Jan 17 - Shares of sportswear makers fell on Monday as investors unloaded their holdings over a pessimistic outlook, with sports brand Li Ning Co Ltd leading the slide.

Li Ning

Li Ning fell 8.2 percent to as low as HK$15.68 in late trade, its lowest since May 2009, after the company reported that same-store sales growth for its Li-Ning brand products rose by only 3.6 percent in last year's fourth quarter and about 3.9 percent for the whole of 2010.

"It was disappointing that it could only post low single-digit growth in such a competitive market," said Ample Capital analyst William Lo. "Its local rivals were not exempted from the selloff in the high-risk sector."

Analysts said local sports brands also faced keen competition from international players such as Nike Inc as global brands are expected to gain market share as they gear up to expand into lower-tier Chinese cities.

Chinese sporting goods brand Li Ning said gross profit and net profit margins for 2010 were broadly in line with levels achieved in 2009, while new store openings fell short of the target set at the beginning of 2010.

Rivals Anta Sports Products Ltd fell 6.02 percent, and 361 Degrees International Ltd was down 3.01 percent, compared with a 0.58 percent fall on the blue chip Hang Seng Index.

(Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Chris Lewis)