Good afternoon, I'm your MC today, Heidi. Welcome to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited Interim Results Announcement 2023, 2024. I will first introduce members of the management to you. We have Mr. Conroy Cheng, Vice Chairman, Ms. Sonia Cheng, Vice Chairman, Mr. Kent Wong, Managing Director, Mr. Hamilton Cheng, Executive Director and CFO. Ms. Sonia Cheng will take us through the highlights of the performance and group strategies, and then Mr. Wong will take us through the latest business situation, to be followed by Mr. Hamilton Cheng, who will take us through the financial highlights. Finally, Mr. Conroy Cheng will talk about market overview, to be followed by Q&A session. Over to Madam Sonia Cheng.
Good afternoon. I'm pleased to announce our interim results for the financial year 2024. First of all, I would focus on some important highlights.
Despite the macro challenges, the group has managed to deliver a strong set of interim results. Due to our transformation strategy being very effective and good progress with reform work, we are happy to see that core operating profit increased 37.7% to HKD 6 billion. On a constant currency, it was up 44.3% YoY. Our revenue rose 6.4% to HKD 49.5 billion. On a constant currency basis, the growth is 11.3%, validating our clear focus towards higher value growth. Profit attributable to shareholders in the first half increased by 36.4% to HKD 4.6 billion. With a rise in profit, the board has declared an interim dividend of HKD 0.25 per share. Payout ratio is about 54.9% for the first half.
In line with our business seasonality, we expect stronger cash flow in the second half. Overall payout ratio will stay between 70% and 80%. During the first half, we achieved great progress in terms of revamp of our brand. We successfully unveiled HUÁ Collection products with our first-ever 360-degree global marketing campaign, which received overwhelming response in terms of media coverage and engagement with targeted audience. We're committed to delivering quality growth and adopting a bottom-up approach centered on the five strategic priorities: brand revamp, product optimization, operational efficiency enhancement, talent cultivation, and accelerated digitalization to sustain our growth trajectory. As we steadily transition into a new phase of higher value growth, we are focused on enhancing earnings quality and return on equity and capital.
During the first half, we were encouraged to observe a continued improvement in mobility and retail activity in our key markets. We'll continue to optimize the return to our shareholders. When it comes to flow of traffic of our customers and retail activities, things continue to improve. Our RSV in Hong Kong, Macau, and other markets surged by 58.5%, while that in Mainland China it increased by 10.8%. Building on the positive momentum observed in preceding quarters to sustain profitability enhancement, we stay focused on executing an optimized pricing strategy and cost management. Coupled with strengthening gold price, we adjusted gross profit margin increased by 140 basis points to 23.8%. At the same time, SG&A ratio improved by 140 basis points.
As a result, core operating profit margin expanded by 280 basis points to 12.1%. For financial year 2024, in the first half, we have implemented the following measures. We formulated our centralized global marketing campaign strategy last year to ensure consistency and maximize synergy and impact. We kicked off our first-ever 360-degree global marketing campaign. On top of Hearts ON Fire , Vela Collection, another signature diamond collection, namely the Chow Tai Fook Dancing Lily, was also developed. We continue to deepen our natural diamond strategy, and we'll also continue to be the pioneer in craftsmanship. This effectively raises diamond awareness among our customers, and it is validated by the very good response to our diamond exhibition in September. Following great success, we are going to launch another exhibition in Beijing.
In terms of our strategies, I want to focus on a number of highlights for the second half. We will focus on the five major strategies underlining sustained growth trajectory. The brand transformation underscores Chow Tai Fook's unwavering commitment to upholding a culture of creativity and innovation. In the coming summer, we are going to have refreshed store images, so that we can offer something very brand new in terms of display to our customers. Hopefully, you will all come and visit us. Other than enhancing productivity and customer experience, we're also launching new customer loyalty program. Through diversified services, we can cater to our customers with different lifestyles and personalities. To stay responsive to emerging customer trends, we are also rationalizing our product portfolio and optimizing product planning process to boost our sales and expand gross profit margin.
More exciting signature and fashion collections cater to respective target audiences to drive demand will be unveiled as we steer along this transformation journey. With the five key initiatives, we're confident that we will progress steadily towards our goals in the medium term. I will now turn over to Kent.
Thank you, Sonia. I want to share with you what happened in the Mainland business. We opened a net of 189 Chow Tai Fook jewelry stores during the period, mostly in franchised format. New openings were mainly located in shopping malls. As of end of September, there were 7,458 stores in the Mainland, where 76.9% were franchised POS.
