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Luk Fook Suffers as Tourists Snub Hong Kong
Oct 19, 2020 6:02 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Sales at Luk Fook slumped in the second fiscal quarter as the Hong Kong-based jeweler suffered from a continued slowdown in tourism and local demand in its home city.
Group-wide same-store sales — at branches open for at least a year — fell 55% year on year during the three months ending September 30, the retailer reported Friday. This reflected a 63% slide in Hong Kong and Macau.
“It is expected to take time for mainland tourist arrivals to Hong Kong — and the retail atmosphere — to recover,” the company added.
Hong Kong’s tourism industry, an important source of luxury sales, almost ground to a halt this year due to coronavirus-related quarantine rules for visitors. Meanwhile, a second outbreak in Hong Kong this summer dampened local consumer sentiment.
Business in mainland China failed to compensate for this, with same-store sales down 15% at Luk Fook’s self-operated locations and down 4% at licensed shops.
However, the declines narrowed compared with the previous quarter as border restrictions eased and China brought the virus further under control, with the improvement continuing into October.
Same-store sales in Hong Kong recovered to a 20% year-on-year drop in the first week of October, while in Macau the figure was steady at a fall of around 50%. Meanwhile, same-store sales at self-operated shops in China slid by a double-digit percentage in July and August, but improved to a high single-digit decrease in September and went down by low single digits in the first week of October.
Image: A Look Fook store in Hong Kong. (Shutterstock)
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Tags:
China, Hong Kong, Jewelry, Luk Fook, macau, mainland Ghina, Rapaport News, retail, tourism
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