Pandora buys own brand stores in territory for MOP170 mln

The jewellery group Pandora will pay MOP170 million (US$21.48 million) to buy their own brand store networks in Macau and Singapore. The distribution rights of the brand for these two markets belong to the Singaporean Norbreeze Group until the end of the year, when the current contract expires; the Danish group decided from January on to exploit its own brand in the territories.
“The Far East holds a significant opportunity for Pandora, and with this agreement we have strengthened our footprint in the region”, the CEO of the brand, Anders Colding Friis, said in the press release of the brand announcing the agreement. “The acquisition follows similar agreements with our local distributors in countries like Brazil, Turkey and the UAE, and is in line with our strategy to expand geographically and increase the control over our brand”.
In Macau, Pandora has three stores – one outlet in Central Macau, and two others in Galaxy Casino and The Venetian. The Macau operations of the brand will be controlled by the Danish group’s Hong Kong office.
The agreement announced yesterday also includes the reacquisition by Norbreeze group of the distribution rights in the Philippines. According to Pandora, the three markets together accounted for retail revenue in 2014 of MOP403 million (US$50.4 million).
In terms of the group’s financial results, Pandora announced that net income increased 37 per cent to MOP1.08 billion (US$135.1 million).
Also, it reviewed the full-year revenue projection to MOP18.98 billion (US$2.38 billion), while in the past it was expecting to cash in MOP17.79 billion (US$2.23 billion). This change was explained with better than expected results in Europe, primarily in the United Kingdom.