XN000022-1992-04-14 — Page 5

TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 1992

PROVISIONAL STATISTICS ON RESTAURANT BUSINESS

FOR FOURTH QUARTER OF 1991 RELEASED

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THE VALUE OF TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THE RESTAURANT SECTOR LAST YEAR, ESTIMATED AT $38,500 MILLION, INCREASED BY 9% WHEN COMPARED WITH 1990, ACCORDING TO PROVISIONAL STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY (TUESDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

HOWEVER, AFTER DISCOUNTING THE EFFECT OF PRICE CHANGES OVER THE PERIOD, TOTAL RECEIPTS ACTUALLY DECREASED BY 3% IN VOLUME.

THE VALUE OF TOTAL PURCHASES OF RESTAURANTS INCREASED BY 6% ΤΟ $14,800 MILLION OVER 1990.

THE DECLINE IN TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THE SECTOR WAS DUE

TO THE WEAKENED BUSINESS OF THE CHINESE RESTAURANTS AND NON-CHINESE RESTAURANTS IN THE YEAR.

COMPARING WITH 1990, THE TOTAL RECEIPTS OF THE CHINESE RESTAURANTS DROPPED BY 7% IN VOLUME ALTHOUGH THEY ROSE BY 5% IN VALUE.

SIMILARLY, THE TOTAL RECEIPTS OF NON-CHINESE RESTAURANTS REGISTERED A GROWTH OF 8% IN VALUE BUT A DECLINE OF 4% IN VOLUME.

ON THE OTHER HAND, THE TOTAL RECEIPTS OF FAST FOOD SHOPS RECORDED A STRONG GROWTH IN 1991, OF 34% IN VALUE AND 21% IN VOLUME.

THIS SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH WAS MAINLY DUE TO THE EXPANSION OF SOME MAJOR FAST FOOD CHAINS IN 1991.

THE TOTAL RECEIPTS OF BARS INCREASED BY 22% IN VALUE AND 7% IN VOLUME WHILE THOSE OF OTHER MISCELLANEOUS EATING AND DRINKING PLACES ROSE BY 30% IN VALUE AND 16% IN VOLUME.

THE VALUE OF TOTAL RESTAURANT RECEIPTS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1991, ESTIMATED AT $10,200 MILLION, WAS 9% HIGHER WHEN COMPARED WITH A YEAR AGO. BUT IN VOLUME TERMS, THE RECEIPTS WERE 2% LOWER.

THE VALUE OF TOTAL PURCHASES BY RESTAURANTS IN THIS QUARTER WAS $4,000 MILLION, 6% HIGHER THAN IN THE SAME QUARTER OF 1990.

AMONG DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESTAURANTS, THE TOTAL RECEIPTS OF FAST FOOD SHOPS RECORDED THE LARGEST INCREASE IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1991 OVER THE SAME QUARTER OF 1990, BY 46% IN VALUE AND 35% IN VOLUME.

FOR THE CHINESE RESTAURANTS AND NON-CHINESE RESTAURANTS, TOTAL RECEIPTS WERE UP BY 3% AND 9% RESPECTIVELY IN VALUE, BUT ACTUALLY DROPPED BY 8% AND 3% IN VOLUME.

/COMPARING THE