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In 2020, Li Ning saw its revenue increase 4.2 percent year-on-year to 14.46 billion yuan ($2.22 billion), missing analyst estimates of between 5 and 8 percent growth for the year.
The sportswear giant’s net profit increased on a comparative basis by 34.2 percent to 1.7 billion yuan ($261 million).
Offline retail sales of new products recorded a single-digit decline last year, which the company attributed to the impact of the pandemic on its brick and mortar business. As of December 31, the group’s points of sale (excluding sub-brand Li Ning Young) decreased by 537 to 5,973 compared to a year earlier. Li Ning Young closed 80 points of sale over the course of the year, and currently has 1,020 offline outlets.
Overall, e-commerce now makes up 28 percent of the group’s sales, a proportion that has risen over the past year, but also one they will be looking to continue increasing, in order to capitalise on the changes in the way Chinese consumers are shopping. The country this year is tipped to became the first to see more than 50 percent of retail sales coming from e-commerce, according to eMarketer forecasts.
Li Ning’s stock price fell 4.42 percent at Friday’s opening, following the release of its annual report. Its market capitalisation sits at approximately 115.5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($14.87 billion).