F&B sales rebound strong in March

Receipts grew 8.6% yoy as restaurants, fast food outlets and food catering all posted significant gains.

These three F&B segments grew at a faster clip compared to February 2012, with fast food outlets surging the most to a 12.7% yoy rise from its -1% slide in the previous period. Food caterers (8.9% growth) and fast food outlets (7.2%) also rallied, with only the other eating places segment weakening to a 4.9% growth.

Here's more from Statistics Singapore:

Sales of food & beverage services (seasonally adjusted) decreased 1.8% in March 2012 compared to the previous month. Compared to a year ago, sales of food & beverage services went up 8.6% in March 2012.

Month-on-Month Change (Seasonally Adjusted). After seasonal adjustment, receipts of fast food outlets, other eating places (such as cafes and canteens) and food caterers declined between 2.1% and 2.7% in March 2012 compared to February 2012 (Table 2). Receipts of restaurants registered a 1.0% decrease over the same period.

Year-on-Year Change. All major segments reported higher turnover in March 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. Turnover of restaurants, food caterers and fast food outlets went up between 7.2% and 12.7%. Other eating places also reported a 4.9% increase in receipts in March 2012 over March 2011.