Fruitas back in the black as malls, cinemas recover

Fruitas Holdings Inc., the food kiosk group of businessman Lester Yu, reversed losses in the first half of 2022 after booking its “best quarter” since going public three years ago.

Net income from January to June reached P29 million, a turnaround from the P9-million loss in the same period last year, as revenues jumped 50 percent to P787 million.

The company benefited from the resurgence of business activity after long-standing pandemic restrictions were rolled back.

Some of its popular stalls also gained ground after movie houses reopened and mall foot traffic bounced back. Recovery accelerated to a record in the second quarter, with profits surging 228 percent to P23 million. Revenues during the period expanded 74 percent to P457 million. “Despite economic headwinds, we delivered increasing margins and profits,” said Yu, who sits as Fruitas president and CEO.

The company said sales at the end of June had reached 97 percent of the prepandemc level.

“This was achieved despite having significantly less stores compared to prepandemic levels, which translates to a much higher average daily sales per store and better store economics,” Fruitas said.

Tactical price increases

Moreover, margins in the first half rose despite inflationary pressures that have pushed costs higher.

Fruitas said gross margins in the first half rose to 61.5 percent versus 60.6 percent in the same period last year. This was achieved through “tactical price increases and continued [expansion of] supplier base and improved raw material sourcing to mitigate raw material price increases.”

“Our performance for July 2022 also continued to exceed our expectations and we hope to deliver a bumper year to our shareholders,” Yu said.

Fruitas added 20 stores from March to July, increasing its network to 720 outlets. Last month, the group announced the acquisition of Ling Nam dining chain, marking a new foray into full-service restaurants. INQ