In an interview with Bloomberg, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group executive director Adrian Cheng indicated that the Hong Kong-based company had been approached as a potential investor by a number international diamond mines.
“There are a lot of opportunities [to invest in diamond mines], but it is not very easy because it is always in a foreign country, somewhere in Africa or Botswana, or anywhere around the world,” Cheng told Bloomberg. “We need to measure the political risks, economic risks, deployment of staff – it’s not an easy decision.”
In June this year, Chow Tai Fook announced it had entered into a conditional acquisition agreement to acquire the US-founded diamond brand Hearts on Fire. The jewellery retailer’s investigation into acquiring a diamond mine is reportedly a further indication that the company intends to continue its expansion into the diamond market and secure long-term supply as Chinese diamond demand continues to increase in line with rising incomes.
Cheng was cited as saying Chow Tai Fook already owned diamond processing and cutting factories but no mines.
He also reportedly confirmed the company had viewed some diamond mines located in Canada, however, he noted the retail giant was cautious with mergers and acquisitions, and that any final investment decisions would be based on the location and quality of the diamonds yielded.
In other Chow Tai Fook news, the company recently released its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2014, which showed a 22.4 per cent decrease in revenue to HK$29.3 billion (AU$4.6 b) compared to the HK$37.8 billion (AU$5.9 b) recorded over the same period in 2013. Overall same-store sales also declined 31 per cent.
The result was largely attributed to a slowdown in the sale of gold products compared to the previous year as well as the effects of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
“While we believe that the negative impact brought forth by the recent demonstrations [that] happened in Hong Kong should be temporary, we strive to extend our customer reach and improve our customers’ shopping experience to cope with the challenges ahead,” read a company statement.
Chow Tai Fook is a jewellery retailer that has more than 2,100 stockists in 280 cities across China, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea.