Fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) booked P2.7 billion in net profit in the first nine months, a turnaround from a P13.54-billion net loss a year ago, which was blamed on the tough lockdowns and other pandemic disruptions during the period.
The January to September profit accounted for 67 percent of the P4.02 billion earnings that Bloomberg market consensus expects JFC to deliver for the full year.
For the third quarter alone, JFC’s net profit hit P1.57 billion, recovering from the P1.58-billion net loss in the same period last year. The recovery was attributed to the turnaround in Philippine operations amid its world-wide streamlining program.
System-wide sales—a measure of all sales from company-owned and franchised stores—rose by 26.6 percent for the third quarter and 18.4 percent for the first nine months year-on-year. These respectively amounted to P51.39 billion and P149.68 billion.
Revenue for the third quarter was up by 24.1 percent year-on-year to P37.2 billion, while nine-month revenue rose 17.1 percent to P108.57 billion.
Same-store sales in the Philippines rose by 32.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, JFC said in a regulatory filing.
The international business also grew by 12.4 percent in the third quarter. Business in China grew by 2.9 percent; North America, 19.6 percent and Europe/Middle East/other parts of Asia, 8.8 percent.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf business also expanded by 20 percent. However, Vietnamese unit SuperFoods declined by 53.1 percent mainly due to heightened restrictions imposed in Vietnam to curb the COVID-19 contagion.
Worldwide, same-store sales grew by 23.6 percent year-on-year.
JFC cash flow ended the quarter at P5 billion, up from P1.4 billion a year ago.
Total system-wide sales and revenue in the third quarter were still lower by 10.4 percent and 13.8 percent, respectively, versus the third quarter 2019 results.
Operating income and attributable net income were also still 28.3 percent and 6.1 percent short, respectively, versus year-ago levels, while cash was still behind by 24 percent.