Luxury watch retailer The Hour Glass has reported earnings of $157 million for FY2022 ended March 31, up 86% y-o-y.
Earnings per share for FY2022 at 22.34 cents is 91% higher than the previous year's at 11.71 cents.
The Hour Glass’s y-o-y revenue reached $1.03 billion in FY2022, as trending consumer demand for mechanical watches has broadened over the past few years with an “accelerating momentum”.
“During the latest financial year and, throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, interest in watches has reached new sets of younger, highly discerning watch enthusiasts and buyers,” the company said in a results statement.
Gross margin improved 32.7% compared to 29.2% in FY2021. This is attributed to the demand across the company’s network of 50 boutiques in the Asia Pacific region, particularly Australia and Malaysia.
Its balance sheet remained strong, with consolidated net assets of $751.6 million with cash and bank balances at $323.4 million.
See also: Trump wins Republican nomination, setting up rematch with Biden
The Hour Glass managing director Michael Tay said the company’s performance was boosted by significantly broadened fascination in high-quality mechanical watches.
“The interest we are experiencing among local clientele in each of the cities we are present in has become more pronounced and we believe this is likely to continue,” he added.
The Hour Glass has proposed a final dividend of 6 cents per share for FY2022.
Moving forward, the company believes that the demand momentum will remain buoyant, continuing its focus on organic development throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Shares in The Hour Glass closed 1 cent lower or 4.4% down on May 26 at $2.17.
