Outbound tourism from China, weaker demand for luxury goods and the slowdown of economic growth have diluted Hong Kong-listed Chow Tai Fook sales over the three months to March 31.

Its real sales for mainland China and overall would be down by 21 per cent and 22 per cent respectively, if constant foreign-exchange rates were used.
On the mainland, there was a deteriorating trend in same-store sales, which were down 6 per cent from the previous quarter.

Same-store sales growth in Hong Kong and Macau continued to drag, dropping by 23 per cent – attributed to the fall in mainland tourists to Hong Kong and weak consumer sentiment in the regions.

Two points of sale were opened by the group during the quarter, including one jewellery outlet. Two watch outlets were closed in China, and two Hearts on Fire standalone stores were opened in Taiwan. This means the group has added 62 outlets this year to have a total of 2319 at the end of the quarter.