00052.HK announced that it expects the profit attributable to shareholders for the year ended 31 March 2022 to decrease significantly by about 70 per cent compared with the profit attributable to shareholders of about HK $153.6 million for the year ended 31 March 2021.
In the last quarter of the year, the fifth wave of the 2019 coronavirus outbreak posed unprecedented challenges to the catering industry in Hong Kong. Stringent social distance measures, the suspension of restaurant business as a result of infection by frontline staff, and negative market sentiment have adversely affected the Group's revenue and profits.
On the cross-border side, the city closures and dining restrictions implemented in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in March 2022 also affected the Group's performance in that year.
The Group received a total of about HK $272.5 million in government subsidies last year (including subsidies for the employee Employment Protection Scheme of about HK $183.2 million). However, these subsidies dropped to about HK $58.9 million in that year, resulting in a drop in profit for the year.