Max’s bottom line rises by 14.8%

Leading local casual dining group Max’s Group Inc. (MGI) grew its net profit last year by 14.8 percent to P724.23 million as robust food delivery sales complemented higher restaurant sales, commissary and franchising revenues.

For the fourth quarter alone, net profit surged by 27.1 percent year-on-year to P229.45 million on the back of a 6.5-percent year-on-year growth in revenue to P3.97 billion.

These results reflected new accounting standards, the Philippine Financial Reporting Standards 16, under which a right of use asset is recognized and amortized over the lease term while interest expense is incurred on the lease liability.

For the full year, systemwide sales rose by 7 percent to P20.11 billion, driving a 5.3-percent improvement in revenues to P14.4 billion.

Apart from its flagship Max’s Restaurant, MGI’s family of brands include Pancake House, Yellow Cab Pizza, Krispy Kreme, Jamba Juice, Max’s Corner Bakery, Teriyaki Boy, Dencio’s, Sizzlin’ Steak, Maple, Kabisera, Le Coeur de France and Singkit.

In 2019, MGI opened a total of 82 new stores, including 22 overseas. This brought the company’s total store network to 760 locations, with 70 situated across various locations in North America, the Middle East and Asia.

Restaurant sales amounted to P11.79 billion, up by 4.4 percent for the year. Due to MGI’s rapidly growing franchise base, commissary sales rose by 13.6 percent to P1.78 billion. Franchising and other revenue improved by 1 percent to P828.92 million.

MGI reported a significant accelerator in its performance driven by partnerships with food aggregators. Combined with MGI’s in-house delivery operations, systemwide delivery sales grew by 20.4 percent to P1.87 billion.

“Following a year where we invested in our brands to drive mainstream relevance, our focus now is to deliver on the increased demand. Our integrated supply chain programs are designed to furnish consistent quality, cost-optimized and responsive services to our growing customer base and store network,” said Ariel Fermin, MGI chief operating officer. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA