The Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (TTFB, 瓦城泰統集團) yesterday said its net income for the first half of this year grew 1.7 percent year-on-year to NT$173.1 million (US$5.728 million) from NT$170.2 million, as the company added new outlets.
Earnings per share in the first half totaled NT$7.44, higher than the NT$7.32 it posted the previous year, the firm said in a statement released yesterday.
From January through last month, cumulative sales increased 5.3 percent to NT$2.05 billion from NT$1.95 billion a year earlier, according to the statement.
TTFB — which operates Thai Town Cuisine (瓦城泰式料理) and five other restaurant chains — attributed the performance to its strategy of opening new stores and developing several brands.
So far this year, TTFB has opened eight domestic outlets, company data showed.
TTFB said that it plans to increase its total number of outlets from 104 to 125 this year, including increasing the number from 99 to 114 outlets in Taiwan and from five to 11 in China.
The company plans to expand its reach in second and third-tier cities, as the catering market is almost saturated in the Taiwan’s major cities, it said.
The expansion project would focus on TTFB’s three major brands with strong growth potential: Thai Town Cuisine, Very Thai Noodles (大心泰式麵食) and Rice Bar (時時香), the firm said.
Rice Bar, which was launched in January, is expected to generate same-store sales of nearly NT$8 million per month, according to company statistics.
TTFB plans to launch a seventh brand focused on Southeast Asian cuisine in the fourth quarter, company chairman Charles Hsu (徐承義) said earlier this year.
The company also showed interest in expanding overseas, saying that it plans to expand to the US market in the next three years.
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