Dear Shareholders,
I am pleased to present the annual results of Pou Sheng International (Holdings) Limited (the “Company” and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) for the financial year ended December 31, 2021, to the shareholders of the Company (the “Shareholders”).
2021 was a year of intense volatility amidst uncertainties for the Group. Despite experiencing a great start to the year, with retail consumption soaring from the depths seen in 2020 during the height of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (the “Pandemic”) in China, market dynamics soon emerged that dampened our recovery. And as these headwinds started to fade, sporadic outbreaks of the Pandemic in the final months of the year saw a reintroduction of lockdowns and other movement restrictions in several major cities, coupled with shortage of product supply, depressing market conditions even further.
Yet, despite these external challenges, we managed to achieve decent digital acceleration during the year. More importantly, we were still able to expand our margins and profitability thanks to our focuses on refining, strengthening and integrating our brick-and-mortar and omni-channels, as well as improving our inventory management and operational efficiency.
Our omni-channels, including sales transacted through our private and public traffic domains, as well as online B2B, made up 21% of total sales in 2021, a steady expansion of revenue share helped by resilient growth. This continued growth from private traffic domains (the “Pan-Wechat Ecosphere”) is essential for improving the quality of our sales and shortening the sales cycle, with more full-price in-season sales being made at an earlier time. This will sustain our long-term profitability and growth.
Our brick and mortar (“B&M”) stores remain essential for customers to discover new products and experiences with more engagement. Throughout 2021, we continue to drive operational efficiency and optimise store formats, in which we are prioritising larger-format stores where customers can enjoy an unique, personalised and seamless shopping experience that is digitally integrated with our online channels, membership programmes and sports services. We also continued to close or upgrade smaller underperforming stores as part of our ongoing channel optimisation measures. At the other end of the scale, we opened our second global ‘Next Store’ in Shenyang, providing us with a new testbed for experimenting different sports services and concepts that can be modularised and implemented into our other stores to drive better sales conversion and greater customer loyalty.
One of our most notable achievements in 2021 was the expansion of cooperation with our brand partners. We further expanded and reinforced our product sharing mechanism by launching a pilot Omni-Hub programme with them to efficiently share products across different online platforms, optimise our inventory mix and sales. This project, together with other inventory integration initiatives, helped ease the pressure of inventory amid volatile market conditions throughout 2021.
The natural next step for expanding our cooperation with brands is membership programmes. In January 2022, we entered into strategic partnership with brands to implement brands’ retail concept at scale in the China market and to provide a seamless and consistent Pou Sheng x brands experience through the effective integration of our products and services. In the future, this means that whenever customers shop at brands’ stores operated by Pou Sheng or directly by the brand itself, they can access the same products, offers and exclusive experiences.
As the retail market in the Greater China region continues to rapidly change, we hope to implement other similar innovative initiatives in the future to further deepen our cooperation with brand partners and optimise the model in which we engage with each other. This will be especially important in 2022 as shortage of product supply ease and with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics bringing many major sporting brands back to the fore of consumers’ minds.
Looking forward, the question becomes: how will retailers evolve to meet new norms in Greater China? Chinese consumers are becoming ever more sophisticated and have spearheaded digital adoption globally. Brands need to be more innovative to convey their messages, image and DNA. For sports brands, this must be tied to experiences, and this is where Pou Sheng will continue to add value both online and offline. This is what all the above strategies – private and public traffic omni-channels, experience-driven larger-format stores, and membership expansion and integration – are working towards.
Growth opportunities in Greater China remain ample. In October 2021, the General Administration of Sport of China announced its “14th Five-Year Sports Development Plan”, in-line with China’s vision to become a major sports power by 2035. In August 2021, China’s State Council also announced a national fitness plan in which it aims to increase the proportion of the population who participate in regular exercise to 38.5% by 2025 while boosting the size of the sports sector to RMB5 trillion (US$774 billion) by 2025, a 70% increase over 2019 levels.
For these reasons, the outlook of sports-related consumption remains incredibly strong and our prospects look bright. By taking advantage of the above opportunities, integrating our growth strategies to the fullest and pioneering new initiatives with brand partners, we remain optimistic about strengthening our leading position in the fast-growing sports market in Greater China.
I would like to thank our business partners, financial institutions, shareholders and my dedicated colleagues for their incredible and ongoing support. Without this, the challenges of 2021 would have been harder to overcome.
