Retail sales in Hong Kong and Macau had continuous positive growth for cosmetics retailer Sa Sa International Holdings throughout its latest fiscal year.

Releasing its unaudited sales updates  for the fourth quarter to the end of March, the group says the upward momentum was mainly driven by increased in-store traffic and consumer consumption.

Benefitting from the retail market recovery, Sa Sa says it remains optimistic about the Hong Kong and Macau markets and will continue to optimise product offerings and enhance
the shopping experience for customers in the fast-changing markets.

On a year-on-year basis, the group’s turnover grew by 14.4 per cent. The turnover in Hong Kong and Macau increased by 17.8 per cent, while same-store sales rose 15.1 per cent.

Sa Sa says the sales performance was in line with expectations and was mainly driven by the 12.1 per cent growth in transactions. Local and mainland tourist transactions increased by 7.9 and 17.3 per cent respectively, while the average sales per transaction grew by 5.1 and 3.6 per cent respectively.

In other markets (including Mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Sasa.com) turnover had a marginal increase of 0.8 per cent.

At the end of the quarter, Sa Sa had a total 275 stores and counters, down from 288 at the same time a year earlier. Hong Kong and Macau, which each have a single-brand store, had two fewer stores at 118, while China lost one to end the quarter with 55. Singapore was steady with 20 outlets, while Malaysia gained one for a total of 72.

In February, the group announced it would close all its stores in Taiwan. It had 10 at the end of the quarter compared with 25 a year earlier.