China sports brand Li Ning at near 8-year high on strong Q1

Xtep International Holdings

18/04/2019 05:16

** Shares of Li Ning Co Ltd  2331.HK  rise as much as 6.6
pct to HK$14.16, highest since May 2011, after the Chinese
home-grown sports brand posts strong growth in quarterly sales
    ** Beijing-based company says overall same-store sales for
Jan-March quarter registered a mid-teens increase from a year
earlier; e-commerce virtual stores business posted a high-30s
growth  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN21Z06S
    ** Co records a mid-teens growth in trade fair orders for
delivery in Q4 2019, and a net decrease of 34 point-of-sales
(POS) since the beginning of 2019, bringing the numbers to 6,310
POS as end-March   
    ** Daiwa says there is an early sign that Li Ning's
relaxation of its open-to-buy strategy is bearing fruit, and 
same-store sales growth and retail sell-through are tracking
ahead of management's full-year guidance
    ** CMB International says Li Ning's accelerated retail sales
growth in Q1 is impressive amid a mild industry slowdown with
peers like Nike China, Anta  2020.HK  and Xtep  1368.HK  all
seen slowing 
    ** As of last close, Li Ning stock had risen 58.1 pct this
year
    ** Li Ning has outperformed the Hang Seng Commerce &
Industry Index sector  .HSNC  by 10 percentage points in the
past one month
    ** The Hong Kong Hang Seng sub-index tracking consumer goods
companies  .HSCICG  eases 0.3 pct, and the Hang Seng China
enterprises index  .HSCE  falls 0.7 pct

 (Reuters Messaging: donny.kwok.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)