EQS-News / 24/11/2020 / 16:57 UTC+8 
 
     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
 
  Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Announces FY2021 Interim Results and 
 
  The Unaudited Key Operational Data from 1 October to 18 November 2020 
 
Financial Highlights 
 
                                     2020        2019 YoY Change 
                              HK$ million HK$ million 
 
For the six months ended 30 
September 
Revenue                            24,673      29,533     -16.5% 
Gross profit                        8,143       8,147       0.0% 
Gross profit margin                 33.0%       27.6% 
Adjusted gross profit margin        35.1%       30.7% 
(1) 
Core operating profit (2)           4,078       3,527     +15.6% 
Core operating profit margin        16.5%       11.9% 
(2) 
Profit before taxation              3,284       2,200     +49.3% 
Profit attributable to              2,232       1,533     +45.6% 
shareholders of the Company 
Earnings per share - Basic           0.22        0.15     +45.6% 
(HK$) 
Interim dividend per share(3)        0.16        0.12        N/A 
(HK$) 
 
(1) Adjusted gross profit margin, a non-IFRS measure, eliminates 
       the effect of unrealised loss (gain) on gold loans, which 
       the Company believes is useful in gaining a more complete 
            understanding of its operational performance and the 
                              underlying trend of its businesses 
(2)        Core operating profit and the corresponding margin, a 
         non-IFRS measure, being the aggregate of adjusted gross 
    profit and other income, less selling and distribution costs 
     and general and administrative expenses ("SG&A"), which the 
           Company believes is useful in gaining a more complete 
            understanding of its operational performance and the 
                         underlying trend of its core businesses 
(3)      The dividend payout ratio for 1HFY2021 is approximately 
                                                           71.7% 
 
(Hong Kong, 24 November 2020) Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited ("Chow Tai 
Fook Jewellery Group", "the Group" or "the Company"; SEHK stock code: 1929), a 
     Hong Kong Main Board listed company with over 90 years of heritage, today 
     announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2020 
     ("1HFY2021"). 
 
     The Group's revenue declined by 16.5% to HK$24,673 million in 1HFY2021 
     (1HFY2020: HK$29,533 million). Gross profit remained stable at HK$8,143 
 million (1HFY2020: HK$8,147 million). Adjusted gross profit margin was lifted 
 to 35.1% in 1HFY2021, thanks to the improvement in like-for-like gross profit 
  margin of gold products resulted from the surge of international gold price. 
     Core operating profit benefitted from the adjusted gross profit margin 
   improvement with core operating profit margin widened to 16.5% in 1HFY2021. 
     The Group's profit before taxation increased by 49.3% to HK$3,284 million 
     (1HFY2020: HK$2,200 million). 
 
     Profit attributable to shareholders of the Company increased by 45.6% to 
     HK$2,232 million (1HFY2020: HK$1,533 million) mainly benefitted from our 
   like-for-like gross profit margin improvement, one-off government subsidies 
    and rent concession, plus foreign exchange gain, netting off impairment on 
assets. Basic earnings per share were reported at HK$0.22 (1HFY2020: HK$0.15). 
   The Board has declared an interim dividend of HK$0.16 per share. The payout 
     ratio approximates 71.7% in 1HFY2021. 
 
Business Review 
 
   While business in Mainland China witnessed a steady recovery on the back of 
the easing COVID-19 situation in 2QFY2021, performance in Hong Kong, Macau and 
 other markets remained lackluster. Thus, Same Store Sales ("SSS") in Mainland 
 China stayed flat in 1HFY2021 supported by a positive Same Store Sales Growth 
("SSSG") in 2QFY2021 as business activities and consumer sentiment revived. In 
     Hong Kong and Macau, SSS was down by 65.7% during the period as customer 
     traffic remained stagnant. 
 
  The Group's retail network expanded to 4,153 POS, with a net addition of 303 
    POS as at 30 September 2020. During the period, we continued our expansion 
strategy in Mainland China and opened a net of 286 CHOW TAI FOOK JEWELLERY POS 
 in franchised format, among which approximately 51% were located in Tier III, 
    IV and other cities. Retail Sales Value ("RSV") growth in Tier III, IV and 
     other cities outpaced Tier I and II cities during the period, largely 
 attributable to the new openings. While in Hong Kong and Macau, the Group had 
    a net closing of 5 POS in touristic areas. A net of 2 POS in other markets 
  were closed as their business operations were also affected by the pandemic. 
 
