China-focused apparel company TOPBI International Holdings Ltd (淘帝國際控股) yesterday gave a positive business outlook for the rest of this year, saying it might benefit from Beijing’s new population policy.
“We see strong growth momentum in China’s child clothing market, driven by the easing of its one-child policy,” general manager Zhou Zhihong (周志鴻) told an investors’ conference in Taipei.
The company offers clothes and accessories for toddlers and children aged from one to 16, catering largely to middle-class families.
China scrapped its controversial one-child policy as of January, allowing married couples to have two children.
Encouraged by the policy, TOPBI is optimistic about its sales performance in the second half of this year, Zhou said, adding that high-priced winter clothes should be the profit driver this winter.
The company has adopted a multi-prong marketing strategy to cater to customers’ tastes to gain a bigger market share, Zhou said.
The company is also closely watching structural changes in the market, such as online platform transactions, a fast-growing sector, he said.
“TOPBI is developing its e-commerce division and we are looking for a breakthrough next year,” Zhou told investors.
The company is to open more concept stores that will allow it to interact with its customers in a bid to deepen its brand recognition.
It said it has 23 exclusive distributors selling TOPBI brand products in 15 provinces and three municipalities, allowing it to control its costs and inventory more efficiently.
In the first half of this year, TOPBI had 1,431 outlets in China, up from 1,401 last year, Zhou said.
Established in 2002, TOPBI is one of the top 10 domestic apparel brands in China, according to the company’s Web site.
In the first six months of the year, its net profits expanded 40.6 percent to NT$503 million (US$15.82 million) from a year earlier. Earnings per share stood at NT$8.67, better than NT$6.16 during the same period last year.
Consolidated sales in the first half totaled NT$2.51 billion, up 6 percent from a year earlier, company data showed.
TOPBI shares yesterday gained NT$2.5 to close at NT$161.5 in Taipei trading, bucking the TAIEX’s 0.24 percent decline, according to Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics.
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