Luk Fook Sees Improved Jewelry Sales

Hong Kong-based jeweler Luk Fook Holdings recorded its first quarterly growth for same-store sales in three years, driven by its gem-set jewelry offering and an improvement in Hong Kong.

The company reported a 2% rise in overall same-store sales across its 199 self-operated stores during the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended March 31. An 11% rise in the gem-set jewelry segment offset a 1% decline in gold sales.

The report did not include sales at Luk Fook’s licensed shops — stores that the company licenses other parties to operate — or e-commerce sales.

With a relatively low base and an encouraging improvement in Hong Kong and Macau in March, the group’s retail business recorded a turnaround after 12 consecutive quarters of decline, Luk Fook said.

Same-store sales in Hong Kong and Macau, where all its stores are self-operated, went up 1%, with gem-set jewelry rising 12% and gold products declining 5%. Aside from improved market sentiment, Luk Fook attributed the growth to an increase in high-value gem-set jewelry sales in March.

In mainland China, same-store sales rose 11% overall, with gold products increasing 16% and gem-set jewelry growing 6%.

The jeweler opened four self-operated locations in mainland China during the quarter for a total of 133 in that locale, alongside 47 stores in Hong Kong, 10 in Macau and nine in other areas. Luk Fook also had 1,296 licensed shops in China and one in Korea at the end of the quarter.