Taste • Gourmet Group announces 2018/19 annual results

Strong revenue and net profit growth attributable to the significant increase in the number of restaurants and customers

Results Highlights:

• Recorded a strong revenue growth of 43.0% to nearly HK$307.71 million
• Profit attributable to owners of the Company accelerated significantly by 50.9% to HK$27.25 million
• Total number of restaurants increased by 46.7% to 22 as at 31 March 2019
• Four new restaurants opened in April and May 2019
• Number of customers grew strongly by 46.3% to over 2.1 million
• Proposed a final dividend of HK$0.015 (2017: HK$0.022) per share, together with the interim dividend of HK$0.015 per share, the total dividend for the Year reached HK$0.030 cents per share
• Dividend payout ratio reached 42.6%

HONG KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach – 31 May 2019 – Taste*Gourmet Group Limited (“Taste*Gourmet Group” or the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”; GEM stock code: 8371) is pleased to announce its annual results for the year ended 31 March 2019 (the “Year”).

For the year ended 31 March 2019, the Group recorded a revenue of approximately HK$307.71 million, representing a significant increase of 43.0% as compared with the figure in the last year. The Group’s profit attributable to owners of the Company surged approximately 50.9% to HK$27.25 million. Due to the overwhelming results of the Year, the board of the directors recommended a final dividend of HK$0.015 (2017: HK$0.022) per share, together with the interim dividend of HK$0.015 per share, the total dividend for the Year reached HK$0.030 per share.

Commenting the annual results for the Year, Mr. Wong Ngai Shan, Chairman and Executive Director of Taste*Gourmet Group, said, “In the past year, despite the rising costs of raw materials, labor, rent and utility services, which have adversely affected the profitability of the catering industry, the Group has steadily improved its business through adopting comprehensive measures of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, thus becoming more profitable than our peers.”

As at 31 March 2019, the Company owns 20 self-operated restaurants in Hong Kong, while the Group welcomed over 2.1 million customers during the Year, representing a significant increase of 46.3% when compared to last year. During the Year, the Group opened and acquired seven new restaurants, namely Nabe Urawa Restaurant at the Uptown Plaza in Tai Po, a dessert restaurant Sweetology, Dab-Pa Jing Chuan Hu at the Metroplaza in Kwai Fong, the first Japanese ramen restaurant under our own brand, Rakuraku Ramen in Lee Tung Avenue in Wanchai, and three Parkview restaurants from the A1 Bakery situated at the New Town Plaza in Shatin, the Metroplaza in Kwai Fong and PopWalk in Tsang Kwan O (The Parkview restaurant situated at the PopWalk was rebranded as Xiang Hui in April 2019).

The Fiat Caffé was reopened in October 2018 as a modern Vietnamese restaurant Madam Saigon, which together with The Pho are both 50% owned by the Group and 50% owned by the Lubuds Food and Beverage Group. In April 2019, the Group opened a new Nabe Urawa restaurant at the Park Central in Tseung Kwan O, a new Xiang Hui restaurant at the PopWalk in Tseung Kwan O and two new Rakuraku Ramen restaurants at the MegaBox in Kowloon Bay and the Kornhill Plaza in Taikoo.

During the Year, the Group entered into a licensing agreement from Japan to license the rights to the exclusive and unlimited usage for all countries outside of Japan of a Japanese ramen brand “???” or “Takano”. The first “???” ramen restaurant will open at the K11 MUSEA, Victoria Dockside in Tsim Sha Tsui during the third quarter of 2019.  In addition to the Takano Ramen restaurant, the Group has also entered into two new lease agreements to open a Nabe Urawa restaurant at the Nina Mall II in Tsuen Wan and a Dab-pa Chinese restaurant at the Citygate in Tung Chung.  Both new restaurants are expected to open during the third quarter of 2019.

Taking about the future prospects, Mr. Wong concluded, “The food and beverage sector in Hong Kong, although competitive, has ample opportunities for the better operators. We now operate 26 outlets as compared to 15 outlets as at 31 March 2018, representing a 73.3% increase. In addition, we have committed three new leases so far and we will continue to discuss with shopping mall landlords for new potential locations. Supporting by our strong local management team, the Company can accurately identify consumer tastes, fully seize the opportunities of development and bring continued success.”

He added, “Believing that excellent customer service is an essential element of a ‘happy dining experience, we developed a series of measures to motivate our staff to provide better service. As a result, Dab-Pa Cuisine restaurant attained the ‘Quality Service Award 2018’ for the second time after 2016 from the MTR. We believe value-for-money is the key to our success, customers need to feel that they are getting their money’s worth of quality food as well as high standard of services, but we will not rest on our laurels and will continue to improve our food quality and services. We will also continue to seize every opportunity and strive to maximize the interests of our shareholders and the Company.”