Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated the business performance of restaurants & similar establishments and retail trade weakened after the summer holidays. The proportion of interviewed restaurants & similar establishments reporting a year-on-year decline in receipts grew by 14 percentage points from August to 44% in September. There were 42% of the interviewed Chinese Restaurants recording a year-on-year drop in receipts while 36% reporting stable receipts, up by 18 and 21 percentage points respectively from August. Meanwhile, the proportion of interviewed establishments recording a year-on-year growth in receipts went down by 23 percentage points from August to 29%.

As regards retail trade, 34% of the interviewed retailers registered a year-on-year sales decline in September, up by 18 percentage points from August, with the corresponding proportions of Motor Vehicle Retailers (60%), Adults’ Clothing Retailers (50%), as well as Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (39%) rising by 38, 35 and 28 percentage points respectively. Meanwhile, 37% of the interviewed retailers reported a year-on-year sales increase in September, down notably by 32 percentage points from August. The corresponding proportions of Motor Vehicle Retailers (10%), Leather Goods Retailers (40%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers (22%) tumbled by 68, 60 and 56 percentage points respectively.

There were 52% of the interviewed restaurants & similar establishments anticipating their business performance to be stable year-on-year in October, up by 3 percentage points from September. Among the various types of interviewed establishments, 45% of the Western Restaurants and 54% of the Chinese Restaurants expected their sales to remain at similar levels as in October 2017, up by 13 and 3 percentage points respectively from September. Meanwhile, 31% of the interviewed establishments predicted a year-on-year decline in receipts in October, similar to the proportion in September; the corresponding share of Western Restaurants (30%) dropped by 12 percentage points, while that of Chinese Restaurants (22%) rose by 10 percentage points.

Retailers expected a further slowdown in business in October, with the proportion of interviewed retailers anticipating a year-on-year sales increase dropping by 6 percentage points from September to 30%. Among the various types of interviewed retailers, 11% of the Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers and 60% of the Leather Goods Retailers expected a year-on-year sales rise in October, down by 28 and 20 percentage points respectively from September, while the corresponding share of Supermarkets (56%) increased by 22 percentage points. On the other hand, 25% of the interviewed retailers predicted a year-on-year decrease in sales, up by 5 percentage points from September. The corresponding proportion of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers surged by 45 percentage points to 56%.

The sample of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade was selected based on the value of 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 were not extrapolated and only reflect the assessment of the business performance and expectations of the sample restaurants and retailers.