Lates News

The Citibank research report stated that the total retail sales value in Hong Kong in May increased by 2.4% year-on-year, ending a 14-month continuous decline, which is higher than expected. The decline in retail sales for the first five months of the year narrowed to 4%. Citibank believes that the local retail recovery is mainly driven by five factors, including a 22% year-on-year increase in passenger volume during the May Day Golden Week, which also rose by 20% in May; stable Mainland consumer visits of around 570,000 to 580,000 per weekend since the third quarter of last year, reflecting the negative impact; a 3% depreciation of the Hong Kong dollar against the Renminbi and a 9% depreciation against the Yen in the first half of the year, which benefits local consumption; the wealth effect brought by the prosperous capital market and the decline in HIBOR; and the low base effect. The bank expects that retail sales will rebound in the short term and benefit retail rental stocks such as Link REIT, Kerry Properties, and Hysan Development. They also believe that retail data for June can sustainably recover.