     To meet today's ever-changing customer expectations, our differentiation 
     strategy continues to make inroads into diverse customer segments. During 
   1HFY2021, CTF * HUÁ Collection received buoyant demand. Its contribution to 
     our gold jewellery and products RSV in Mainland China further expanded to 
     35.6% during the period. 
 
   T MARK, the Group's diamond ingredient brand recorded a RSV growth of 29.1% 
   year-on-year in Mainland China while a drop of 57.9% in Hong Kong and Macau 
     during the period. T MARK products accounted for 22.3% and 27.1% of the 
 diamond products RSV in Mainland China and Hong Kong and Macau, respectively. 
   An AI Diamond Grading Certificate powered by artificial intelligence ("AI") 
and blockchain technology will be first available for the diamonds (0.30 carat 
    or below) of T MARK in the Hong Kong market in the first half of 2021. The 
  Certificate offers a highly consistent and truthful diamond grading standard 
     plus an extra natural diamond quality assurance to customers. 
 
 During the period, we kept on exploring and improving our e-commerce business 
     and online-to-offline ("O2O") retailing. Our e-commerce included major 
  platforms such as Chow Tai Fook eShop, Tmall, JD.com, Vipshop, while our O2O 
  related business covered O2O distribution (i.e. routing online orders to POS 
     for delivery service), CloudSales 365 and Cloud Kiosk. RSV of the Group's 
 
     e-commerce and O2O related business in Mainland China surged by 21.8% in 
     1HFY2021, contributing to 5.6% of RSV and 14.3% of retail sales volume in 
     Mainland China. 
 
   In 1HFY2021, we used CloudSales 365 to cultivate our own private domain and 
  the performance was outstanding. Through this tool, we have reached over two 
 million customers, of which approximately 50% who made a purchase through the 
 tool were new customers. We also noticed that average selling price and sales 
   conversion rate sold through the tool were generally higher than those from 
     e-commerce platforms. Cloud Kiosk allowed customers to enjoy a shorter 
    transaction time and wider product selection. There were over 1,000 spots, 
     primarily at our POS in Mainland China as of 30 September 2020. 
 
Prospects and Strategies 
 
 Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Chairman Dr. Henry Cheng remarked, "Despite the 
   challenges posed by the evolving situation of COVID-19 and uncertainties in 
   the global economy, the Group pressed ahead during 1HFY2021. The Group will 
   continue to adapt to the ever-changing business environment, allowing us to 
     mitigate risks and overcome challenges through innovations." 
 
 With a solid foundation that has already been built through our "Smart+ 2020" 
     strategic framework, we are pleased to move forward with our Dual Force 
Strategy. On one hand, we continue to expand our footprint in an agile way. On 
     the other hand, we focus on digital empowerment in order to deliver 
  exceptional customer experience that creates long-term brand differentiation 
     and loyalty. 
 
     We believe that our Dual Force Strategy will guide us in successfully 
 navigating challenges ahead and enable our customers to experience a blissful 
    fulfillment through jewellery. We are also delighted to report that we are 
   steadily moving towards our four long-term goals, namely, (1) to strengthen 
     our market leader as we seek further market penetration; (2) to develop a 
comprehensive jewellery ecosystem; (3) to be a tech-savvy jewellery company by 
     harnessing innovation and technology; and (4) to improve operational 
     efficiency through digital transformation. 
 
The Unaudited Key Operational Data from 1 October to 18 November 2020 
 
From 1 October up to 18 November 2020, the year-on-year changes of RSV and SSS 
are as follows: 
 
                              (% change compared to the same 
                              period last year) 
                              Group 
RSV growth                                  +17.7% 
 
                              Mainland China    Hong Kong, Macau 
                                               and other markets 
RSV growth                            +25.7%              -11.1% 
Contribution to Group RSV              83.6%               16.4% 
 
                              Mainland China Hong Kong and Macau 
SSSG                                  +12.0%              -24.3% 
SSS volume growth                     -10.7%              -28.1% 
 
SSSG by product 
                                       -6.2%              +39.1% 
 
· Gem-set / Platinum / 
K-gold jewellery 
 
                                      +13.3%              -49.5% 
 
· Gold jewellery and 
products 
 
 Remark: The unaudited key operational data from 1 October 2020 to 18 November 
   2020 was prepared based on the latest available management accounts and the 
     information currently available to the Group. The position remains to be 
     reviewed by the Company's auditor, its audit committee and the Board. 
 
  - End - 
 
Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited 
 
Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited (the "Group"; SEHK stock code: 1929) was 
 listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in December 2011. 

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November 24, 2020 03:57 ET (08:57 GMT)