Towards the end of March, Chinese sportswear group Anta Sports, owner of brands such as Anta, Arc’teryx (through Amer Sports) and FILA (Mainland China only), released its annual financial report. The results for the year 2024 were more than impressive, putting the group in the league of Nike and Adidas.
The revenue of Anta Sports grew 13.6% year-on-year (YoY) last year to 70.83 billion RMB (9.73 billion USD). If combined with the previously released revenue of Amer Sports, 37.75 billion RMB (5.18 billion USD), the revenue of the group would surpass the 100 billion RMB (13.73 billion USD) threshold, placing Anta Group number 3 in the sportswear market globally, behind Nike and Adidas. But if only looking at the Chinese market, Anta Sports is already at the top, with a 23% market share and a revenue 1.36 times that of Nike China.
Pundits identified the three secrets of Anta’s success: multiple brands, products and DTC (direct-to-consumer). Over a third of Anta’s revenue came from Amer Sports, and with the Anta group, the Anta brand sold 33.5 billion RMB (4.60 billion USD), and FILA earned 26.6 billion RMB (3.65 billion USD). Anta also focuses on product innovation, like its proprietary Aerovent (安踏膜) fabric used in Storm Mecha jackets and the PG7 trainers. Anta disclosed that it invested 2 billion RMB (274.66 million USD) in R&D alone in 2024. What DTC means for a group the size of Anta is, in fact, saying no to franchising with an omnichannel model.
However, the report caused Anta’s share price to drop up to 8% in the following two days due to its gross margin decreasing by 0.2% YoY to 62.2%. In fact, all Anta-operated brands experienced a decline in profit margin in 2024. It is partly due to Anta’s low-price strategy with its namesake brand. With the brand pushing for a “going overseas” (出海) strategy to become the “Anta of the world”, changes are expected in 2025.
Need to boost your China strategy? Dao Pro delivers bespoke insights on marketing, innovation, and digital trends, direct from Chinese sources. Find out more from our Dao Strategy Team here.
