Firmly
Implementing the "Single Brand, Multi-categories, Diversified Channels"
Strategy; Super BOOM Capsule Technology Achieves Full
Commercialization; Deepens Global Professional Sports Resources
Together with Curry
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
- - In the first half of the year, the Group recorded the following operating results:
- Revenue rose by 2.8% to RMB15,235 million; gross profit margin increased by 0.9 percentage points to 50.9%
- Net operating cash inflow was RMB954 million
- Net profit attributable to equity holders was RMB1,816 million
with net profit margin of 11.9%, and EBITDA margin was 22.1%
- Working capital remained at a healthy level:
- The percentage of gross average working capital to revenue was 7.8%
- The cash conversion cycle was 35 days, an increase of 4 days compared with the same period last year
- - The Board resolved to declare an interim dividend of RMB35.12 cents
per ordinary share of the Company issued or to be issued upon conversion
of convertible securities for the six months ended 30 June 2026.
OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
- - The retail sell-through for the overall platform increased by
low-single-digit from last year, including online and offline channels.
- - Offline channel new products sell-through accounted for 83% of
overall offline channel sell-through, maintaining a healthy and
reasonable level.
- - Channel inventory-to-sales ratio of 4 months; and inventory level and ageing structure remained at a healthy level.
HONG KONG SAR -
Media OutReach Newswire
- 20 August 2026 - Li Ning Company Limited ("Li Ning" or the "Company",
together with its subsidiaries, collectively the "Group"; Hong Kong
Stock Exchange stock codes: 2331 (HKD counter) and 82331 (RMB counter))
today announced the unaudited interim results of the Group for the six
months ended 30 June 2026 (the "Reporting Period").
FINANCIAL RESULTS
In the first half of 2026, the Group continued to enhance product
technology performance, optimise channel efficiency and deepen its
professional brand mindset, maintaining steady operations. During the
period, the Group's revenue reached RMB15,235 million, up 2.8%
year-on-year (2025: RMB14,817 million). Gross profit was RMB7,751
million, up 4.5% year-on-year (2025: RMB7,415 million), and the Group's
overall gross profit margin was 50.9%, up 0.9 percentage points
year-on-year (2025: 50.0%).
During the period, profit attributable to equity holders of the Group
was RMB1,816 million (2025: RMB1,737 million); the margin of profit
attributable to equity holders was 11.9% (2025: 11.7%); and return on
equity attributable to equity holders was 6.5% (2025: 6.5%). Basic
earnings per share were RMB70.40 cents (2025: RMB67.43 cents). The Board
resolved to declare an interim dividend of RMB35.12 cents per ordinary
share of the Company issued or to be issued upon conversion of
convertible securities for the six months ended 30 June 2026 (2025:
RMB33.59 cents).
In terms of cash flow management, net cash generated from operating
activities during the period amounted to RMB954 million (2025: RMB2,411
million). As at 30 June 2026, cash and cash equivalents (including cash
at banks and in hand, and fixed term deposits with original maturity of
not more than three months) amounted to RMB13,003 million, a decrease of
RMB3,713 million compared with 31 December 2025. Adding back amounts
recorded in bank time deposits, the cash balance was RMB19,389 million, a
net decrease of RMB585 million compared with 31 December 2025. During
the period, revenue increased year-on-year while cash expenses such as
marketing expenses and taxes increased, resulting in a year-on-year
decrease in net cash generated from operating activities; an increase in
time deposits led to a significant increase in net cash used in
investing activities. The Group will continue to prioritise cash flow
management to ensure the stable development of the Company in the long
term.
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
In the first half of 2026, the Group firmly implemented its core
development strategy of "Single Brand, Multi-categories, Diversified
Channels". On one hand, it continuously strengthened the core of
professional sports technology and product performance, consolidating
the brand's professional mindset in niche segments; on the other hand,
it continuously deepened its highly efficient operating model,
maintaining solid operating fundamentals and a healthy inventory level.
