Chinese sportswear groups will be ‘first to recover’
28/09/2012
Anta Sports and Li Ning, two of China’s largest sportswear companies, have cut back on new store openings in recent months after a slowdown in sales.
"We turn bullish on the sportswear segment," UBS said in a research report. "We expect sportswear to be one of the first of the consumer discretionary segments to emerge from the current downturn as the consolidation process is near completion.
"We believe the domestic brands must enhance their replenishment capability and design only products that customers want.”
The $19 billion Chinese sporting goods market had been a bright spot but domestic brands are said to be struggling with rising labour and rental costs, while competition has forced them to rethink their business strategies.
This week, Nike said orders in China for had fallen for the first time in three years.
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