(Yicai) Nov. 27 -- Haidilao’s overseas hotpot restaurants turned a profit in the third quarter, compared with making a loss a year earlier, thanks to the Chinese restaurant chain’s sustained efforts to boost table turnover rate, attract more customers and expand its overseas footprint. But competition will get fiercer as more Chinese catering firms head abroad, analysts said.

Haidilao raked in net profit of USD37.7 million in the third quarter, compared with a loss of USD1.4 million in the same period last year, according to the latest earnings report released by Haidilao’s overseas business operator Super Hi International on Nov. 25. Revenue jumped 14.6 percent to USD199 million.

Table turnover reached 3.8 times per day in the three months ended Sept. 30, up from 3.7 times per day in the same period last year and the number of customers climbed 4.2 percent to 7.4 million, the report said.

Revenue from takeouts soared 8.3 percent year on year to USD2.6 million thanks to more tie-ups with local delivery platforms. Other business revenue, which mainly came from the sale of hotpot condiments and ready foods, soared 21.4 percent to USD5.1 million.

This is the first financial report since Yang Lijuan, former chief executive officer of Haidilao, took the reins at Super Hi on July 1. Yang, who started out as a waitress, spearheaded the Beijing-based company’s overseas expansion, setting up outlets in Singapore as early as 2012 followed by the US in 2013.

Super Hi operated 121 Haidilao hotpot restaurants in 13 different countries as of Sept. 30, it said. Sixty percent of these, at 73, are situated in Southeast Asia, 18 are located in East Asia, 20 in North America and 10 in other countries. No new stores were added in the third quarter and one restaurant in Southeast Asia was temporarily shuttered.

Haidilao’s overseas layout is concentrated in Southeast Asia where market maturity and consumer acceptance are relatively high, but where competition is getting stiffer, said Yang Huaiyu, an analyst in the consumer industry.

To continue to operate the same number of outlets, it would be prudent to focus on improving the level of service and operating efficiency in each restaurant, the analyst added.

Haidilao will face increasing competition as more Chinese restaurant chains expand abroad, Yang said. How to remain competitively priced while maintaining the same high level of service will be a major challenge in the future.

Super Hi’s share price [HKG:9658] closed up 5.3 percent at HKD13.40 (USD1.75) today.

Editor: Kim Taylor