JUMBO group(SGX: 42R)- now 0.40, down almost half from highs of 0.79 in early Jan. Good buy with recent earnings announcement?

Jumbo just had their annual shareholder meeting very recently. I believe the FifthPerson had a good writeup about this.

https://fifthperson.com/2019-jumbo-group-agm/

Previously in late 3rd quarter 2018, i read through a equity research report which rated jumbo group as buy. I remember the main emphasis behind the upside is the same as today - the expansion of jumbo to overseas markets.

I think point 7 mentioned by a shareholder is pretty good- the fact that restaurants usually see a sharp drop in takings after its first year of operations as novelty wears off, and asked how management is planning to sustain interest and grow beyond the novelty factor.

Management gave a pretty expected reply. To be honest, i think its a issue most f&b ventures overseas face. personally, that is why i am not bullish on overseas culinary ventures. The success of culinary offerings locally does not often translate to the same reception overseas given different taste preferences. Moreover i don't buy into jumbo having that big and unique of a product offering to create a economic moat for sustainable future profits.

Like what leonard said, i think f&b business is also quite tough especially when you expand overseas. I think singaporean food has developed a certain taste and flavour such that it would be quite tough to replicate overseas, and that a lot of trial and error would need to take place. Just thinking, if a lot of customisation to the local tastebuds occur, would that dilute the differentiating factor of jumbo?

For Hai Di Lao, they have managed to differentiate themselves with their high quality service, complimentary components and ways to excite the customers such as doing the noodle pulling in front of the customers.

Like leonard mentioned, i think the hype element for f&b outlets is an issue also. Hai Di Lao is still pretty popular in SG, but not sure if it is because of the hype or not. It would be interesting to see how the company will grow over time as they expand into the western markets also.

This brings to mind another experience where Tim Ho Wan did really well in Singapore, but after a few years, once popular outlets had closed down.