Known as one of the largest suppliers of apparels to retailers, Li & Fung Ltd. has come up with six months results which shows decline in core operating profit by 20 per cent. Weak demand from its customers in the US and Europe is one of the main reasons for such results. The rapid decline in the Euro and the slowing Chinese economy also affected the business. The company’s core operating profit fell to US $ 182 million for the six months ended June from US $ 227 million a year earlier.
Having customers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Target Corp., it reported surge in net income by 33 per cent to US $ 149 million, while sales fell by 1 per cent to US $ 8.63 billion. Spencer Fung, CEO of the company said in the statement, “While we expect the macroeconomic environment to remain challenging for the rest of the year, our order book remains solid and in line with our expectations. I am optimistic that key prospects will be converted into new businesses this year.” The company said that China remains the largest sourcing market of it, followed by Vietnam and Bangladesh.
