Tse Sui Luen Jewellery Limited, one of the largest jewellers in Asia, announced its results for the year ended 31st March 2020.
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The group’s turnover for the year was approximately US$375.96 million, representing a decrease of 28.3% from US$524.48 million for the year ended 31st March 2019. The group recorded a loss attributable to owners of the company for the year of US$11.57million as compared to a profit attributable to owners of the company of US$6.99 million for FY2018/19. The loss per share for the year was 4.64 US cents.
“Clouded by external challenges including the aggravated tensions between the US and China, sociopolitical unrest in Hong Kong, the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak and a general downturn in consumer sentiment, the group’s results of the Year have been negatively and significantly impacted,” said Mrs. Annie Tse, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the group.
During the year, the group’s Hong Kong business faced unprecedented severe challenges. The group also saw a deterioration in the sales performance of Macau stores during the first quarter of 2020 amid the coronavirus outbreak. The turnover of the Hong Kong and Macau retail businesses decreased by 44.6% as compared to FY2018/19 with minus 41.6% same store sales growth. As gold price soared, the average amount per invoice recorded a 3.4% growth. In response to the turbulent retail market, the group acted swiftly and adopted various cost saving measures including ongoing
negotiations with landlords for rental relief or reduction, minimization of operating costs and store network streamlining.
The decline in the group’s retail sales in Mainland China was mainly due to the escalating US-China trade tension, which had caused a slowdown in China’s economy dating back to the beginning of the year, as well as the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, which sent sales plummeting as the country locked down in response.
The group recorded a year-on-year decrease of 20.8% in the turnover of its self-operated stores in Mainland China, with same store sales growth being minus 21.3%.
The group believes that e-business will become a significant and sustainable source of sales revenue. In recent years, its e-business has been steadily growing and achieved a 17.2% year-on-year increase in turnover for the year. Apart from its own official website, which registered booming sales, the group has also cooperated with popular e-commerce platforms, such as JD.com, Tmall, Taobao and HKTV mall, to further expand its online presence. The group will continue to capitalize on the prevalence of e-commerce in Mainland China and strengthen O2O effects.
Looking ahead, many uncertainties continue to blight the prospect, Mrs. Tse expected that caution would still be required. The worldwide economy in the upcoming financial year is likely to stay under the shadow of further trade negotiations between the US and China.
“In this challenging time, the group will continue to adopt a prudent approach and reinforce cost control measures to weather such tough business environment, which may potentially impede our performance for an extended period of time. Nevertheless, we will strengthen our solid base in Hong Kong while sustaining brand presence to capture emerging growth opportunities within the Greater Bay Area,” she said.
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“We are clearly at a critical juncture, but we will continue to provide customers with exquisite products and personalized services, adhering to the Group’s brand positioning of ‘Trendsetting Craftsmanship’. To embrace the new retail era is to create a seamless shopping experience for customers to shop anytime and anywhere,”stated Mrs. Tse, adding that the group will attach greater importance to ebusiness development and seek to elevate customer experience in an online environment, which will help attract consumers and strengthen brand equity, contributing to the future success of the group.