Jollibee Foods Corp., one of the largest Asian food service companies, saw a 27 percent increase in first-quarter net income to P2.62 billion, pushed higher by robust sales and gains from operational efficiencies.
Systemwide sales, which includes sale of franchised stores, in the first quarter rose 10 percent to P86.83 billion while revenue was up 11 percent to P61.3 billion as a result of double-digit growth in both the local and international markets.
Same store sales grew by 5.5 percent mainly from volume growth while new stores contributed 4.6 percent to revenues.
“The Jollibee Group had an exciting start to the year with a very good performance that exceeded our profit outlook for the first quarter,” said Jollibee chief executive office Ernesto Tanmantiong. “Our healthy top line growth combined with further operational efficiencies and effective management of expenses drove expansion of the Jollibee Group’s profit margins,” he added.
Tanmantiong said the results for the first quarter were “better-than-expected” and should provide the momentum for stronger performances in the coming quarters.
Jollibee chief financial officer Richard Shin said the company’s fundamentals are strong, underpinning the growth trajectory.
He said the recent capital commitment of USD90 million to Titan Fund II will give it a 90 percent participating interest in a fund that will focus on strategic investments in food and beverage concepts to grow the Asia Pacific food service brands.
“We will capitalize on these important opportunities to grow our business with strategic partners and investments and continue to create both near- and long-term value for our stakeholders,” he said.
Jollibee ended the first quarter with a global store network 6,886 stores, up 5.3 percent from last year. A total 3,549 of those food stores are located overseas and include burger and fried chicken restaurants, coffee and milktea shops, and restaurants offering varied menu.
For 2024, Jollibee is project a 10-15 percent growth in systemwide sales, a 5-7 percent growth in same store sales, a 7-8 percent expansion of its store network, a 10-15 percent growth in operating profit, 700-750 new stores, and capital expenditures in the range of P20 billion to P23 billion.