Wu, Pan-Tsu
Chairman
Hong Kong
March 15, 2022
WANG Jun, is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Company (the “CEO”) and directly in charge of the Merchandise & Retail Business Unit. He once was the Acting CEO during the period from July 2022 to March 2023. Mr. Wang is also a director of various subsidiaries of the Company. He joined the Group as a Vice President, in charge of Brand and Merchandising Management Department in April 2014. Mr. Wang graduated from the Department of Marketing of the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing. He has extensive experience and achievements in strategic planning, sales marketing, product branding and retail operation.
CHANG, Su-Ching, is currently a Vice President of the Group, in charge of Omni Channel Platform and Operation & Business Management Department. She is also a director of various subsidiaries of the Company, and a supervisor of certain subsidiaries of the Company. She was appointed as the Vice President of Finance Department of the Group in September 2011. Ms. Chang graduated with a Master degree in Finance from National Taiwan University. She has more than 20 years' working experience in treasury, cash management and financial planning.
SONG Hua, is currently a Vice President of the Group, in charge of the Second Division of the Merchandise & Retail Business Unit. He is also a director of various subsidiaries of the Company. He joined the Group in December 2008, and was promoted to be a Vice President in March 2018. Mr. Song graduated from the Department of Industrial Electrical Automation of North University of China. He has extensive experience and achievements in strategic planning, sales marketing, product branding and retail operation.
Chen, Li-Chieh, is currently the Chief Financial Officer of the Company. He is also a director of various subsidiaries and supervisor of certain subsidiaries of the Company. Mr. Chen joined the Group and in charge of the finance and taxation of Retail Business Unit in May 2020. Mr. Chen graduated from Tamkang University, Taiwan with a Bachelor Degree in Accounting. Prior to joining the Group, Mr. Chen worked at an international audit firm. In addition, Mr. Chen worked for Pou Chen Corporation from February 2007 to February 2020 as the head of taxation department and head of financial department of Southern China Region. He has over twenty years of extensive experience in auditing, taxation and financial management.
YIP Wing Ming, is currently the Company Secretary and the Financial Controller of the Company. He is also a director of various subsidiaries of the Company. He joined the Company in February 2017. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Yip worked for an international audit firm. He has over ten years of extensive experience in accounting, auditing and financial management. Mr. Yip holds a first class honours degree of Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Economics from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
LIN Wang-Chyan, is currently a Vice General Manager of the Group, in charge of Human Resources Department and General Administration Department. Before joining the Group in March 2021, he worked as an assistant vice president at human resources department of Pou Chen Group from 2016 to early 2021. Mr. Lin holds a Master degree of the Institute of Philosophy of Tunghai University in Taiwan. He has extensive experience in human resources and administrative management.
LIN Tao, is currently the General Manager of the First Division of the Retail Operations Headquarters of the Group and a director of certain subsidiaries of the Company. He joined the Group as the General Manager of the Anhui Division in July 2007. Mr. Lin graduated from Foreign Trade Economy Stream of Economics and Management and System Science Department of University of Science and Technology of China. He has extensive experience and good achievements in strategic planning, corporate management and talent cultivation.
TANG Guoxing, is currently the General Manager of the Third Division of the Retail Operations Headquarters of the Group and a director of certain subsidiaries of the Company. He joined the Group as the General Manager of Nanjing Division in December 2010. Mr. Tang graduated from Jiangsu Radio and Television University with a major in Business Enterprise Management. He has more than 20 years of working experience in large-scale retail management.
TANG Yongdong, is currently the General Manager of the Fourth Division of the Retail Operations Headquarters of the Group and also in charge of Brand and Commodity Management Department, as well as a director of certain subsidiaries of the Company. He joined the Group in October 2003. Mr. Tang graduated from Wuhan University of Technology with a major in Business Administration. He has extensive experience in retail management and commodity operation, and continually leads his team to achieve good results.
LI Zhi, is currently the General Manager of the Fifth Division of the Retail Operations Headquarters of the Group, and a director of certain subsidiaries and a joint venture of the Company. He joined the Group in November 2001 and has grown together with the Group. Mr. Li graduated from Marketing Department of Beijing University of Technology. He has over 20 years of working experience in market development, business negotiation and large-scale retail management.