The Hour Glass Ltd - Asia's Best Specialist Luxury Watch Retailer

The Hour Glass Ltd ($0.84) -

About The Hour Glass
Established in 1979, The Hour Glass is one of Asia‟s premier luxury retail groups with 38
boutiques in nine key cities throughout the Asia Pacific region. The Hour Glass prides itself
as the world‟s leading cultural retail enterprise; pioneering the promotion and appreciation of contemporary luxury and horological culture. Having been recognised by international publications such as Monocle, Wallpaper and Vanity Fair as one of the most influential specialty retailers in the world,

The Hour Glass has been accorded the „Best Watch Retail‟ honours by Singapore Tatler in 2014.The Hour Glass has achieved international acclaim in the industry for its approach towards redefining specialty watch retail which includes the creation of thematic salons and placing an emphasis on developing consumer oriented cultural engagement platforms to promote the values of authentic luxury. L‟Atelier, a boutique dedicated to expressing the patrimony of traditional watchmaking; and Malmaison, a first multi-category luxury emporium in its stable to retail the finest and carefully curated collections in horology, sartorial tailoring, fragrances and leather goods – were bestowed the „Best Retail Concept of the Year‟ award by Singapore Retailers Association in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Malmaison lauded for its unique and differentiated shopping experience, bagged the highly coveted „Best Shopping Experience‟ award by Singapore Tourism Board in 2012. L‟Atelier and Malmaison were also awarded „Most Innovative Retail Concept of the Year‟ by the Federation of Asia-Pacific Retail Associations (FAPRA) in 2010 and 2013 respectively.

In its most recent FY2014 results, this specialist luxury watch company has recorded its best ever performance in history with a net profit of $59.715milion with EPS 8.22cts and is said to be continuing its growing momentum. The following is an extract of the company's latest press statement,

infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/THGMediaRelease...cement&FileID=353605

It has outperformed a contracting regional luxury market to deliver a 6% growth in profit after taxation on the back of an 8% rise in revenues for the full year ended 31 March 2015 (“FY2015”). An unrelenting emphasis on improving the quality of its retail network and merchandise mix coupled with a rigorous attention to cost management helped the Group deliver on its performance. The latest financial performance extends the Group‟s track record in improving its profitability over the past decade.

Operational efficiency
The Group posted profit after tax of $59.7 million on the back of revenues of S$734.9
million for FY2015. These results were delivered against a backdrop of slower macroeconomic growth in Asia and a tapering of Mainland Chinese spending on luxury goods. A testimony to the Group‟s merchandising strategy, gross margins maintained at a healthy 22.6% compared with 23.0% the year earlier. The Group held its expenses at 13.9% of its sales in FY2015. Earnings per share amounted to 8.22 Singapore cents, compared to 7.79 cents the year earlier.

Mr Michael Tay, Group Managing Director of The Hour Glass, said: “Navigating a unique specialist luxury watch retailer like The Hour Glass through a demanding business environment requires consistency and tenacity. These are the qualities that have enabled the Group to continue to grow as we remain focused on business sustainability over the long term.”

The Group‟s balance sheet strengthened with consolidated net assets at $408.7 million and with cash and cash equivalents of $98.3million.

New stores in the region
New store openings, expansion of its newly acquired „Watches of Switzerland‟ brand
and store refurbishments will remain at the heart of the Group‟s network development
strategy to entrench its leadership in the regional specialist luxury watch retail market.
In Singapore, the Group has just opened a Girard-Perregaux boutique at the Marina
Bay Sands and this comes after it secured the exclusive distribution and retail rights for Southeast Asia. Also opening in Singapore in the first half of FY2016 will be a 1,700 square feet multi-brand store at the Paragon Shopping Centre.

In Malaysia, the Group will be opening two new retail stores. The first store, „Arcade by The Hour Glass‟, is a multi-category luxury retail store that will make its debut in The Gardens, Mid Valley City in Kuala Lumpur. The second will be the opening of a Watches of Switzerland outlet in the same mall. This will mark the first time that Watches of Switzerland expands outside Singapore.

In Thailand, the Group will be opening a 1,800 square feet boutique in Emquartier in the second quarter, expanding its retail footprint to five key standalone stores in Bangkok.

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