ANTA SPORTS (02020): Revenue unlocks 10-year 10-fold achievement, strengthens core capabilities anchoring "globalization"

In 2024, ANTA Group, guided by the strategy of "single focus, multiple brands, globalized", and relying on the unique business model of "multiple brands + retail", became the third sports goods group in the world to surpass a revenue of 100 billion. This milestone not only marks its stable position as the leader in the Chinese market, completely leaving behind domestic competitors, but also, with the advantage of scale and growth, ranks among the top global companies, ushering in a new era of globalization for Chinese sports goods companies. ANTA + Amer's revenue breaks a billion, consolidating industry leadership On March 19, ANTA SPORTS (02020) released its annual performance report ending on December 31, 2024. The financial report shows that in 2024, ANTA SPORTS achieved a historical high in revenue, with a year-on-year growth of 13.6% to 70.826 billion RMB, maintaining the top spot in the Chinese market for the third consecutive year. ANTA SPORTS operating profit increased by 8% year-on-year to 16.595 billion RMB. According to global authoritative institutions, ANTA SPORTS' market share in the Chinese sportswear market has increased to 23%, ranking first in the industry. From a financial perspective, ANTA SPORTS' performance in 2024 is very steady. The net profit attributable to shareholders reached a record high (excluding gains from Amer Sports' listing and equity dilution), increasing by 16.5% year-on-year to 11.927 billion RMB. The operating profit margin remains at 23.4%, with ANTA brand at 21%, FILA brand at 25.3%, and other brands at 28.6%, highlighting the profitability of each brand. Operating cash flow was 16.741 billion RMB, free cash flow was 13.254 billion RMB, showing the group's strong cash generation capability. By the end of 2024, the group held a total of 52.211 billion RMB in cash and cash equivalents, bank deposits, and pledged deposits, providing a solid guarantee for the company's continuous development and strategic layout. In terms of inventory management, the average inventory turnover days were 123 days, indicating healthy inventory levels, effectively avoiding the risks of inventory backlog. It is worth noting that Amer Sports successfully listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with a revenue increase of 18% to 5.183 billion USD in 2024, which converts to 37.752 billion RMB at applicable exchange rates. With the dual drive of ANTA SPORTS and Amer Sports, total revenue broke a billion for the first time, reaching 108.578 billion RMB. This achievement not only far exceeds domestic peers but also holds significant meaning in the global sports goods industry, as ANTA Group becomes the third sports goods group in the world to exceed a billion RMB in annual revenue after Nike and Adidas. From a financial data and market performance perspective, ANTA Group has shown remarkable development momentum in the sports goods industry. The combined revenue of ANTA SPORTS and Amer Sports in 2024, compared to approximately 11.1 billion RMB in 2015, achieved nearly a tenfold increase, which is well above the industry average and strongly demonstrates the group's robust growth trajectory in the market. In the global market competition landscape, leveraging the advantages of scale and high-speed growth, the group continues to narrow the gap with international sports goods giants such as Nike and Adidas, successfully making its mark on the international stage, significantly enhancing the visibility and reputation of the Chinese sports goods industry globally. From an investment return perspective, since going public in 2007, ANTA SPORTS has created substantial long-term value for shareholders through steady revenue and profit growth, effective multi-brand strategies, and continuous innovation DRIVE. The compound annual return rate (dividend income + capital gains) for shareholders brought by the group since going public (2007-2024) has reached 15%; and in the past 10 years (2015-2024), the annual compound return rate for shareholders has increased to 20.7%. In August 2024, ANTA SPORTS announced a share repurchase plan. As of March 19, 2025, a total of 25.4104 million shares had been repurchased, totaling HK$1.97 billion, reflecting confidence in the company's future development and continuing to set a good example of investment return in the capital market. Multi-brand synergistic development, significant effectiveness in differentiated layout ANTA Group's remarkable achievements in market competition and capital return are attributed to its "multi-brand" strategy. Clear positioning of each brand, coordinated development, and the construction of a closely competitive brand matrix together inject a continuous drive for the group's steady development. The financial report shows that ANTA brand's revenue increased by 10.6% in 2024, reaching 33.522 billion RMB. Behind this achievement is the effective implementation of its "popular positioning, professional breakthrough, brand enhancement" strategy, with a key focus on creating "good products" to drive enterprise growth, and this remains the core reason why consumers choose ANTA. Take the PG7 running shoe as an example, which precisely meets the dual demands of consumers for product value and quality, achieving sales of over a million pairs in a short time and becoming a market hit. This not only reflects ANTA's keen insight into the demands of the mass market but also highlights its ability to create "good products". The target sales for PG7 running shoes in 2025 are 4 million pairs. The FILA brand maintains its high-end fashion sports positioning, with revenue increasing by 6.1% to 26.626 billion RMB. By strengthening the health of the brand, enhancing fashion and high-end sports perception, FILA has secured a leading position in the high-end market. Both footwear and professional sports apparel series have seen double-digit growth, with online business growth ranking at the forefront of the industry. At the same time, FILA continues to innovate store images, launching various new store types to provide consumers with a better shopping experience, further solidifying its leadership position in the high-end fashion sports field. Overall, the performance of other brands is impressive, with revenue increasing by 53.7% to 10.678 billion RMB. Descente ranks first in the high-end skiing and golf comprehensive brand power, with significant innovations in the ultra-light polyester and running series, and continuous iteration of offline high-end retail models, avoiding the risks of inventory backlog.In the past few days, sales have been steadily increasing, successfully shaping a high-end professional sports brand image; Kailong Sports has launched marketing activities around camping and hiking scenes, signing with Hu Ge to enhance brand visibility, upgrading