Restaurant performance in May dropped

Restaurants in the territory performed “less satisfactorily” in May 2017, compared with April, according to data collected in the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade, presented in a statement from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

Some 46 percent of establishments reported year-on-year growth in revenue, down by 6 percentage points from April, while those recording a year-on-year decline increased by 10 percentage points to 33 percent in May.

The restaurants surveyed in May said that they did not expect a significant improvement in business in June, with 22 percent anticipating a year-on-
year rise in revenue, up just 3 percentage points from their forecast in the previous monthly survey.

Among the various types of establishments, a quarter of the western restaurants predicted a year-on-year increase in revenue in June, up by 15 percentage points from May. Meanwhile, 45 percent of the “local-style cafes,” and congee and noodle shops expected their receipts to stay stable year-on- year.

On the other hand, the establishments expecting a year-on-
year decline in revenue climbed by 11 percentage points from May to 41 percent, with the corresponding proportions of western restaurants, Chinese restaurants, and Japanese and Korean restaurants rising by 20, 18 and 13 percentage points respectively.

As for the retail trade, also included in the business climate survey, the proportion of interviewed retailers reporting a year-on-year increase in sales in May fell by 3 percentage points month-on-month to 46 percent. At the same time, 36 percent of the interviewed retailers registered a year-on-year decrease in sales, down by 2 percentage points from April.

Retailers generally remained cautious about their business prospects for June, according to DSEC.