Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the business performance of restaurants & similar establishments remained subdued as the proportion of interviewed establishments recording a year-on-year decline in receipts rose by 7 percentage points from July to 38% in August. The corresponding proportions of Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops (31%) and Chinese Restaurants (46%) grew by 10 percentage points and 4 percentage points respectively. On the other hand, 33% of the interviewed establishments showed a year-on-year rise in receipts in August, a decrease of approximately 1 percentage point from July.
As regards 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. Meanwhile, 40% of the interviewed retailers registered a year-on-year sales rise in August, a growth of 3 percentage points from the preceding month. All of the interviewed Leather Goods Retailers showed a year-on-year sales growth; the corresponding proportion of Supermarkets (67%) went up by 22 percentage points.
The interviewed restaurants & similar establishments expected their business outlook to remain unfavourable as the proportion of interviewed establishments anticipating a year-on-year decline in receipts rose by 18 percentage points from August to 45% in September. Among the interviewed establishments, 48% of the Japanese & Korean Restaurants, 47% of the Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops and 55% of the Western Restaurants predicted a year-on-year decrease in receipts in September, representing respective growth of 22 percentage points, 20 percentage points and 18 percentage points from August. On the other hand, the proportion of interviewed establishments forecasting a year-on-year growth in receipts in September reduced by 2 percentage points to 18%.
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, a 2 percentage point growth from August. Among them, 67% of the Watches, Clocks & Jewellery Retailers and all of the Leather Goods Retailers forecasted a year-on-year sales rise or steady performance in September, up by 28 percentage points and 20 percentage points over the preceding month respectively; the corresponding shares of Department Stores (46%) and Motor Vehicle Retailers (30%) fell by 27 percentage points and 20 percentage points respectively. Meanwhile, the proportion of interviewed retailers predicting a year-on-year sales decline in September decreased from 38% to 35%.
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 186 restaurants & similar establishments (accounting for 53% of the industry’s receipts) and 136 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.
