Overall, an improvement in business for restaurants and similar establishments was recorded, on a year-on-year basis, in April, while the retail trade business performed in a less satisfactory manner, data released by the Statistics and Census Services (DSEC) yesterday revealed.
The percentage of restaurants and similar establishments seeing annual growth in receipts hit 52 per cent – up 5 percentage points from March – with the proportion of Western and Chinese restaurants with increased receipts up 15 percentage points and 10 percentage points, respectively.
Accordingly, the proportion of establishments recording a year-on-year decline in receipts fell by 12 percentage points to 23 per cent.
On the other hand, the proportion of retail trade businesses interviewed for the survey recording a year-on-year increase in sales in April, dropped slightly to 49 per cent, down from 51 per cent in March.
Sixty-eight per cent of retailers of Watches, Clocks and Jewellery recorded an increase in annual sales during the month. Retailers posting a year-on-year decrease in sales increased by 11 percentage points, to 38 per cent in April, while 77.8 per cent of surveyed motor vehicle retailers saw a slowdown in sales, year-on-year, during the month.
Looking ahead
While roughly half of the interviewed restaurants and similar establishments expect their receipts to remain stable year-on-year in May, 30 per cent predicted a year-on-year decline in receipts, still a 9 percentage point drop month-on-month.
Among the various types of establishments, 27 per cent of Chinese Restaurants and 19 per cent of Japanese and Korean Restaurants anticipated a year-on-year rise in receipts in May.
The number of retailers expecting a year-on-year decline in sales was higher than those expecting an increase in sales, at 38 per cent (up 5 percentage points) and 23 per cent (down 2 percentage points), respectively.
Among the various types of retailers, 80 per cent of those dealing with Leather Goods anticipated a year-on-year growth in sales.
The sample for the DSEC’s survey was selected based on the value of receipts of the establishments. It comprised 167 restaurants and similar establishments, accounting for 53 per cent of the industry’s receipts, and 135 retailers, accounting for 70 per cent of the industry’s receipts.
