The Hour Glass Limited

The Hour Glass Limited
Industry Watch Retailer
Founded 1979
Headquarters Singapore
Key people
Dr Henry Tay (Executive Chairman)
Dr Jannie Chan (Executive Vice Chairman)
Products Wristwatches
Revenue Increase SGD$734.9 million (2015)
Increase SGD$57.9 million (2015)
Website www.thehourglass.com

The Hour Glass Limited (SGX:AGS)[1] is a luxury watch retail group in Asia. The group currently owns and operates 41 retail stores across 9 cities.[2] Headquartered in Singapore, it reported revenues of $734.9 million for FY 2015.[3] Net profit was up by 5% to S$57.9 million from S$54.9 million in FY2014, outperforming a contracting regional luxury market.[4] In addition, the group also deals in luxury properties and owns high-end retail and commercial properties throughout Asia. Most notably was their recent purchase of two high-end Australian properties for $37.2 million in 2015.[5][6]

The group also owns Watches of Switzerland, a watch retail chain in Singapore that deals with middle to high-end Swiss timepieces. The group acquired the chain in October 2014 from the Jay Gee Melwani Group for $13.3 million.[7]

History

The Hour Glass was founded in 1979 by the husband and wife team, Dr. Henry Tay and Dato' Jannie Tay.[8] Dato' Jannie was the managing director of the company, and was instrumental in leading it for the first 25 years. Their first shop was opened in Lucky Plaza, a shopping mall along Singapore's renowned Orchard Road shopping belt through a partnership with Metro Holdings. The couple's concept of positioning luxury watches as upmarket collectors’ items, or investment opportunities proved to be so successful which led to their eventual leveraged-buyout of Metro Holdings in 1987.[9]

References

  1. "TheHourGlass Share Price Chart". Yahoo! Finance. Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  2. "About". The Hour Glass. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  3. Jeffrey, Tan (27 May 2015). "Hour Glass sees FY15 net profit rise 5% to $57.9 million on quality control, cost management". The Edge Media Group. The Edge Markets. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  4. Fiona, Lam (27 May 2015). "Hour Glass FY2015 net profit up 5%". Singapore Press Holdings. The Business Times. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  5. "Annual Report". The Hour Glass. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  6. Greg, Brown (31 October 2014). "Singaporean watch retailer The Hour Glass seizes prime Sydney CBD site". The Australian. The Australian Business Review. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  7. "The Hour Glass completes acquisition of home-grown Watches of Switzerland". The Straits Times. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  8. "5 Things You Should Know About The Hour Glass". The Motley Fool. The Motley Fool. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  9. Stephen, Wyatt; Adina, Wong. "The Hour Glass Company: The March of Time". Institutional Knowledge at the Singapore Management University. Singapore Management University. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
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