JAPANESE RESTAURANTS' GROWTH NEXT PRIORITY

       Oishi Group will spend next year expanding its Japanese restaurant chain after having built up its bottled green-tea business.
       "We expect to increase the contribution of our Japanese restaurants to 50 per cent next year, up from 45 per cent currently, as a balance to the other half of beverage products, which are Oishi ready-to-drink green tea, Amino OK functional drinks and Coffio ready-to-drink coffee," CEO Tan Passakornnatee said yeaterday.
       "The strategic move will help the group to diversify risks to many businesses," he said.
       The group will allocate Bt200 million to open 20 outlets, mainly Shabushi and its other new concepts.
       The Kazokutei soba and udon-noodle format will debut by mid-November in either the Central Pinklao or Seri Centre shopping mall, while maido Okini cafeteria was launched in midyear.
       By year-end, Oishi expects to have 109 Japanese restaurants operating, up from 100 now. About five of the new branches will be Shabushi restaurants.
       "We have already passed the fearful period of a deepening slump in the economy. I myself am confident and quite proactive about the future," he said.
       The economy this quarter should be better than the first two quarters, driven by improving stock and realestate markets, subdued oil prices and higher employment, he said.
       "We have seen a significant increase both in numbers of customers and their average spending by 3-4 per cent since the middle of this year," he said.
       Oishi Group scored 51-per-cent growth in net profit in the first six months, the best performance in five years.
       First-half sales zoomed 23 per cent to Bt3.4 billion over the same half last year, of which the Japanese restaurant business was up 24.5 per cent Bt1.55 billion and the beverage business up 21.1 per cent to Bt1.86 billion.
       While the net profit of the Japanese restaurant business declined slightly by 0.7 per cent, the net profit of the beverage business, thanks mainly to Oishi green tea, skyrocketed 72.7 per cent.
       "We enjoyed strong sales growth in the first six months of this year, which caused a dramatic decline in fixed costs, such as labour," he said.
       Oishi Group commands 40 per cent of the Bt7-billion-plus Japanese restaurant market.