Oriental Watch sales, profit holds firm despite turmoil

Oriental Watch has shrugged off the impact of ongoing Hong Kong protests, with sales down a mere 1.1 percent and improved gross profit in the half-year to September.

Sales totaled HK$1.168 billion (US$149 million), gross profit rose 10.4 percent to $318.2 million and profit attributable to shareholders was down 3.6 percent to $61.7 million.

“The Hong Kong operation of the group held up well during the period against a backdrop of uncertain economic and social conditions,” said chairman Yeung Ming Biu.

Oriental Watch operates 61 stores selling high-end watches, 46 of them in Mainland China, 11 in Hong Kong, three in Taiwan and one in Macau.

Same-store-sales growth reached 11 percent in China where the company has established a solid foothold across tier-one cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, in the Guangdong province, and other cities such as Taiyuan, Nanjing, Changsha and Chengdu.

Figures for Hong Kong were not highlighted in the group’s half-year results but overall luxury-goods sales fell by around 50 percent in the last quarter.

Yeung said the group believes Hong Kong tourism will regain its footing in the near future, and remains “cautiously optimistic” for the longer-term retail market, especially for the high-end sectors.

“Oriental Watch will continue to deploy appropriate strategies to elevate the productivity of existing stores, strengthen cost management and optimize its inventory profile, as well as enrich its