Customers are seen in front of Quanjude's Wangfujing Store on August 11, 2013.

Chinese restaurant chain Quanjude, known for its trademark Peking roast duck, failed to dodge the coronavirus assault, with its half-yearly financial disclosure on Thursday revealing a whopping 148 million yuan ($21.49 million) net loss. 

Restaurants reporting losses is by no means a rarity as the virus-inflicted plight grips the nation's catering sector, an industry observer said, expecting this year to be money-losing for most catering service providers in China.

Shenzhen-listed Quanjude recorded 313 million yuan in revenue in the first half, down 58.77 percent from the year before. Its net losses totaled 148 million yuan during the period, compared with 32 million yuan in net profits a year earlier.

Quanjude's business centers on dining-in services and banquets. With the pandemic discouraging consumers from group gatherings, dining at restaurants either for family reunions or commercial banquets is less popular, Zhao Jingqiao, executive director of the research center for the services economy and catering sector under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

Quanjude also took a battering from the fallout of the pandemic on the tourism market, as the century-old brand's culinary heritage makes the restaurant chain a tourist attraction itself, Zhao said.

Quanjude is unlikely to stop bleeding in the foreseeable future, as its financial disclosure estimated a net loss in the range of 180-210 million yuan in the third quarter.

The pandemic slammed the catering sector at large. Hotpot chain Haidilao posted 965 million yuan in net losses in the first half of the year, its first loss since it floated on the Hong Kong market in September 2018. Haidilao cited the COVID-19 outbreak, which had materially affected its restaurants. 

Restaurant chain operator Jiumaojiu, which pulled off a listing in the Hong Kong market in January, reported 85.9 million yuan in half-yearly losses.

Unless a coronavirus vaccine arrives to tame the disease globally, catering consumption, dining-in services in particular, won't return to pre-virus levels, Zhao commented, adding that uncertainties clouding the economic outlook also weigh on consumers' spending.

Restaurants have already shifted more toward delivery business, he said. 

Take Haidilao. Its half-yearly report revealed that it opened 173 new restaurants during the period, bringing its global network of outlets to 935. It also launched semi-finished eat-at-home dishes, and expanded its online sales conduits with the Haidilao app and third party e-commerce platforms. As a result, it raked in 409.6 million yuan in delivery business in the first six months, up 123.7 percent year-on-year.

Global Times