RAPAPORT... Hong Kong-based jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook saw a jump in
quarterly sales amid stronger consumer sentiment and an increase in gold
prices.
Total retail sales leaped 13% in mainland China and grew 11%
in Hong Kong and Macau in the fourth fiscal quarter ending March 31, the
company reported Monday. Same-store sales — at branches open for two years —
increased 7% on the mainland and surged 17% in Hong Kong and Macau.
“[The] Hong Kong and Macau market recorded a relatively
stronger growth during the quarter, benefiting from the improving consumer
sentiment and reviving mainland visitation,” the retailer explained, referring
to an increase in tourist numbers to the hubs.
Same-store sales of gold products rose 14% on the mainland and soared
18% in Hong Kong and Macau, as the average international price of gold grew 9%
during the quarter, the jeweler explained. That price increase, combined with
customers buying a higher average weight of the metal per product, drove a jump
in the average sale price for gold products.
Weak consumer sentiment in the region resulted in a slump in
visitors from mainland China to Hong Kong in recent years, damaging retail
figures for the municipality. However, the sector has recovered in the past
year as the Chinese economy improved and tourism returned. Sales of jewelry,
watches, clocks and valuable gifts rose 5% in 2017, and jumped 21% in the first
two months of this year, according to Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics
Department.
Image: Chow Tai Fook
|
|
|
|
|