On April 14, the scene of the 2024 Beijing International Long-distance Running Festival-Beijing Half Marathon champion sprint sparked heated discussions on the Internet.
At the critical moment when they were only a few hundred meters away from the finish line, several foreign runners turned around and waved to him after overtaking He Jie, as if they were engaging in some form of interaction, and then were overtaken by He Jie, and finally He Jie won the championship.
According to the data, Xtep is the event sponsor of the 2024 Beijing Half Marathon. He Jie is a Xtep contracted athlete and the Chinese men's marathon record holder, and the three foreign runners are also athletes wearing Xtep shoes and uniforms.
As soon as the video was released, the discussion about foreign players taking the initiative to "concede" the leading position and He Jie being "escorted" to the championship continued to ferment on the Internet, and many netizens even questioned Xtep's "suspected manipulation of the event".
With the rise of the fitness trend, the number of participants in marathons in China is rising. According to the "2023 China Road Running Blue Book" released by the Chinese Athletics Association, a total of 699 marathons will be held in China in 2023, with a total of 6.0519 million participants.
However, in recent years, some marathon events have been "complaining", in addition to the rumors of "internal determination" of race results, there are also controversies such as chaotic on-site organization and poor professionalism. The "half-marathon" turmoil once again ignited the public's emotions, and the sponsor Xtep was also pushed to the "cusp" of public opinion.
As a sporting goods company born in China, Xtep has been betting on the running business for many years. In September 2022, the company released a new strategic positioning of "world-class Chinese running shoes", and announced that it will invest 5 billion yuan in the next 10 years to help China's road running industry, including product research and development innovation, event and athlete support, and running group operation support.
According to the data, in 2023 alone, Xtep has intensively sponsored 24 marathon events, including the Xiamen Marathon, a platinum label event in world track and field, which has been sponsored for 16 consecutive years.
According to the 2023 financial report, Xtep has surpassed international and other domestic brands to become the No. 1 brand in China's marathon wearing rate, and has been ranked the brand with the highest wearing rate among China's top 100 male and female marathon runners for two consecutive years.
Frequent "face brushing" also promoted the company's performance growth. In 2023, Xtep's revenue will be 14.346 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.9%, and the net profit attributable to the parent company will be 1.03 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%. Ding Shuibo, chairman of the board of directors of the company, once bluntly said that the focus on running, especially the resumption of marathon events, has promoted the continuous growth of Xtep's performance.
According to industry insiders, the "half-marathon" turmoil in Beijing may also stem from the company's desire to continue to strengthen its leading position in domestic professional running shoes and increase exposure, and the commercial considerations behind it are understandable, but the excessive modesty of African runners near the finish line is "self-defeating", or Xtep's public image is greatly reduced.
Investor confidence seems to have been shaken, and on April 15, Hong Kong-listed Xtep International (01368. HK) stock price opened low and went low, closing down 5.47%, the largest decline in nearly two months, and since the 16th, the company's stock price has maintained a weak and volatile trend.
Against the backdrop of falling stock prices, on April 15, Ding Shuibo, chairman of Xtep, increased his holdings of the company's shares through on-site trading, buying 1,457,500 shares at an average price of HK$4.4446 per share, with a total investment of about HK$6.478 million. After this increase, Ding Shuibo's shareholding ratio increased from 49.18% to 49.23%.
Ding Shuibo's contrarian increase may be to dispel the market's doubts and reveal his confidence in the company's long-term development to the outside world. Whether Xtep can calm down the public opinion turmoil and whether its stock price can stabilize in the future market, investors will wait and see.
Author: Flying Fish