retail image to show the integration of professionalism and design, achieving deep layout of categories such as shoes, waterproof jackets, etc., continuously breaking through in the high-end outdoor lifestyle field.Research and development drive innovation, strengthening core competitiveness From the perspective of brand operation results, Anta Group's various brands have achieved remarkable differentiated development, establishing a solid and diverse competitive advantage in the market, strengthening its market discourse in different niche fields. Behind this, it reflects the high importance that Anta Sports places on research and development, taking "heavy research and development" as the first priority in continuously creating "good products" for sustainable development. It is understood that by 2024, Anta Sports will invest approximately 2 billion yuan in research and development, a 20% year-on-year increase. In the past decade, the cumulative innovative research and development investment reached 20 billion yuan, and it plans to invest another 20 billion yuan in the next five years. With such a large-scale investment in research and development, Anta Sports is in an absolute leading position in the domestic sporting goods industry. The group has established six major design and research centers around the world, cooperating extensively with more than 70 universities and research institutions, over 250 experts, and more than 800 suppliers, building a huge global open innovation ecosystem. In 2024, Anta Sports led the establishment of the industry's first innovation consortium, becoming the world's first enterprise to obtain international innovation ISO certification, marking its international recognition in innovation management and research and development capabilities. In terms of technology transfer, Anta has made remarkable achievements. Self-developed technologies such as Anta film, flexible heart yarn, and king of forefoot have achieved both orders and word-of-mouth success in the market. These technologies are not only applied to sportswear, but also extend to the field of professional sports equipment, providing athletes with better equipment and helping Chinese athletes achieve good results in events such as the Olympics in Paris, enhancing the brand's professional image and market competitiveness. Retail innovation upgrades, operational efficiency reaches new heights In terms of operational efficiency, Anta Sports optimizes operational processes and efficiency through its DTC strategy, establishing a close connection with consumers directly. Its various brands continue to innovate retail models, introducing diversified store types. Anta brand has introduced various store types such as "Anta Arena Level" and "Anta Hall Level" for different consumer groups and scenarios, providing personalized products and services, precisely reaching target customers, and enhancing consumer shopping experience. FILA has upgraded its brand image by launching various store types like FILAICONA flagship store and F-BOX to meet consumers' demand for high-end fashion sports products. KOLON SPORT has introduced the "KOLONKRAFT" retail space inspired by "natural simplicity," and Descente has created DESCENTETOMORROWWORLD, all of these measures constantly optimize customer experience and enhance brand market appeal. Additionally, Anta Group actively uses digital technology to enhance retail efficiency. By using AI to assist in designing products, order amounts exceeding 2 billion yuan; making data-driven decisions through algorithmic marketing that has increased sales conversion rates by over 20% compared to manual selection; utilizing DIGIHUMAN live streaming to create diverse application scenarios, contributing GMV of 1.2 billion yuan. The use of digital means makes Anta's retail process more precise and efficient, adapting to the increasingly diverse shopping needs of consumers. Based on strong confidence in the industry's prospects and the company's future development, and to further increase sales volume, Anta Group is all in the entire industry chain, continuously investing heavily in infrastructure construction. It is understood that Anta Group has invested 4 billion yuan in building logistics centers in Jinjiang and Suzhou, with the integrated industrial park in Jinjiang being the largest and most automated smart logistics center in the global footwear and apparel industry, achieving daily shipping volume of over 1 million items and inventory capacity of 35 million items, improving warehouse efficiency by 200% compared to traditional warehouses. Comprehensive promotion of ESG, practicing social responsibility In terms of ESG, Anta Sports has made significant progress. It has been selected for the first time in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index, becoming the only Chinese footwear and apparel company in the index, and its MSCIESG rating has been upgraded to "A," which is a high international recognition of Anta's ESG practices. In terms of employee development, the group has a total of over 65,900 employees, and has recruited more than 25,000 college graduates and young talents, establishing a global pool of nearly 2,000 high-end professional talents. Annual employee training and welfare investment exceeds 400 million yuan, and employee dedication has entered the high score range of both Chinese and foreign enterprises, reflecting Anta's emphasis on talent and good corporate culture. In terms of social welfare, the group's annual public welfare investment exceeds 700 million yuan, with a cumulative donation of nearly 2.7 billion yuan. The "Anta Thriving Community Public Welfare Program" has launched a new three-year plan, planning to donate another 700 million yuan to support rural revitalization through sports education; the new three-year plan with WWF and cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in international humanitarian assistance have actively fulfilled the company's social responsibility. In terms of environmental protection, the group promotes the "1+3+5" sustainable development strategy and adheres to the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. It has built China's first carbon-neutral store, the "Anta Zero Carbon Mission Store," and is involved in the standard-setting work to promote the green transformation of the footwear and apparel industry. Overall, in 2024, Anta Sports has achieved outstanding results in revenue, brand, research and development, retail, finance, and ESG, demonstrating strong comprehensive strength. In the future, Anta Sports will continue to create more high-quality products, integrate global resources, invest in the future, and enhance core capabilities, to create greater value for consumers, maintain a healthy growth trajectory, and accelerate its transformation into a world-class multi-brand sports equipment group, providing investors with higher quality returns.