are being gradually eliminated. In the first half, the main brand had a net closure of 10 stores, with total store count at 9,909. By the end of 2025, ANTA SPORTS brand total store count is expected to remain at 9,600-9,800, meaning there's still adjustment space of 100-300 stores in the second half.
FILA, which just completed leadership change at the beginning of the year, is currently still in the early stages of organizational adjustment, brand reshaping, and category expansion. FILA recently proposed the "ONE FILA" strategy, focusing on middle-class consumer groups, with target demographics extending from individuals to families and even communities, prioritizing expansion in tennis and golf, two high-end sports tracks.
In the first half, FILA added functional lightweight running shoes, tennis, golf and other footwear products, with footwear product revenue proportion potentially increasing further from 40% in 2024. Affected by increased product investment, e-commerce channels, and rising footwear product revenue proportion, FILA's gross margin decreased 2.2 percentage points year-on-year to below 70%.
In ideal conditions, improved store efficiency will release operational leverage, helping improve operating margin. However, upfront investments required for both product innovation and channel expansion may bring uncertainty to profit performance. In 2024, ANTA SPORTS' gross-to-sales difference decreased 3.4% year-on-year, causing operating margin to drop to 23.4%. This trend was alleviated in the first half of this year. Against the backdrop of overall gross margin declining 0.7 percentage points, ANTA SPORTS achieved operating margin recovery to 26.4% through refined operations and resource optimization, reaching a new five-year interim high.
However, ANTA SPORTS still has other brands in the cultivation period. For example, recently acquired Jack Wolfskin, but this consolidation also caused ANTA SPORTS' inventory turnover days to increase to 136 days in the first half, up 22 days from the same period last year. ANTA SPORTS will formulate a 3-5 year revival plan for Jack Wolfskin, reshaping product and brand systems around core values. Jack Wolfskin's 2024 China region revenue scale is approximately 700-800 million yuan, accounting for about 30% of the brand's global revenue. It currently has approximately 30 directly-operated stores and over 100 franchised stores in China. Although the brand is expected to contribute revenue increments starting from the second half, it may bring losses and cost pressures this year due to integration and consolidation.
**Continuous "Shopping"**
ANTA SPORTS continues to improve its brand matrix, strategically filling market gaps. Chairman Ding Shizhong further elaborated the logic of multi-brand acquisitions in his letter to shareholders: first, acquiring brands with strong brand value and DNA, achieving value leaps through strategic reshaping; second, investing in high-potential emerging brands, establishing cooperation in early stages to explore common growth.
The former brings to mind Jack Wolfskin, which helped ANTA SPORTS extend its outdoor product line from high-end to mass market; the latter may be reflected in ANTA SPORTS' recently announced cooperation with Korean fashion group MUSINSA.
MUSINSA began as an online sneaker enthusiast community in 2001 and has now developed into Korea's largest fashion platform group. Besides its main platform, MUSINSA operates multiple retail platforms, including women's fashion e-commerce boutique 29CM, limited edition platform soldout, and designer brand collection store EMPTY. Offline, it mainly operates proprietary brand specialty stores "MUSINSA STANDARD" and multi-brand warehouse-style collection stores "Musinsa Store."
MUSINSA's core value to ANTA SPORTS may lie in its rich trendy brand resources and strong young consumer reach capabilities. As a vertical fashion service platform targeting young groups aged 10-30+, Musinsa Store aggregates over 10,000 brands, covering diverse styles including basics, casual, street, formal wear, and contemporary fashion.
Although MUSINSA has not formally entered the Chinese market, its appeal to Chinese consumers has begun to show. Chinese customers account for approximately one-third of foreign visitors to MUSINSA stores. In the first half of 2025, both Seoul Seongsu-dong and Hongdae stores achieved triple-digit year-on-year growth in Chinese tourist transaction amounts.
MUSINSA plans to open over 100 stores in China by 2030, with the first store potentially opening in Shanghai in the fourth quarter of this year. ANTA SPORTS stated that the newly established MUSINSA China will lead the development of "MUSINSA STANDARD" and "Musinsa Store" in the Chinese market.
In Ding Shizhong's view, ANTA SPORTS' investment in MUSINSA China "is not deviating from the main track, but better approaching young consumption trends, exploring the integration boundaries between the fashion industry and sports industry, bringing new inspiration to the sports track." He emphasized that MUSINSA China will also leverage ANTA SPORTS' system advantages in brand management, retail operations, and middle-back office empowerment to achieve synergistic development.
Unlike previous acquisition cases, this joint venture is operated primarily by Musinsa, with ANTA SPORTS holding only 40% stake. This arrangement can be seen as cautious testing of new markets, and may also be intended to preserve financial ammunition and reserve space for potential strategic targets.
ANTA SPORTS has become a frequent buyer in the sports brand M&A market. Since this year, the market has repeatedly rumored its interest in acquiring brands such as Reebok, Puma, and even Canada Goose. Perhaps it won't be long before ANTA SPORTS' next acquisition target is revealed.