Wowprime Corp (王品集團), the nation’s largest restaurant chain operator, on Friday reported sales for last month of NT$1.36 billion (US$43.5 million), a decline of 3.29 percent year-on-year and 12.81 percent month-on-month due to seasonal factors.
The company, which operates 15 restaurant brands and 433 stores in Taiwan, China and Singapore, said sales in China expanded by 30.79 percent annually to reach NT$530 million last month, while sales in Taiwan declined by 17.2 percent to NT$830 million.
Sales for the first six months of the year totaled NT$8.56 billion, a 1.73 percent yearly increase, with contributions from its China-based operations rising by 35 percent to NT$3.28 billion, Wowprime said.
While Wowprime’s 126 locales in China continue to perform well, recovery in Taiwan remains slow, with sales in the first half of the year contracting by 11.76 percent to NT$5.28 billion.
Wowprime closed four stores in the first quarter, including three from its unprofitable coffee store franchise, Famonn Coffee (曼咖啡). The company decided to terminate the franchise’s operations at the end of this month due to its performance failing to meet expectations since its establishment in 2011.
Last week, Wowprime chairman Steve Day (戴勝益) unexpectedly announced his plans to take early retirement amid a boardroom fight.
Day’s position is to be filled by cofounder and vice chairman Chen Cheng-hui (陳正輝), who previously served as head of China operations.
Meanwhile, Gourmet Master Co Ltd (美食達人), best known for its coffee shop and bakery chain 85°C (85度C), last week reported increases in sales for last month and the first half of the year.
Consolidated sales rose by 14 percent year-on-year to NT$1.53 billion last month, with cumulative sales over the first six months of the year increasing by 12 percent to NT$9.5 billion, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Between January and last month, the sales contribution of Chinese operations rose by 12 percent to account for 71 percent of the company’s total sales, Gourmet said.
The firm closed an additional 10 stores in China and five stores in Taiwan last quarter after it shut down 10 unprofitable stores in China in the first quarter, as the 11-year-old 85°C franchise is to depend on operational improvements to help deliver a robust earnings recovery this year, the company said.
In addition, 55 branches in Taiwan and China were upgraded to second-generation stores in the first half the year, as the company is counting on store remodeling to enhance sales performance in the second half, it said.
“Store closures are likely to be limited in the second half of the year, as the company has practically eliminated all underperforming stores, CIMB Securities Ltd analyst Jack Lin (林泓彥) said in a note on Wednesday last week.
However, the firm opened no new stores in the US last quarter, as the company faces slower-than-expected expansion in the country due to a longer license application process, Lin said.
“Store expansion is expected to speed up next year, when the company starts to open new stores outside of California,” Lin said.
Additional reporting by Kevin Chen
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