In terms of product upgrades, the Group drove iterative upgrades in the
performance of its core category products through technological
innovation, and coordinated the synergistic development of the core
categories of running, basketball, training, badminton, table tennis and
sports casual. The Group launched its "Super BOOM Capsule" technology,
applied to racing running shoe series such as Feidian and Red Hare,
covering the full-scenario needs of competitive training, elite and mass
runners; the LI-NING Aerospace Dynamic Thermal Technology was applied
to the award equipment of the Chinese Sports Delegation at the 2026
Milan Winter Olympics. The Group also expanded its outdoor product
matrix and accelerated its layout in the outdoor market.
In terms of brand communication, the Group focused on building an
all-round sports resource system represented by its cooperation with the
Chinese Olympic Committee (the "COC") and top international athlete
IPs. During the period, the Group continued to strengthen its strategic
partnership with the Chinese Olympic Committee, developing podium wear
for the Chinese sports delegation competing at the 2026 Milan Winter
Olympics, and establishing a presence at the "China House" in Milan,
working alongside the Chinese Olympic Committee to showcase the strength
of Chinese sports. In addition, the Group entered into a long-term
strategic partnership with NBA superstar Stephen Curry and his brand
"Curry Brand", cooperating on the research and development of
professional basketball equipment, the promotion of event culture, and
the expansion of new-generation consumer groups, enhancing LI-NING's
professional sports brand perception and international exposure.
In terms of channels, the Group continued to deepen strategic synergy
with leading commercial complexes and orderly carried out the planning
and roll-out of innovative store formats. During the period, the
standalone outdoor store "COUNTERFLOW" officially opened in Chongqing,
laying the foundation for the Group's outdoor category to deepen its
presence in the Southwest regional market; the Group's cooperation with
quality commercial resources also entered a new stage, creating
favourable conditions for the concentrated opening of multiple "Loong
Stores" in the second half of the year. At the same time, the Group
continued to optimise its rental structures and commercial cooperation
models, enhancing the overall operating health of its channels.
In terms of retail operations, the Group promoted dual-driven growth in
products and brand by establishing a high-tier market operating model
and a distribution business operating model. In high-tier markets, the
Group strengthened its brand image around three dimensions, namely
channel structure optimisation, refinement of store product mix and
upgrading the shopping experience, driving incremental capture of brand
elevation and category depth. In terms of distribution business, the
Group concurrently established a distribution management model to
enhance distribution efficiency and the sustainable operating capability
of the channel. In terms of terminal operating capability, the Group
continued to drive the implementation of retail standards on a project
basis, strengthened coordination efficiency between headquarters and
terminals, and enhanced sports advisors' customer reception capability
and professional service standards, comprehensively improving consumers'
shopping experience in LI-NING stores and laying the foundation for
enhanced single-store operating efficiency.
In terms of e-commerce operations, the Group leveraged key promotional
opportunities including Tmall Celebration Day, Goddess Festival and 618
to precisely target new-customer acquisition and deeply reach female
consumer groups, effectively driving simultaneous growth in sales scale
and brand influence. The Group also converted cutting-edge technology
into quality product experiences, coordinated Olympic champions and
celebrity spokesperson resources, and worked with fashion magazines,
trend events and social media platforms to continuously consolidate its
professional sports mindset. Flagship products including basketball
shoes Gamma 2, LI REN 6V2 and DLO 2, as well as the running shoe matrix
of Wushi, Youzhi and Zhui Feng, all achieved notable results in
expanding awareness and increasing sales, while the Feeling family
remained ranked first in searches in the thin-soled shoe segment.
In terms of new retail business, the Group established a new retail
department to focus on mapping out its omni-channel growth business
model. Through the O2O model, it connected online and offline
merchandise pools, providing consumers with a more consistent and
efficient shopping experience. The Group also accelerated its layout on
mainstream instant-retail platforms, making concerted efforts across
three areas: channel store expansion, merchandise matching and refined
single-store operations. On the one hand, it fully leveraged the Group's
multi-category advantages, expanding product coverage on the basis of
core categories such as running shoes, basketball shoes and lifestyle
apparel in combination with sports and lifestyle scenario needs; on the
other hand, it strengthened the supply of seasonal categories such as
outdoor and sun protection around consumption nodes such as holiday
travel, driving stable growth in sales scale for the instant-retail
channel.
