Luk Fook Holdings has reported a 71-per-cent plunge in first-quarter same-store sales due to the impact of Covid-19 on tourist numbers traveling to Hong Kong.
However, the company said that entering June, as retail sentiment in Hong Kong and on the mainland gradually improved, the overall same-store sales decline of the company’s self-operated shops narrowed from 76 percent in April and May to 58 percent in June.
With little likelihood of a quick return of mainland Chinese shoppers into Hong Kong, Luk Fook says it will close about five stores in the territory by the end of this year, which would leave it with 44. However, it plans to open two more in Macau and remains on target to open 150 more on the mainland.
“The sales decline in the mainland market was lower than the Hong Kong and Macau market as most of the shops in Mainland resumed operations during the quarter and the consumer sentiments recovered gradually,” the company said in a stock-exchange filing.
Same-store sales at self-operated Lukfook stores on the mainland slumped by 43 percent in April and May but by a lesser 32 percent in June.
Licensed Lukfook shops, which account for around 95 percent of the company’s mainland network, recorded a lower same-store sales decline of 19 percent compared to that of the self-operated shops, which were mostly located in Northern China and Central China which were more severely impacted by the pandemic during the quarter.