Chow Tai Fook reverses same store sales downtrend in Q1

Same store sales (SSS) of Chow Tai Fook in the two SARs ‘continued to show a sequential improvement’ during the first quarter of the year, reversing the 12 consecutive quarter decline in SSS seen since the final quarter of 2014, according to the company’s filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday.
The company saw a 12 per cent growth year-on-year in its Mainland SSS and a 4 per cent year-on-year growth in its Hong Kong and Macau SSS, although SSS volume growth dropped by 2 per cent in the Mainland market and 1 per cent in the SARs segment.
SSS of gem-set jewellery fell 17 per cent year-on-year during the quarter in the SARs, ended March 31, while that of gold products increased 19 per cent year-on-year.
‘The percentage of RSV (retail sales value) settled by China UnionPay or RMB to the total RSV of Hong Kong and Macau market, a proxy for sales contribution from Mainland tourists, declined to 45 per cent in the quarter as compared to 49 per cent of the same period last year,’ notes the filing, pointing out that ‘such contribution was similar to that in the first half of FY2017’.
The group operated a total of 2,381 points of sale as of end-March, with 102 located in Macau and Hong Kong.