Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that 30% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reported a year-on-year growth in receipts in November 2016 owing to the Grand Prix and the Food Festival, up by 4 percentage points from October. Among them, 55% of the Chinese Restaurants showed a year-on-year rise in receipts, up by 6 percentage points from October, with the corresponding proportions of Western Restaurants (35%) and Japanese & Korean Restaurants (25%) increasing by 9 and 13 percentage points respectively from the previous month. Meanwhile, 50% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments recorded a year-on-year decline in receipts, similar to that in October, with the corresponding proportions of Japanese & Korean Restaurants and Chinese Restaurants falling by 13 and 6 percentage points from the previous month.
As regards retail trade, 39% of the interviewed retailers reported a year-on-year growth in sales in November, up by 4 percentage points from October. Among them, Leather Goods Retailers showed better performance, with all of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers recording a year-on-year increase in sales. Moreover, 62% of the Adults' Clothing Retailers, 50% of the Department Stores, and 11% of Motor Vehicle Retailers reported a year-on-year growth in sales, up by 12, 28 and 11 percentage points from October respectively. By contrast, the proportions of Supermarkets and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers that reported growth went down by 22 and 11 percentage points. On the other hand, 53% of the interviewed retailers recorded a year-on-year decrease in sales, down by 5 percentage points from October. The corresponding proportions of Department Stores decreased by 28 percentage points, while the proportions of Supermarkets and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery increased by 22 and 16 percentage points respectively.
The interviewed restaurants & similar establishments were cautious about their business prospects in December, with 19% anticipating a year-on-year rise in receipts, similar to that in November. Meanwhile, 40% of the restaurants & similar establishments predicted a decline in receipts, down by 3 percentage points from the previous month. Among the various types of restaurants, 14% of the interviewed Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops expected a year-on-year rise in receipts in December, up by 10 percentage points from the previous month. Meanwhile, the proportion of Japanese & Korean Restaurants that forecasted a year-on-year decrease in receipts declined by 6 percentage points from the previous month to 63%.
Retailers expected no significant change in their business in December. The proportion of interviewed retailers that anticipated a year-on-year growth in sales decreased slightly by 1 percentage point from November to 23%. All of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers expected their sales to increase or remain stable year-on-year in December, and 37% of the Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers anticipated a year-on-year sales increase. On the other hand, the proportion of retailers that recorded a decline in sales decreased by 5 percentage points to 41%.
The sample of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade was selected based on the receipts of the establishments, comprising 167 restaurants & similar establishments (accounting for 53% of the industry’s receipts) and 135 retailers (accounting for 70% of the industry’s receipts). The Survey results reflect only the business performance and the expectations of the sample restaurants and retailers, where no extrapolation of results has been conducted.
