ANTA Sports expects weak demand in first quarter of 2013

ANTA Sports Products Ltd, one of the largest sportswear makers in China, received at least 20 percent fewer orders from distributors in the first quarter of 2013 compared with a year ago, suggesting a continued bleak outlook for the sector despite its multi-million sponsorship of the Olympic Games and other sport activities.

"The (sportswear) industry is still facing great challenges, (and) the competition between retail stores is fierce," Lai Shixian, chief operating officer of ANTA, told a media briefing in Hong Kong on Monday after the company reported a 17 percent fall in its interim net profit.

ANTA's distributors and franchisees are being more conservative about placing orders as they also see difficulties in the industry, said Lai, adding that the company has lowered the average selling price by a single-digit percentage to help ease the pressure on its distributors. All of these factors contributed to a 20 to 30 percent plunge in the total value of the orders it received for the first quarter of 2013.