In terms of product management, to respond to market competition, the
Group increased its technology investment in high-end professional
running shoes, leveraging the "Feidian" family driven by "Super BOOM
Capsule" technology and the brand-new "Red Hare ULTRA" series to
consolidate the brand's product mindset and market position among
professional runners. While the basketball shoe market faced challenges,
the Group relied on core signature models combined with an
e-commerce-channel-led promotion strategy to keep basketball shoe sales
stable across directly-operated and e-commerce channels. The Group also
actively applied flexible supply models such as segmented production and
rolling replenishment orders, dynamically adjusting order scale
according to actual sales and, in particular, carrying out refined
control of the inventory structure for the running shoe category,
maintaining healthy inventory levels amid a challenging market
environment.
In terms of supply chain and logistics, the Group continued to advance
the building of a large supply-chain system across five directions:
planning management, quality control, cost management, development
management and digital-intelligence transformation. The Group actively
advanced the development of its Glory Gold Label series to safeguard the
supply of top-tier event equipment, while also promoting the
implementation of AI and 3DVR design and development processes for
footwear, substantially shortening the R&D cycle. On the logistics
front, the Group advanced omni-channel logistics integration, connecting
online and offline inventory, and continued to drive warehouse
automation and the application of RFID technology, improving the
efficiency of goods flow and the precision of inventory management.
OUTLOOK
Looking ahead to the second half of 2026, the Group will continue to
seize the development opportunities arising from the ongoing release of
domestic demand potential, uphold its core value of " Serve With
Sportsmanship ", continuously refine the "LI-NING's experience value",
and strive to become the preferred professional sports brand trusted by
consumers in the sports consumption sector.
-
Technology-driven product upgrades: The Group will continue
to adhere to technological innovation as its core driving force,
strengthening the core competitiveness of its products through the three
major levers of its technology innovation platform, a full-scenario
category matrix and Eastern aesthetics, while reinforcing its layout in
high-potential tracks such as professional sports and urban outdoor.
-
Top-tier resources empowering the brand: The Group will
coordinate its domestic and overseas marketing resources. By leveraging
core resource deployments such as its partnership with the Chinese
Olympic Committee and collaborations with superstar IPs, the Group will
build a multi-dimensional, long-term and high-conversion communication
system. The Group will continue to deepen its long-term cooperation with
the Chinese Olympic Committee, supporting the Chinese sports delegation
as it competes in international events such as the 2026 Asian Games,
and will deepen its strategic cooperation with Stephen Curry and "Curry
Brand".
-
Elevating both the quality and efficiency of business operations:
The Group will focus on the three core pillars of channel layout,
merchandise systems and supply chain integration, accelerating
online-offline integration, prioritising the scalable replication of
innovative store formats such as "Loong Store", and building a flexible
supply chain system that is high-efficiency, low-cost and fast-response.
-
Strengthening the foundation to safeguard development: The
Group will reinforce its operating foundation across talent, finance and
digital intelligence, building out its talent pipeline, maintaining
ample cash flow and a rigorous risk control mechanism, and advancing the
deep penetration of artificial intelligence and digital technologies
across the full scenarios of R&D, production and channels.
Mr. Li Ning, Executive Chairman and Joint Chief Executive Officer of the Group, commented,"The
year 2026 marks the opening year of the '15th Five-Year Plan'. Although
the external trade landscape was complex and volatile in the first half
of the year and structural divergence in the domestic consumer market
persisted, consumption in functional niche segments such as professional
sports and urban outdoor remained resilient, supported by a series of
national policies to expand domestic demand and promote consumption.
Facing a challenging external environment, the Group firmly implemented
its core development strategy of 'Single Brand, Multi-categories,
Diversified Channels', achieving steady growth in both revenue and
profit while maintaining healthy inventory and working capital levels, a
clear demonstration of the resilience of the Group's operating
fundamentals.
Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we will stay rooted
locally while looking to the future, seizing the structural
opportunities brought by the '15th Five-Year Plan' policies to expand
domestic demand and build a leading sports nation, advancing the
scalable replication of innovative store formats such as 'Loong Store',
deepening the dual drivers of technological innovation and top-tier
sports resources, so as to deliver higher-quality and more sustainable
steady operations in return for the long-term trust of our consumers and
shareholders."