Koufu expects dining-in ban to hit revenue and operating profits for FY2021

KOUFU Group is expecting both revenue and operating profits for FY2021 to be hit by the latest one-month ban on dining-in, and said it will not recover to pre-Covid levels.

This comes as the Covid-19 situation continues to evolve amid uncertainty about whether further tightening measures - including another circuit breaker - will be imposed, it said in a business update. The full extent of the financial impact on the group for FY 2021 is thus difficult to ascertain at present, it said.

The food court-operator said the group's total revenue on a same-stores basis, excluding new outlets, fell by 10 per cent for the Jan 1 to April 30 period, from the corresponding period in 2019, pre-Covid.

The group said that although its revenue for the first four months of 2021 showed further improvement over that of the last few months of 2020, it expects revenue and operating profits for the period starting this month to be hit again because of the bar on dining in.

Koufu has implemented the Covid-19 mitigation measures required by the governments and regulators in the markets in which it operates, mainly Macau and Singapore. It has also activated its business-continuity plans.

In Singapore, the group's business operations in food courts, coffee shops and restaurants have been hit by lower footfall in the malls and tertiary institutions. Even though these outlets remain open for takeaways and deliveries, food court operations have nonetheless been affected by there being fewer people in food courts near offices, down town, tourist hotspots and in tertiary institutions, where staff and students have switched to home-based learning.

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However, the group reports a rise in in-store takeaways and delivery orders among its takeaway kiosks, such as Dough Culture and R&B Tea.

The group said it is more prepared this time around to provide delivery services using the various delivery platforms, as well as through its Koufu Eat application. It expects business operations to improve once the restrictions are lifted and dining-in allowed again.

It reports a strong and healthy cash flow and is confident of meeting its operating requirements during this period.

The counter closed at 64 Singapore cents on Thursday, up 0.5 Singapore cents or 0.79 per cent, before the announcement.