Jollibee posts fastest profit growth in 7 yrs

MANILA, Philippines - Strong sales in existing branches and new stores drove fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) to its fastest earnings growth in seven years.

In a regulatory filing, JFC said its net income jumped nearly a quarter to P4.64 billion in 2013 from P3.72 billion in 2012.

Systemwide sales, which measures sales to consumers both from company-owned and franchised stores, picked up 12.8 percent to P104.9 billion from P92.27 billion.

“The company increased its sales by 12.8 percent, the highest organic sales growth in six years, enabling JFC to breach the P100-billion sales mark for the first time,” said JFC chief operating officer and incoming COO Ernesto Tanmantiong.

“Our progress in building the business has been taking place across our brands in different countries,” Tanmantiong said, adding the profit growth was the fastest in seven years.

In the fourth quarter alone, JFC’s profits climbed 20.3 percent to P1.51 billion from P1.26 billion as systemwide retail sales rose 13.9 percent to P28.86 billion from P25.35 billion.

Specifically, systemwide sales in the Philippines gained 12.2 percent, China by 19.2 percent, US by 17.2 percent, and Southeast Asia and Middle East by 35.3 percent.

Tanmantiong said the fastfood chain opened 98 new stores in the fourth quarter, the highest number of new stores opened in one quarter in JFC’s 35-year history. In 2013, JFC spent P4.1 billion as it opened 235 new stores worldwide.

“In the years ahead, we look forward to further strengthening our brands and to accelerate our profitable growth by keeping our intense focus on the fundamentals of our business for the benefit of our customers,” he said.

For 2014, JFC allotted P6.3 billion in capital expenditures for new store openings and existing store renovations both in the Philippines and abroad.

JFC operates the largest fastfood service network in the Philippines with 2,181 branches composed of 811 Jollibee branches, 400 Chowking, 199 Greenwich, 278 Red Ribbon, 459 Mang Inasal and 34 Burger King.

The foreign operations of JFC has 583 stores: Yonghe King with 314 stores, Hong Zhuang Yuan with 43 and San Pin Wang with 45, all in China; 101 Jollibee, 31 Red Ribbon, 46 Chowking, and three Chow Fun located in the US, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. It also has a 50-percent stake in Highlands Coffee branches in the Philippines and Vietnam; Pho 24 outlets in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan; and Sabu stores in China.