By Justina Lee


Li Ning Co.'s shares slumped after its full-year net profit missed analysts' estimates.

Shares in Hong Kong fell as much as 11% to 56.75 Hong Kong dollars (US$7.23) and were recently 7.7% lower.

The Chinese sportswear company on Friday said its 2022 net profit rose 1.3% to 4.06 billion yuan (US$588.6 million), below the CNY4.17 billion estimate compiled by FactSet.

Li Ning's gross profit margin for the second half of the year also narrowed by 3.7 percentage points from a year earlier to 46.9%, which Citi analysts in a note attributed to cost inflation and higher retail discounts.

The company's overall retail sales, which includes offline and online channels, fell by the low teens in the fourth quarter, dragged by a decline in same-store sales, the analysts said.

"Given slower retail sales growth in 4Q22, aging of channel inventories at year-end deteriorated moderately, with 12% of channel inventories aged more than 6 months at end-2022," Citi said.


Write to Justina Lee at justina.lee@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-16-23 2339ET