361 Degrees, which has opted against an interim dividend to preserve cash for the long-term and help meet challenges, generated an 8.7 percent increase in first half operating income to 771.9 million yuan renminbi (€109.6m) for the six months ended June 30. The operating profit margin slipped to 21.1 percent from 22.9 percent in the year-ago period as the gross margin fell to 41.5 percent from 41.8 percent. Net profit attributable to shareholders rose 37 percent to RMB 550.9 million (€78.2m).
The Chinese sportswear brand generated a 17.6 percent increase in H1 revenues to RMB 3,653.8 million (€518.8m) from RMB 3,107.1 million as advertising and promotion costs rose to 9.2 percent of sales from 8.0 percent in H1/21.
361 Degrees worked to improve the efficiency of its e-commerce platforms during H1 to help introduce Chinese consumers to new branded and co-branded products, launching a daily live streaming event on mainstream online shopping platforms such as Tmall. The door count across the PRC rose by 1.8 percent to 5,365 during the six months, with nearly 77 percent situated in third- and lower-tier cities, 4.6 percent in first-tier locations, and 18.7 percent in second-tier cities. During the six months, the number of online and offline accounts selling the brand rose 11 percent.
Going forward, the group intends to accelerate its digital transformation, create marketing events for best-selling product categories, upgrade its supply chain and e-commerce teams for interface design and operation, and increase investment in the development, design and operation of online-exclusive products.
During H1, 361 expanded its network of 361 Degrees Kids point-of-sale locations by 10.6 percent to 2,097 from the end of 2021. The majority, some 999, are in the northern PRC cities of Shandong, Beijing, Heilongjiang, Hebel, Shanxi, Jilin, Tianjin and Inner Mongolia.
