Wowprime Corp (王品) yesterday reported a surge in net income for last quarter and said that its reorganization project has begun to bear fruit.
The restaurant chain operator’s net income for the January-to-March quarter rose 58.4 percent year-on-year to NT$130.5 million (US$4.33 million), with earnings per share reaching its highest level in two years at NT$1.7, compared with NT$1.07 for the same period last year.
Wowprime attributed the strong performance to its ongoing reorganization efforts and to efficient cost control, which offset declining revenues in Taiwan.
First-quarter sales totaled NT$4.1 billion, a 2.5 percent decrease from a year earlier, with revenue from Taiwan-based outlets dropping 8.21 percent to NT$2.29 billion, while sales from Chinese outlets rose 5.9 percent to NT$1.81 billion, the company said.
As part of a corporate overhaul in the wake of a food safety scandal in 2014, Wowprime closed 28 restaurants in Taiwan last year, an investor relations official said by telephone.
However, Wowprime still plans to add between 30 and 40 new stores by the end of this year in China and to relocate some of its existing outlets in Taiwan as part of a cost control effort, the official said.
Wowprime said it is also planning to launch two cuisine brands in Taiwan and two in China this year.
“In response to rapid changes in customer demand, the company is developing new cuisine brands targeted at the casual dining market,” Wowprime chairman Park Chen (陳正輝) said in a statement.
The CooK BEEF (酷必) brand, which features fusion diner food, received positive feedback from younger customers after its launch in January, Chen said.
Wowprime, which operates 19 brands, including Wang Steak (王品台塑牛排) and Tasty (西堤), has a total of 416 outlets worldwide.
Revenue generated by the company’s domestic operations accounted for about 56 percent of its total sales last quarter, while sales from China made up 44 percent, data showed.
Shares of Wowprime yesterday rose 2.74 percent in Taipei trading to NT$150 before the earnings announcement, surpassing the benchmark TAIEX, which edged up 0.04 percent to 9,860.62 points.
Hot in the kitchens
‧ The firm said reorganization and cost control efforts are paying off.
‧ However, revenue from outlets in Taiwan dropped 8.21 percent, while revenue from Chinese outlets rose 5.9 percent.
‧ Two new cuisine brands are planned for Taiwan.
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