Same store Chow Tai Fook sales in Hong Kong and Macau “continued to show a sequential improvement” during the first quarter of the year.
The trend reverses 12 consecutive quarters of decline by the Hong Kong-listed jeweller, the first increase since last last three months of 2014.
Chow Tai Fook says Mainland China same-store sales rose 12 per cent year-on-year and in the two SARs by 4 per cent. However, sales volume declined by 2 per cent in the mainland and 1 per cent in Macau and Hong Kong.
Performance of gold products in both Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau benefitted from an increase in Average Selling Price, rising 19 per cent. But sales of gem-set jewellery fell 17 per cent year-on-year during the quarter in the two SARs.
“The percentage of RSV (retail sales value) settled by China UnionPay or RMB to the total RSV of Hong Kong and Macau market, a proxy for sales contribution from Mainland tourists, declined to 45 per cent in the quarter as compared to 49 per cent of the same period last year,” Chow Tai Fook said in its stock exchange filing, adding that “such contribution was similar to that in the first half of FY2017”.
The company had 2381 points of sale as of end-March, with 102 located in Macau and Hong Kong.