Jollibee breaks past P1-B profit mark

The country’s largest fastfood chain Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC), broke past the P1-billion earnings mark for the first time last year, powered by the sustained growth in systemwide sales, new store additions, product offerings and innovations during the period.

In yesterday’s briefing, JFC vice president for finance Miguel Jose Navarrete said the group’s consolidated net income reached P1.051 billion in 2002, a whopping 79-percent increase from the P587- million profit in 2001.

In the fourth quarter of 2001, JFC made a one-time asset writedown of P372 million after tax which included provisions related to a real estate investment entered into prior years and the closure of a number of unproductive stores nationwide.

Navarrete added that with the company’s adoption of new accounting standards starting Jan. 1, 2003, its net income figures have more than doubled from only about P493 million in 2001.

Based on its new accounting method, the pre-operating expenses of the company-owned stores are expensed directly instead of being amortized over a number of years. The adoption of the new standard resulted in a retroactive adjustment to beginning retained earnings of 2002 of about P262 million relating to write-off of pre-operating expenses.

However, Navarrete stressed that going into this year, such adjustments will be minimal, which would put JFC back into its steady fighting income target growth of between 10-15 percent for 2003.

JFC chairman and CEO Tony Tan Caktiong commented that despite the difficult business environment, "our full year performance has met targets set at the beginning."

The JFC group – made up of the flagship Jollibee burger and chicken joint, pizza chain Greenwich, Oriental food unit Chowking and bakery/cafe Delifrance – is also set to spend P1.7 billion this year, higher by P200 million from last year, as the bulk (about P700 million) will be channeled for the completion of its second commissary in Laguna.

The P1.2-billion commissary, which was supposed to be opened early this year, caught fire late last year, delaying its commissioning as well as causing damage worth P400 million.

The balance of the capital expenditures this year would be funneled to the expansion of its store network, with nearly 100 new stores planned for opening, some 60 percent of which will be in the provinces.

Of the planned new stores, the majority are Jollibee and Chowking outlets, with around five to 10 stores to be added in the US, including the newest member of the JFC family, Tomi’s Teriyaki.

As of end-December 2002, the JFC network counted 902 stores, of which 31 are abroad. Specifically, there are 436 local Jollibee outlets and 21 international; 216 Chowking stores in the Philippines and eight abroad; 191 Greenwich stores; and 28 Delifrance bakeshops.

Meanwhile, Tomi’s Teriyaki opened its first store in Powell St., San Francisco, California last November. Bought in 2001 as Tokyo Teriyaki, the opening of the Japanese-styled food unit was greeted positively and has met the internal expectations of the US-based market, Navarrete said.

Navarrete added JFC continues to set its sights on the huge China market as it scouts potentially strong territories for its international operations, although talks are still in the exploratory stages.