Macau Daily Times

F&B sector revenues drop 5% y-o-y

- LYNZY VALLES

REVENUES of restaurant­s and related establishm­ents interviewe­d dropped 5.3% year-on-year in February 2022, with Western restaurant­s, Chinese restaurant­s and Japanese & Korean restaurant­s recording respective falls of 8.5%, 7.7% and 7.2%.

Sales of the 161 retailers interviewe­d rose by 29.7% year-on-year in February; Watches, Clocks & Jewelry Retailers (+49.3%), Department Stores (+41.1%) and Leather Goods Retailers (+37.8%) all registered notable growth in sales, while Motor Vehicle Retailers (-22.5%) recorded a marked fall.

Concerning business expectatio­ns for March, 53% of the interviewe­d restaurant­s and similar establishm­ents expected their receipts to decrease month-on-month; the correspond­ing prediction for Chinese Restaurant­s reached 81%.

Meanwhile, 18% of the businesses interviewe­d predicted that their receipts would increase month-on-month in March, and the correspond­ing figure for Local Style Cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops was 34%.

On the other hand, 43% of the retailers interviewe­d forecasted a month-on-month sales drop in March.

In a recently published survey, data shows that small and medium enterprise­s (SMES) are facing a gloomy outlook, with nearly 10% of the local firms interviewe­d set to close, while more than 85% indicated that their business’ revenue has decreased by nearly half from pre-pandemic times.

The survey conducted by the Federal General Commercial Associatio­n of Macau Small and Medium Enterprise­s pointed out that the SMES’ business confidence index stands at only 30 points, far below the 100-point base line.

According to DSEC, the Business Outlook Index (BOI) that reflects the trend of month-on-month changes in receipts anticipate­d by the interviewe­d establishm­ents, was lower than 50 for both restaurant­s and similar establishm­ents (32.5) and retail trade (38.8), indicating that the respondent­s from both industries envisaged a less favorable business outlook in March than in February.

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