ECCO Sko A/S unveils its development plan for India

Company press release, January 16, 2004

New Delhi

As part of a wider expansion plan in Asia, global footwear manufacturer ECCO is now targeting the Indian market. In doing so ECCO has come a step closer to realizing its initial goal - to sell 2 million pairs of shoes a year in Asia by 2005.

Keeping in line with the companys uncompromising and relentless research and product innovation, ECCO Sko A/S, the number one Danish shoe manufacturing company and 7th largest casual footwear brand in the world, has announced its India specific strategies today at a press conference in New Delhi. Mr. Michael Hauge Sørensen, Managing Director, ECCO Asia Limited and Mr. Sumit Lal, India representative jointly addressed the conference. This announcement came in the wake of ECCO celebrating the companys 40th Anniversary and the exponential growth that the group has registered in 2003.

Currently India is Asias third-largest economy with an economic growth expected to exceed 7 per cent by the end of the fiscal year. The purchase power parity of India ranks the country fourth in the world and the number of super-wealthy Indian consumers is set to double to 35 million in the next five years. This makes sales of consumer goods extremely promising, and due to both a change of life styles and an increasing disposable income the Indians are now more focused on high quality products - including footwear. With its global expertise in manufacturing and selling quality merchandise ECCO is in an extremely good position to capture the super premium segment for leather and leather products.

We have so far achieved record growth in Asia, and we are very confident that the ECCO launch in India will strengthen our position in the region and quickly reap the financial rewards. Entering the Indian market is a significant landmark in our Asian expansion plan, and we are very excited by the huge growth potential for the coming year, says Michael Hauge Sørensen, Managing Director of ECCO Asia Limited.

The India Representative, Mr. Sumit Lal said, ECCO products are very rich in features and technology and we will price our products as per our global pricing norms and provide worth for the price paid by the consumer in terms of the features and technology. We believe that India will prove to be as good a market as the rest of Asia and the success story of ECCO shall be repeated here.

ECCO Sko A/S plans to approach the Indian shoe market through local participation and will start by launching its products in New Delhi - after that moving on to the other large cities in India. The company is aware of the fact that the products will serve a niche market audience, and therefore builds its marketing and advertising activities around this central theme.

ECCO Sko A/S was founded by Danish entrepreneur Karl Toosbuy over 40 years ago. Today the company has grown from one tiny factory into an international shoe manufacturing group with almost 9,000 employees worldwide and a consolidated annual turnover of Euro 450 million.

Please contact: Sumit K. Lal at slal@ecco.com or 9810213113 or Carmen Ng

at Cng@ecco.com or +852 2866 9900

For further inspiration visit www.ecco.com