With consolidated sales projected to rise more than 20 percent this year, employees of restaurant chain operator Wowprime Corp (王品集團) are likely to see a pay raise of between 1.5 percent and 4.5 percent starting January next year, company chairman Steve Day (戴勝益) said yesterday.
The company plans to increase hourly wages for part-time workers to NT$118, from NT$113 now, Day said. Full-time employees will also see their pay increase by 1.5 percent to 4.5 percent, he said.
“We hope to do the best to ease the uncertainty that our employees may have felt this year because of a sluggish economy,” Day told reporters before the company’s annual party yesterday.
Wowprime, which operates 14 restaurant chains with a total of 347 outlets in Taiwan and China, reported consolidated sales of NT$13.47 billion (US$454.45 million) in the first 11 months of the year, up 21.18 percent from a year earlier, company data showed.
The company is targeting 20 percent growth in consolidated sales next year on the back of a positive outlook for the food and beverage sector, with 90 new outlets set to be opened in Taiwan and China, Day said.
Wowprime also plans to launch more new restaurant brands next year, including one that targets the middle-end market in July, Day said. While the launch of new brands would increase the company’s expenditure, Wowprime aims to maintain an operating profit margin of 10 percent or more in the coming years, he said.
Other listed restaurant operators’ latest sales results released earlier this week indicate a strong sentiment in the nation’s food and beverage sector this year.
Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (瓦城泰統集團), which operates three restaurant chains with about 60 outlets in the nation, posted NT$2.08 million in consolidated sales in the first 11 months, up 20.11 percent from a year earlier, surpassing its full-year consolidated sales last year.
Gourmet Master Co (美食達人), which operates the 85°C bakery-and-coffee chain with outlets in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Australia and the US, also reported NT$13.75 billion in consolidated revenue from January through last month, up 14 percent from a year ago.
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