During the period, RSV of franchised POS in the Mainland rose by 17.1%, driven by the rapid store opening over the past 12 months, and an overall ramp-up of store productivity. The group is fully committed to enhancing store productivity and customer experience. We will achieve greater high-value growth. We expect within the financial year of 2024, there will be a net opening of 300-400 stores in Mainland China. We will stay agile and nimble to effectively calibrate our resources to capture new growth opportunities. In terms of e-commerce, during the recent Double Eleven festival, we sell very well on Tmall and JD.com. In jewelry category, we ranked number one, and GMV transaction strongly grew by close to 90%.
During this period, our e-commerce contributed 4.6% to our RSV in Mainland China and 12.2% in volume. ASP increased from HKD 1,800 in first half of 2023 to HKD 2,100 in first half 2024. Enhancing digital customer engagement has always been one of our focuses. We continue to boost our online presence through targeted digital marketing initiatives. For Hong Kong and Macau and other markets, during the first half, they continued to benefit from the progressive return of Mainland tourists. RSV increased by 58.5% during the first half, driven by the return of Mainland tourists. The average daily traffic at our storefront in Hong Kong and Macau increased by 51.1% YoY.
RSV in Hong Kong grew by 36.6% and 105.5% in Macau in the period. In terms of retail network management strategy, we'll continue to execute effective cost management to enhance profitability, while continuing to assess market opportunities for potential additions. As for other markets, we expanded our retail network in Thailand and Canada to capture retail tourism and increase in local demand during the first half. We have also added in Hainan, Beijing and Shanghai, our new duty-free store network. During the period, we focused on gold and diamond products. In August, we have relied on the inspiration by the Tang Dynasty to come up with this new HUÁ collection offering, bringing new experience to our customers. With exquisite craftsmanship, creative and innovative designs, the HUÁ collection continues to evolve with consumer preference to sustain its popularity and strong brand positioning.
It contributed about 37.3% to gold products RSV in the Mainland during the period. Our global marketing campaign also helped promote sales in Hong Kong and Macau, with RSV surging by over 350% in the period.... If you have not yet had the chance to meet our latest designs, let me show you this video. Now, let's talk about diamonds. We continue to enhance and optimize our product offerings. During the first half, we enriched our gem set product offerings with the launch of a new diamond collection under the HEARTS ON FIRE brand. The Vela collection, touting the unparalleled sparkle of signature cut diamonds, featuring a French-cut pavé setting. In late September, we kicked off our diamond brand's global marketing campaign, led by our diamond-themed exhibition, Beyond Time, held in Tai Kwun, Hong Kong.
As mentioned earlier, this exhibition is one of our key initiatives to champion our pioneering legacy and leadership in craftsmanship and natural diamond jewelry design. It also effectively raises diamond awareness and enhances consumer desirability of gem set jewelry. The exhibition showcased dazzling and vibrant diamond art pieces, alongside art installations that celebrated the beauty of these precious stones. Now, I would invite you to look at another video. To conclude, we will continue to strengthen our brand positioning and enhance our brand desirability. We'll stay relevant and ahead of the industry curve, with a clear vision to serve our targeted audience with timeless jewelry pieces. Now I will turn over to Hamilton to go through our financial performance.
Thank you, Kent. I will first walk you through some major P&L items and key financial ratios.
Despite market uncertainties beyond our control, the group's revenue was up 6.4% to almost HKD 49.5 billion for the first half. On a constant currency basis, our revenue would have grown by 11.3%. Our efforts in optimized pricing strategy and operational efficiency enhancement, coupled with benefit from gold price hedge, coupled with benefit from gold price hedge, yielded resilient underlying performance. Adjusted gross profit margin improved by 140 points to 23.8%. Core operating profit margin expanded by 280 points to 12.1%. Amid the improved and high operating rev leverage, driven by strong sales growth in Hong Kong and Macau, as inbound visitation recovered, our SG&A ratio improved by 140 points to 12.4%.
SG&A expenses decreased by 4.5% in the period, due to our sustained efforts in cost management. In line with our commitment to enhancing earnings quality, COP grew 37.7% to HKD 6 billion, a much faster pace than our top line growth. On a constant currency basis, COP would have achieved an even higher growth of 44.3%, surpassing management's expectations. Next, let's look at some revenue breakdown. With a steady ramp-up of source and selection approach to new store openings, wholesale revenue in the Mainland grew by 2% or 7.6% on constant currency basis. Its share to the Mainland's revenue arrived 56.4%, up 1 percentage point from a year ago. By product, Mainland consumers' demand for gold products was buoyant despite the strength in gold prices.
