MACAO, August 19 – Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicates that local confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in mid-June 2022 had noticeable impacts on the business performance of restaurants and similar establishments and the retail business. Revenue at surveyed restaurants and related establishments fell 34.1% year-on-year in June, with Japanese and Korean restaurants and Chinese restaurants registering declines of 42.1% and 40.1% respectively. Meanwhile, sales at surveyed retailers fell 32.8% year-on-year in June; Automobile retailers (-55.7%), department stores (-51.2%), adult clothing retailers (-44.8%) and watch, clock and jewelry retailers (-39, 9%) posted a significant drop in sales, while supermarkets (+28.1%) saw an increase.
Compared to May, the receipts of restaurants & similar surveyed fell by 28.0% in June; revenue from Japanese and Korean restaurants, Chinese restaurants and local-style cafes, congee and noodle shops fell 34.3%, 33.0% and 29.7% respectively. Additionally, sales at surveyed retailers fell 21.7% month-on-month in June; Automobile retailers (-40.0%), cosmetics and sanitary ware retailers (-31.5%) and department stores (-30.8%) saw a notable drop in sales, while supermarkets (+23.4%) recorded an increase.
As for business expectations for July, respondents from both sectors were not optimistic about their outlook due to the lingering effects of the pandemic. 97% of restaurants and similar establishments surveyed expected revenue to decline month-on-month in July, with all Japanese and Korean restaurants surveyed and local-style cafes, Congee & Noodle Shops anticipating lower receipts. In contrast, about 2% of establishments surveyed expected their revenue to increase month-over-month in July. Meanwhile, 75% of retailers surveyed expected lower month-on-month sales in July, with corresponding shares for department stores (83%), watch, clock and jewelry retailers (83%) , with motor vehicle retailers (82%) and leather goods retailers (80%) reaching 80% or more. In contrast, 6% of retailers surveyed expected a monthly increase in sales in July, and the corresponding proportion for supermarkets (44%) was the highest.
The business outlook index (BOI), which reflects the trend of monthly variations in revenue anticipated by the establishments surveyed, was below 50 for restaurants and similar establishments (2.5) and retail trade (15.6) , indicating that respondents in both industries expected a less favorable business outlook in July compared to June.
The Restaurant and Similar Establishments and Retail Business Climate Survey sample includes 229 restaurants and similar establishments and 161 retailers, which accounted for 53.5% and 70.6% of industry revenue respectively in 2019. The results of the survey have not been extrapolated. The commercial performance of the reference month is reflected by the evolution of the receipts of the establishments and merchants of the sample of the reference month compared to the month of comparison. The BOI value is between 0 and 100; an index value above 50 implies that the industry has higher trading expectations for the coming month compared to the comparison month, while an index value below 50 indicates the opposite.
