Dimmed brightness

Local restaurant operator and caterer Future Bright Holdings Ltd. plunged into the red for 2015, posting a net loss of HK$45.9 million (US$5.74 million) from a net profit of HK$168.8 million one year before, attributing the business downturn to the city’s softened economy.
In a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday night, the company claimed that the annual loss was ‘the first time for many years, with its operating environment being competitive and tough during that year’. It explained the net loss as mainly due to the losses in its food souvenir business, its restaurants and food court in Zhuhai as well as the slowdown in its restaurants in the Special Administrative Region.
In terms of turnover, the Hong Kong-listed company actually generated a total of HK$824.2 million, which is only a slight decrease of 4 per cent compared to HK$858.9 million for 2014. In particular, its turnover deriving from its restaurants dropped by 11.2 per cent year-on-year to HK$663.3 million, accounting for 80.5 per cent of the total.
Nevertheless, its ‘unprofitable’ food souvenir business posted a jump of 210.1 per cent in turnover, amounting to HK$45.9 million compared to HK$14.8 million in 2014.
In addition, the industrial catering, food wholesale and property investment business of the group all registered year-on-year growth turning over 21.4 per cent, 9.6 per cent and 26.8 per cent, and amounting to HK$48.3 million, HK$36.4 million and HK$30.3 million, respectively.
‘Management hopes that Macau will have a better economic condition in 2016 so as to lead to a better performance of the Group’s business,’ the company wrote in the filing.
Despite the net loss, the restaurant operator proposed declaring a special final divided of HK1 cent for the year of 2015.