Jollibee profit up 8%

MANILA, Philippines - Fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) posted a net income of P672 million in the first quarter this year, up 8.1 percent from the previous level on strong sales growth of all brands and network expansion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, JFC said system-wide sales, a measure of all sales to consumers, both company-owned and franchised stores, climbed 15 percent to P21.55 billion on the strength its local brands.

JFC said its restaurants continued to experience very healthy same-store sales growth from increases in volume resulting from more customers. This was attributed to new products, improving services, a slight reduction in prices, and the decreasing inflation rate.

JFC said its foreign business registered a 20.5 percent growth in system-wide sales, with China operations growing 26.9 percent, Southeast Asia and the Middle East 22.6 percent, and the US 6.9 percent.

Revenues amounted to P16.49 billion, 18 percent higher than the 2011 figure of P13.97 billion.

JFC chief financial officer Ysmael Y. Baysa said the strong Philippine operations were partially offset by lower China profit margins as labor and rent expenses outpaced sales growth.

The first quarter profit also reflected the financial results of SuperFoods, a joint venture based in Vietnam of which JFC owns 50 percent, with Highlands Coffee and Pho 24 Vietnamese noodles as primary businesses.

Using the equity method of accounting, the P23.1 million equity in net losses of SuperFoods sliced JFC’s consolidated net income by 3.7 percent.

The group opened 39 new stores in the first quarter, 26 of which are in the Philippines and 13 overseas.

This brings the group’s total restaurant network to 2,513 worldwide as of end-March 2012. Of the total, 2004 are located in the Philippines (Jollibee 752, Chowking 381, Greenwich 204, Red Ribbon 207, Mang Inasal 436 and Burger King 24).

Overseas, JFC operates 509 stores – Yonghe King in China (267), Hong Zhuang Yuan (52), Jollibee (79), Red Ribbon (33), Chowking (40), and Chow Fun (3).

San Ping Wang, JFC’s newest acquisition in China, added 35 stores.