Luk Fook Sales Sluggish in Fourth Quarter

RAPAPORT... Luk Fook's same-store sales dropped 6% in the fourth fiscalquarter amid a higher number of purchases for lower-priced products. The Hong Kong-based jeweler sold higher volumes during the period, but not enough to negate the drop in its average selling price. Improved market conditions helped ease the decline compared to the third quarter, it noted last week."Same-store sales of the group's retail business for the fourth quarter...was a bit better than the...previous quarter because of improved market sentiment in view of the easing of the US-China trade-war tension, the rebound of the [yuan] and the recovery of the stock and property markets," the company explained.  Same-store sales - at branches open for more than a year -fell 6% year on year in Hong Kong and Macau. Same-store sales in mainland Chinagrew 2% for the three-month period ending March 31. Same-store gold sales in Hong Kong and Macau dropped 7%,while gem-set jewelry purchases fell 4%. In China, same-store sales of gold products rose 4%, whilesales of gem-set jewelry increased 3%. Luk Fook's results are for its self-operated stores, andexclude licensed shops, which form the majority of its stores on the mainland. Image: A Luk Fook jewelry store in Hong Kong. (Lawche)