Fast food billionaire Tony Tan Caktiong’s Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) expects to sustain strong earnings growth for the rest of the year as profit gains sizzled in the January to September period.
Net income in the nine-months to September surged 168 percent to P7.24 billion due to asset sales and the postpandemic rebound in dining, which pushed up systemwide sales by nearly 41 percent to P210.9 billion.
For 2022, Jollibee said systemwide sales and revenues would sustain a growth of 35-40 percent as it expands its store network by 8-10 percent.
It added that operating income would “be at least [on a par]” with 2018, which reached P7.81 billion, implying a growth of 24.5 percent over last year.
Jollibee CEO Ernest Tanmantiong said in a statement the company registered robust growth in “all regions.”
“The JFC Group achieved another record quarter with systemwide sales reaching P77.8 billion, up 51.3 percent versus the same quarter last year,” he said.
“I am pleased that we achieved very good results for our business despite the difficult market conditions. Our priority is to realize attractive value for our shareholders by concentrating our resources on our businesses with the highest growth potential,” he added.
Systemwide sales in the Philippines grew 54.2 percent in the third quarter alone while international business expanded by 47.5 percent.
Global same-store sales grew by 30.9 percent while restaurant expansion and the acquisition of Milksha contributed 13.8 percent, Jollibee noted.
The overseas business was propped up by currency exchange movements, which contributed 6.6 percent to sales growth. Jollibee said earnings were bolstered as gross profit margins rose to 17.1 percent in the third quarter from 15.7 percent last year despite inflationary pressures.
“JFC reported a solid performance in the third quarter of 2022 driven by record systemwide sales and revenues and continued improvement in margins despite macroeconomic pressures,” Jollibee chief financial officer Richard Shin said.
Jollibee opened 361 new stores from January to September and closed 207 outlets.
At the end of September 30, it was operating 6,351 stores worldwide. Its largest brands by number of outlets were Jollibee with 1,552; CBTL, 1,053; Chowking, 612; Mang Inasal, 574, and Highlands Coffee, 562. INQ