Chow Tai Fook Growth Slows as Pandemic Resurges

RAPAPORT... Chow Tai Fook saw sales decline in the fourth fiscal quarter as the latest surge of Covid-19 infections impacted retail in China and Hong Kong. The jeweler's retail sales value climbed 8.5% year on year for the three months that ended March 31, but that was a sharp drop from the 31% growth it had registered in the previous quarter. Revenue rose nearly 12% on the mainland, but fell 21% in Hong Kong, Macau and other markets, the company reported in a trading update on Wednesday."Business was negatively impacted by the new wave of the pandemic in Hong Kong," it said.Same-store sales - a comparison of stores open over the past year - declined 11% on the mainland as the new coronavirus wave spread in March; the figure had been flat for the first two months of 2022. Hong Kong and Macau witnessed an even bigger slide of 22%, Chow Tai Fook reported.By product category, same-store sales of gold items - including jewelry - fell 13% in China and 8% in Hong Kong and Macau. Same-store sales of gem-set jewelry and similar goods edged down 0.4% on the mainland and plunged 43% in Hong Kong and Macau.During the period, Chow Tai Fook opened a net 255 points of sale in China, and one in other markets. The group had a total of 5,902 stores in operation as of March 31.