Sporting goods distribution and retail group Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings has announced its first quarter results, with revenue of US$2.03 billion, marking a 1.3% increase year-on-year. By ILM.

This growth was driven largely by a 5.9% rise in revenue from the manufacturing business, which totalled US$1.33 billion.

Footwear manufacturing revenue reached US$1.24 billion, up 7.8% year-on-year. Shoe shipment volume rose by 5.3% to 61.9 million pairs, supported by sustained demand. The average selling price per pair increased by 2.5% to US$20.04, reversing five consecutive quarters of decline.

Gross profit for the group fell 7.7% to US$464.3 million, with the overall gross profit margin down 2.2 percentage points to 22.9%. The manufacturing business recorded a gross profit of US$234.7 million, a decrease of 7.6%, and its gross profit margin dropped to 17.7%, down 2.6 percentage points. This was attributed to uneven production levels across plants, lower efficiency, and increased labour costs resulting from a growing workforce and rising wages in various regions.

Revenue from Pou Sheng, the Group’s retail subsidiary, declined by 6.5% to US$701.2 million. The decline was mainly due to volatile consumer foot traffic in mainland China, despite the resilience of its omni-channel operations.

Profit attributable to owners of the Company dropped by 24.2% to US$75.8 million. The Group reported a non-recurring loss of US$0.5 million, compared to a profit of US$0.4 million in the same period last year. This included a US$2.4 million gain from the partial disposal of associates, offset by a US$2.9 million loss from fair value changes in financial instruments. Excluding non-recurring items, recurring profit attributable to owners of the company declined by 23.4% to US$76.3 million.

Looking ahead, Yue Yuen expressed optimism about the long-term outlook for the sports industry, despite ongoing global economic headwinds. The group highlighted several near-term challenges, including tariffs, inflation, weakened consumer confidence and regional conflicts affecting logistics and order visibility, particularly in the traditionally weaker third quarter.