Chow Sang Sang has shut a net 74 stores as it deals with economic challenges stemming from faltering diamond demand and record high gold prices.
Group sales for 2024 fell 15% to HKD 21.18 billion ($2.72 billion), with the company experiencing “significant pressure on jewelry demand” in both China and Hong Kong and Macau, Chow Sang Sang said Tuesday. Same-store sales — at shops open for at least a year — of gem-set jewelry declined 38% on the mainland and 24% in Hong Kong and Macau, primarily due to a drop in diamond demand, the company explained. Meanwhile, same-store revenue from gold-jewelry products decreased 13% in China and 19% in Hong Kong and Macau as the price of gold soared.
Proceeds from jewelry retail fell 15% to HKD 20.7 billion ($2.66 billion), while revenue from other businesses — including property — was down 35% to HKD 478.9 million ($61.6 million). Profit slid 20% to HKD 805.6 million ($103.6 million).
Revenue from mainland China slipped 15% to HKD 13.52 billion ($1.74 billion), while in Hong Kong and Macau sales declined 18% to HKD 7.33 billion ($942.3 million).
During the year, Chow Sang Sang expanded its lab-grown diamond line, The Future Rocks, including new collections with synthetic diamonds and sapphires.
The Hong Kong-based jeweler does not foresee a recovery in the near term and will continue to close stores to minimize its expenses, it said. As of December 31, 2024, the group numbered 958 locations.
“We expect that demand for gem-set jewelry will need more positive economic signals to begin an uptick, and sale of gold and gold products will be volatile as the price of gold hovers at record high levels,” the company noted. “Under the present economic climate, it would be prudent to continue our physical store network consolidation.”
Image: A Chow Sang Sang store in Hong Kong. (Shutterstock)
