Chow Tai Fook Gains as Gold Prices Shine

RAPAPORT... Hong Kong-based jewelry retailer Chow Tai Fook saw a jump inquarterly sales amid stronger consumer sentiment and an increase in goldprices. Total retail sales leaped 13% in mainland China and grew 11%in Hong Kong and Macau in the fourth fiscal quarter ending March 31, thecompany 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 relativelystronger growth during the quarter, benefiting from the improving consumersentiment and reviving mainland visitation," the retailer explained, referringto an increase in tourist numbers to the hubs. Same-store sales of gold products rose 14% on the mainland and soared18% in Hong Kong and Macau, as the average international price of gold grew 9%during the quarter, the jeweler explained. That price increase, combined withcustomers buying a higher average weight of the metal per product, drove a jumpin the average sale price for gold products. Weak consumer sentiment in the region resulted in a slump invisitors from mainland China to Hong Kong in recent years, damaging retailfigures for the municipality. However, the sector has recovered in the pastyear 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 firsttwo months of this year, according to Hong Kong's Census and StatisticsDepartment.Image: Chow Tai Fook