Hong Kong retail sales dip 4.1% y/y in May

It's an improvement compared to April, however.

Hong Kong's retail sales in May were at HK$39.0bn, down 4.1 y/y by value, and this was noted to be similar to the Bloomberg consensus estimate for a 4% decline.

According to a research note from Barclays, however, the magnitude of the decline has improved from the 9.9 percent y/y decline seen in April as the jewellery and watches segment saw a less steep y/y decline as anticipated.

Barclays noted that jewellery and watches sales decreased at a slower rate, at 24.5 percent y/y in May. It said the decline in retail sales of jewellery and watches was less steep at 24.5 percent y/y, compared to April’s 39.9 percent y/y decline.

The report said that this was well anticipated as the base comparison for April was tougher compared to May due to the gold rush that started in April 2013.

In terms of retail sales value, May saw HK$7.94bn in jewellery and watches sales, similar to the HK$7.88bn in April and HK$7.92bn in March.

The report also said that outside of jewellery and watches, trends were mixed across other segments. By volume, May overall retail sales were down by 4.7 percent y/y.

Here's more from Barclays:

Department stores sales up 2.3% y/y in May: Department stores saw a 2.3% y/y increase in sales in May versus the -2.1% y/y decrease seen in April.

Clothing and footwear saw slower growth rate: Growth in sales for this category was at 5.0% y/y in May, a deceleration compared to the +11.7% y/y growth seen in April.

Cosmetics and medicines growth similar: May sales growth for this category was 8.0% y/y, marginally lower than the +8.7% y/y growth seen in April.

Consumer durables sales and food, alcohol & tobacco growth improved slightly: May sales for consumer durables saw a 5.2% y/y decline. This is better than April sales that were down by 6.6% y/y. Food, alcohol & tobacco saw +6.5% y/y growth in May, better than the +5.4% y/y growth seen in April