HONG KONG'S fast-food sector is leaving investors with a bad taste in their mouths.
Witness the appalling results posted by two chains, whose restaurants span the island, Kowloon and the New Territories.
Cafe de Coral Holdings two weeks ago admitted that interim profit attributable to shareholders had dived by 28 per cent to $56.51 million despite a 15 per cent rise in turnover.
Now its rival, Fairwood Holdings, has said interim attributable profits dived 84 per cent even though turnover rose 25 per cent.
Both have blamed an exceptionally rainy summer for the fall, but that explanation seems to ignore some serious structural problems.
Inflation is in the neighbourhood of 8.6 per cent, but their price rises have been limited to five per cent.
The price of raw produce from China is rocketing - food inflation has reportedly hit 50 per cent in some mainland cities this year.