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Esprit Holdings Ltd., the clothing retailer pushing to recover from a
three-year earnings decline, expects to save HK$1 billion ($129
million) by June 2015 as it adds sourcing offices in India and
Indonesia.
Esprit jumped the most in 14 years in Hong Kong
trading yesterday after saying efforts to revive its brand and close
unprofitable stores are helping results. The clothing retailer will this
year add two sourcing offices in India and Indonesia and 40 to 50
stores in China as part of its drive to boost profit, Chief Executive
Officer Ronald Van der Vis said in an interview in Hong Kong yesterday.
Van der Vis plans to turn the company around by
improving fashion designs to increase revenue, while boosting China
sales. The retailer, which in September said its brand had “lost its
soul,” reported better-than-expected first-half operating margin
yesterday.
“Esprit had become too much a T-shirt company,”
Van der Vis said in the interview. “The customers I spent a lot of time
talking to said: Please give me back the Esprit I used to know, more
fun, dynamic and more fashionable. So the journey is basically bring it
back.”
Net income was HK$555 million in the six months
ended Dec. 31, compared with HK$2.14 billion a year earlier, the company
said in a statement to Hong Kong's stock exchange yesterday.
Source: http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LZSO1D0UQVI901-6A0HPJEU3C740I53U88QPDFQQ3