HCMC – Jewelry sellers predicted profits from their jewelry trade in this year’s wedding season would drop sharply as the purchasing power became weaker due to the strong surge of the gold price which is forecast to keep unabated in the rest of the year.
By Thanh Thuong - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – Jewelry sellers predicted profits from their jewelry trade in this year’s wedding season would drop sharply as the purchasing power became weaker due to the strong surge of the gold price which is forecast to keep unabated in the rest of the year.
Nguyen Thi Cuc, deputy director general of Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company (PNJ), said that her company might saw a year-on-year rise of 18% in sales revenue thanks to the gold price increase in the year’s second half, but profits would go down as the purchasing power was weaker than last year.
Seconding her opinion, head of jewelry sales department of Saigon Jewelry Holding Company (SJC) Tran Thi Ngoc Suong said the purchasing power could hardly rise in the July-December period as people cut down spending while the gold price skyrocketed.
Though they earned ample profits in the year’s first six months, bullion traders found it hard to fare well during this wedding season.
In January – June period, SJC’s revenue was up 30% for both gold bars and jewelries. However, due to the economic woes and the increasing gold price, SJC jewelry wholesale shops saw a decrease in turnover, explained Truong Cong An, SJC vice head of jewelry sales department.
Being in the same situation, Vu Minh Chau, director general of the famous gold brand in Hanoi, Bao Tin Minh Chau, said that revenue as well as profits from jewelry often picked up from 30% to 50% every year in this season. To date, however, the purchasing power remained low and the company’s best-selling collection faced slow consumption.
To survive and warm up the market, companies have mapped out some solutions.
Sacombank Jewelry Co., Ltd. launched new collections with impressive designs and attractive promotion program while Bao Tin Minh Chau Company imported more machinery and technology so as to produce slim and slight but durable jewelry to reduce the selling price and to stimulate the purchasing power.