Emperor appears to tick away nicely

The gross profit margin of Emperor Watch and Jewellery (0887) is expected to rise slightly in the second half given its solid performance in July and August.mini storage But the margin of the jewelry and watch retailer fell to 24.2percent in the first half - from 26.7percent a year back - due to the rising cost of promotional campaigns. The watch business, however, was unaffected by the mainland economic slowdown as Emperor mainly sells middle-end items, priced between HK$50,000 and HK$300,000, according to investor relations director Anna Luk Man-ching. Jewelry sales rose 32percent to HK$749 million, thanks to healthy demand and economies of scale. Managiself storageg director Cindy Yeung expects shop rents to rise at a slower pace. The company declared 68 HK cents as interim dividend on a net profit of HK$156.7 million. Meanwhile, Chow Sang Sang (0116), another jewelry retailer, saw its interim net profit surge by 40percent to HK$614.7 million, thanks to the sharp fall in gold prices and rising tourist arrivals from the mainland. It proposed an interim dividend of 14 HK cents. Watch retailer Hengdeli (3389), on the other hand, said its interim net profit tumbled 51.5percent to 273 million yuan (HK$346 million) due to the volatile economic environment as well as higher labor and rental expenses. EUNICE LEUNG 迷你倉