Riding on strong reception of the HUÁ Collection, the launch of new designs, together with our global campaign, supported 12.8% increase in gold products revenue on top of the high base last year. As a result, gold products contribution to Group's revenue further expanded by 450 points to 18.1%. Quality gem set products were still well-received by consumers. HEARTS ON FIRE brand, distributed exclusively through Chow Tai Fook, demonstrated a growth of 42%. It's a strong statement to the positive reception of our quality products curated for targeted audiences. Concerning same-store growth, ASP in both our major markets was resilient and exhibited positive growth. In the Mainland, from October to 18th of November, same-store growth in Mainland China was up 6.7%. In the second half, we will continue to benefit from this low base figure.
In Hong Kong and Macau, the market continued to benefit from the progressive return of tourists. Same-store sales growth of both places remained buoyant at 47.6%. As for SG&A sales, as we mentioned, we have optimized our efficiency, driving it down by 4.5%. With better operational efficiency, the expenses further dropped in Hong Kong and Macau by 140 points to 12.4%. Because we have centralized global efforts to do promotion, we enjoy a drop of 46.3% in terms of our expenses. Now, profitability analysis. In the first half, we enjoyed robust COP growth by 37.7%. Hong Kong, Macau, and other markets, COP improved by 487%, which is very encouraging. Profitability also enhanced significantly in our key segments.
In the Mainland, COPM rose 250 points to 12.8%, while in Hong Kong, Macau, and other markets, it jumped 650 points to 8.9%, achieving a record high since 2016. In terms of cash flow, we have generated very strong cash flow from our business. After reduction of our rental expenses, the net flow amount was HKD 7.1 billion, up by 47% from the previous year. Compared with the HKD -3.3 billion figure, the pro forma free cash flow during the period was as high as HKD 6.5 billion. We are actively reviewing how to allocate our assets in a way to maximize return for our shareholders.
We are confident that with the support of strong cash flow, we are going to create very good and sustainable dividend return for our shareholders. Finally, I would like to take you through the capital structure analysis. From time to time, we stay prudent and review our capital structure to maximize efficiency and returns of available financial resources. Excluding gold loans, which reflects our true underlying gearing, we're in a net cash position. By the end of September, we have an ample liquidity of HKD 5.9 billion on our balance sheet. Thank you. I will now hand over to Conroy to talk about market outlook.
Thank you. Riding on our strong set of financial performance in first half of 2024, we expect continuous recovery and normality in the second half.
The government's focus on domestic consumption will support retail and economic activity in the Mainland and Hong Kong, Macau. We are encouraged to observe resilient jewelry industry sales outpacing overall retail sales growth between April and September in the Mainland and Hong Kong. In response to the current market conditions, our approach is to play to our strength of being vigilant and nimble to act. This includes effectively calibrating our resources to capture new growth opportunities, as well as targeted and selective capital allocation to maximize capital efficiency and investment returns. In Mainland China, the economic policy adjustments reiterated expanding domestic demand and improving employment. We expect a gradual and uneven recovery amid uncertain global economic conditions, but remain confident in the mid to long-term growth prospects of the jewelry market and the economy.
In terms of Hong Kong and Macau, inbound tourism and labor market continue to drive consumption, demand, and growth. The latest policy address laid down measures to boost tourism in Hong Kong, including enhanced collaboration with the Mainland and the development of signature tourism products to obtain Hong Kong's diversified cultural landscape, which will support further recovery. With a continued improvement in foot traffic and a push from government's favorable initiatives, we expect to sustain benefits from improved operating leverage. With our commitment of delivering sustainable long-term stakeholder value creation, we have made clear achievements in the first half of financial year 2024 along the journey of transformation. Transformation is on track.
We drove quality earnings growth with 37.7% growth in COP to HKD 6 billion in the first half of 2024, and sustained profitability improvement with a 280 points improvement in core operating profit margin. In order to enhance our competitiveness and enhance earnings quality, we executed a clear and defined roadmap across 5 strategic priorities. We will continue to focus on the execution of pricing optimization strategy and cost management. We are charting steady progress in transition to a new phase of higher value growth to maximize return to our shareholders. That concludes our presentation. Thank you.