The nation’s major listed restaurant operators yesterday reported mixed earnings results for last quarter amid fierce market competition.
Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (TTFB, 瓦城泰統集團), which operates six restaurant chains led by Thai Town Cuisine (瓦城泰式料理), said that net profit last quarter climbed to a record high of NT$91.79 million (US$3.08 million), a 4.77 percent annual increase from NT$87.61 million.
That translated into earnings per share (EPS) of NT$3.95, up from NT$3.77 a year earlier, TTFB said in a statement.
The strong performance could be attributed to seasonal demand during the Lunar New Year holiday, which helped stimulate sales last quarter, the company said.
TTFB, which has 100 restaurants in Taiwan and seven in China, saw its first-quarter revenue increase 2.31 percent year-on-year to NT$1.07 billion from NT$1.05 billion.
To further stimulate sales, the company plans to introduce its Thai restaurant chain, Very Thai (非常泰), to the Chinese market in the second half of the year, TTFB said.
Meanwhile, coffee and bakery chain operator Gourmet Master Co (美食達人) saw its net profit for last quarter grow 4.6 percent to NT$499.95 million from NT$477.78 million a year earlier, with EPS rising from NT$2.93 to NT$3.07 and sales increasing 14.77 percent year-on-year to NT$6.14 billion from NT$5.35 billion.
The improved bottom line was partly because of increased revenue contribution from the company’s US outlets, Gourmet Master said.
The company said it opened its 45th store in Fort Worth, Texas, last month and plans to gradually expand its footprint from US’ west coast toward the east coast.
Wowprime Corp (王品集團) bucked the trend by posting a 40.72 percent decline in net profit last quarter, which the company blamed on rising labor costs and intense competition.
Net profit fell to NT$77.37 million from NT$130.51 million a year earlier, and EPS slid to NT$1 from NT$1.7.
While sales were NT$4.1 billion last quarter, flat from a year earlier, gross margin fell from 50.63 percent to 46.88 percent over the period, it said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks
RSS