(Yicai) March 15 -- Following a series of transformations and spin-offs, Belle Fashion Group is planning to go public in Hong Kong again, nearly seven years after the Chinese footwear giant delisted from the city’s stock market.

Belle filed a listing prospectus with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week, without indicating how much it seeks to raise.

The company, previously known as Belle International Holdings, went public in Hong Kong in 2007 before being taken private a decade later. It then filed for a Hong Kong relisting in March 2022, which lapsed. 

Shenzhen-based Belle has halved its business scale since quitting the stock market, and now has no sports segment.

According to its last financial report before delisting, Belle International’s revenue had surpassed CNY40 billion (USD5.6 billion). Belle Fashion had revenue of CNY16.1 billion in the nine months ended Nov. 30, a 13 percent increase on a year earlier, while net profit soared 93 percent to CNY2.1 billion (USD291.8 million).

Belle had 7,444 retail outlets at the end of November, according to its prospectus, a sharp decline from a high of 19,000 in 2013.

E-commerce was one area of failure behind the firm’s delisting, management said at the time. Since then, the firm has raised investment in its online business, and online revenue accounted for 28 percent of the total in the nine months ended Nov. 30.

Belle now has 12 of its own brands and seven brands operated in partnership with other companies, covering footwear and also clothes and accessories for women, men, and children. Last year, its subsidiary Kepac Trading became the sole distributor in China for US sports brand Champion.

Editor: Tom Litting