Cafe de Coral to speed up China expansion after mainland business, sops boost restaurant firm’s net profit
- Company revealed its plans after its net profit for 2020 almost quintupled, despite lower revenue in Hong Kong
- Cafe de Coral will continue to expand in Greater Bay Area, chairman says
Hong Kong-listed Cafe de Coral Holdings, one of Asia’s largest restaurant and catering groups operating quick-service restaurants, will speed up its expansion in mainland China with 17 store openings in the pipeline.
Cafe de Coral was able to take advantage of China’s fast recovery from the economic dislocation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. China’s economy was already growing at 2.3 per cent even while Hong Kong’s economy was registering a 6.1 per cent contraction in 2020.
The company “took advantage of the situation to increase the pace of network expansion, opening 13 new stores during the year with a strategic focus on Guangzhou and Shenzhen – and currently has 17 stores in the pipeline to open next year”, he said. As of 31 March 2021, the company had 352 stores in Hong Kong and another 121 in mainland China.
“As the mainland China market was able to [quickly] control the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, domestic consumption is expected to rebound at a faster rate,” Lo said.