Apex Footwear enters Nepal market

Local footwear leader Apex has entered into the international market by opening its first Venturini store in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.

Apex launched the showroom virtually on Saturday.

“Also, we are studying and exploring opportunities to open outlets in Sri Lanka and Bhutan,” said Syed Manzur Elahi, chairman of Apex.

He said the time is now for Asia and it will grow further in the coming years. He said they will enter the South Asian markets and Myanmar and Thailand before going for further global expansion.

Apex Footwear, in its Facebook page, said customers in Nepal can now enjoy the exclusive collections offered by Venturini along with Apex’s other private labels, such as Maverick, Sprint, Moochie, Nino Rossi, Sandra Rosa, and a wide range of accessories from internationally renowned brands Cross and Police.

Syed Nasim Manzur, managing director of Apex Footwear, said they are getting good response from Nepalese customers. 

Apex has a plan to open two other outlets in Nepal soon.

Apex is the largest shoemaker in Bangladesh and accounts for 15% of Bangladesh’s leather footwear export. It has over 100 global customers around the world.

Data shows Apex’s turnover was Tk1,581 crore in the 2018-19 fiscal year. But its business nosedived by almost 40% this year due to the pandemic.

Accordingly, earnings per share of Apex came down to Tk5.62 in 2019-20, down from Tk10.91 in the previous fiscal year.

However, earning per share of Apex got doubled in the July-September quarter of FY2020-21.