Restaurant sector reeling from revenue crunch

Pressure on the restaurant sector went unabated in August, with the proportion of interviewed establishments reporting a decline as their business prospects rose. The information was released in the latest business climate survey conducted on the restaurant and retail trade.
According to the information released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), the proportion of establishments that saw a year-on-year decline in revenue rose by 7 percentage points from a month earlier to 38% in August. On the other hand, 33% of interviewed establishments recorded an annual rise in August revenue, a decrease of 1 percentage point from July.
Asked in August, most of the interviewed establishments expected their business outlook to remain unfavorable in September. The proportion of interviewed establishments anticipating a year-on-year decline in receipts rose by 18 percentage points from August to 45% in September. At the same time, the proportion of interviewed establishments forecasting a year-on-year growth in receipts in September reduced by 2 percentage points to 18%.
Regarding the retail trade, the proportion of interviewed retailers reporting a year-on-year decrease in sales rose by 5 percentage points from July to 40%, with the corresponding proportion of motor vehicle retailers (80%) surging by 40 percentage points.
Retailers were cautiously optimistic about their business prospects in September, with 65% of the interviewed retailers anticipating their sales to increase year-on-year or remain steady. The proportion of interviewed retailers predicting a year-on-year sales decline in September decreased from 38% to 35%.
The business climate survey is compiled based on data provided by 186 restaurants and similar establishments, which accounts for 53% of the industry’s receipts, and 136 retailers, that is 70% of the industry’s receipts. DB