Golden quarter for Luk Fook Holdings

Jewellery company Luk Fook Holdings (International) has had a golden second quarter with sales up for both gold and gemset jewellery.

With a relatively low base and a slight drop in gold price, there were encouraging sales of gold
products in both the Hong Kong/Macau and Mainland China markets. Same-store sales of gold products rose 21 per cent over the previous quarter.

With an improved market as well as the introduction of new products, there was a 16 per increase in same-store sales of gemset jewellery in Hong Kong/Macau.

While the sales performance in July and August was promising on the mainland, September was less productive because of the lack of promotional activities for the Mid-Autumn Festival. This saw second-quarter sale-store sales of gold products in China rise by 19 per cent, while gemset jewellery sales fell by 2 per cent. Overall, therefore, the quarter’s sales were up by only 11 per cent, lower than the first quarter.

Hong Kong/Macau achieved better-than-expected growth of 18 per cent for same-store sales of gemset jewellery, while gold sales rose 21 per cent. As a result, the quarter improved by 18 per cent overall.

At the end of September, Luk Fook had 33 more shops in China, including 24 licensed outlets. With an improved market environment, the group’s target for shop openings next year has been increased from 50 to 80.

Overall, the group had 216 Lukfook-branded shops at the end of the quarter, including 151 on the mainland, 45 in Hong Kong, 10 in Macau and 10 overseas, including a new shop in San Francisco.

Together with 1325 licensed shops in China and one in Korea, there was a total 1542 Lukfook shops worldwide, of which 1476 shops were on the mainland.