‘Retailers going through fate worse than death’

The Retail Management Association said on Thursday that its members have only received major rent cuts from one developer, and many businesses are suffering a pain “worse than death” as they struggle to stay afloat amid the worsening pandemic.

Retailers have repeatedly called on landlords to offer rent concessions, as strict anti-epidemic measures ground many businesses to a halt.

However, the association’s chairwoman, Annie Yau Tse, said such appeals have not gone very far.

“See how the [retail] figures go; we’ll give you a reply later; we’re waiting for management approval and directions – [we’ve received] many such replies [from landlords] and some didn’t even give replies,” Tse told a radio programme.

Tse said apart from one developer who’d agreed to steeper rent cuts, two other developers only offered partial rent concessions.

The retail association chief added that businesses have also been plagued by staffing problems, with many workers coming down with the virus.

She urged the government to roll out the strictest of measures to contain the outbreak as soon as possible.

The grim picture painted by the association came as new data showed Hong Kong’s private sector contracted for a second month and at a faster pace.

IHS Markit’s purchasing managers’ index for Hong Kong came in at 42.9 in February, down from 48.9 in January.

A figure below 50 represents a contraction.

“The heightening of Covid-19 disruptions, including the introduction of strict restrictions, sent the Hong Kong SAR private sector shrinking at the fastest pace since the 2020 downturn,” said Jingyi Pan, economics associate director at IHS Markit.

“Demand and output conditions both deteriorated sharply while business confidence worsened further.”