HONG KONG | Tue Oct 18, 2011 - Chinese sportswear brand and retailer Anta Sports Products Ltd said it expected a slowdown in the same-store-sales growth of its retail stores for the third quarter of 2011 as compared with the previous quarter.

Anta's sportwear basketball division

In a filing to the Hong Kong bourse late on Monday, Anta Sports said the slowdown was due to the recent challenging local sportswear retail market in China and it expected a more relaxed and flexible policy on retail discount offered by its retailers for the third quarter.

The sportwear brand said it expected the trade fair growth rate for the second quarter of 2012 to be lower than that for the first quarter of 2012.

The company said it has managed to implement its 4-year store expansion plan of opening an average of 600 to 800 new stores each year between 2009 and 2012.

In August, Anta Sports said orders for delivery in the first quarter of 2012 rose 15 percent in terms of value from the same period a year ago.

Its rival 361 Degrees International Ltd said in a separate statement that same store sales for the third quarter of 2011 grew 14.1 percent and the number of retail outlets increased to 7,810 as of the end of September including the opening of 173 new stores during the quarter.

(Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)