By Bingyan Wang


Shares of China Tourism Group Duty Free jumped Monday on the company's solid first-half revenue growth and expectations for the travel rebound to continue.

The duty-free retailer rose 8.5% in Hong Kong and 9.0% on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, outperforming the Hang Seng Index's 1.1% increase and the Shanghai Composite Index's 0.4% gain.

The world's largest retailer for travelers said Friday that its revenue for the first half of 2023 increased 30% from a year earlier to 35.86 billion yuan ($4.97 billion). Its profit fell to CNY3.86 billion from CNY3.94 billion, but analysts said the result was within expectations and lower discount levels for products should improve profits.

Consumer spending in the duty-free industry is still recovering, analysts from Minsheng Securities said in a note. China Tourism Group Duty Free's average transaction value during the holidays was lower this year due to the lingering Covid-19 impact, but consumption power is expected to pick up in the second half of the year, the analysts said.

Analysts from Guosen Securities said the company's shares have priced in pessimistic expectations of the consumption environment, outbound-travel recovery and the progress of Hainan province's independent customs system. With the company's market capitalization back at levels before late June 2020, the stock is expected to rise in the second half of 2023, the analysts said.

Both investment banks kept their buy rating on the duty-free retailer.


Write to Bingyan Wang at bingyan.wang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-09-23 2328ET