Jollibee to reach critical mass next year in China market

Local fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp. expects to grow its store network in China to 500 by the middle of next year, thereby attaining the scale needed to break even in its single biggest overseas market.

Riding on the strong growth domestically as well as in its overseas business, which now accounts for about a fifth of total business, JFC expects to sustain its goal of growing its earnings per share (EPS) by at least 12 percent each year. JFC chief finance officer Ysmael Baysa said this assumed a sustained same-store growth sale of 5 percent, a level which the company was exceeding at present.

“Our business (volume) continues to grow very well,” Ysmael said.

JFC president Tony Tan Caktiong said JFC’s goal was still to eventually grow overseas business to account for half of total but noted that because the local market was likewise growing rapidly, this was still a distant dream. At present, the offshore market accounts for 20 percent of sales turnover.

The share of the offshore market grew by as much as 23-24 percent previously but after the acquisition of grilled chicken chain Mang Inasal, the share of the local business again increased, Baysa said.