MANILA, Philippines — Higher system-wide sales and contributions of recently acquired South Korean value coffee brand boosted earnings of Asian food conglomerate Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) by nearly a quarter in the nine months ending September.
JFC’s net income attributable to equity holder of the parent company from January to September rose by 24 percent to P8.47 billion from last year’s P6.82 billion.
Its system-wide sales grew by 12 percent to P281 billion from P251 billion in the same period in 2023.
For the third quarter alone, JFC reported a 15.3-percent jump in net income to P2.8 billion as system-wide sales for the three-month period increased by 13.2 percent to P98.5 billion.
JFC said the growth in the group’s system-wide sales for the quarter was driven by a combination of higher same store sales growth, new stores sales and changes in foreign currency.
“During the third quarter, we successfully completed the acquisition of Compose Coffee and the results that we are reporting include the impact of this value-accretive transaction,” Jollibee Group CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong said.
Tanmantiong said Compose Coffee contributed 11.5 percent to the growth of the international business’ system-wide sales and added 2,580 stores to the global store network as at end of the quarter.
According to Tanmantiong, JFC’s Philippine business also saw a healthy increase in system-wide sales and same store sales during the third quarter.
“Our Jollibee brand, which has over 1,700 stores globally and accounts for 51 percent of the Jollibee Group’s organic system-wide sales grew robustly by 12.6 percent in the third quarter. The growth was broad-based, coming from all regions,” he said.
As of end-September, the Jollibee Group’s store network expanded by 42.8 percent year-on-year to 9,598 composed of 3,340 stores in the Philippines and 6,258 abroad.
JFC’s operating income for the quarter likewise climbed by 11.6 percent, with the increase coming from the Philippine business and the consolidation of Compose Coffee which delivered close to P500 million in income.
Excluding Compose Coffee, JFC said that the international business’ operating income for the quarter declined compared to the same quarter last year but remained profitable.
“While we were up against a record quarter last year, we achieved an 11.6 percent increase in operating income and an 80 basis points improvement in gross profit margin. This quarter’s earnings performance was highlighted by the consistent strong performance of the Philippine business and contributions from Compose Coffee,” Jollibee Group chief financial and risk officer Richard Shin said.
“Additionally, the global Jollibee brand showed continued strength, growing operating income for the quarter by strong double-digits. Our organic operating income growth was flat as our investment in people weighed on our general and administrative expenses,” Shin said.
In line with its robust nine-month performance, JFC’s board approved a cash dividend of P1.82 per share, for a total cash dividend of P2.97 for the full year of 2024.
“This demonstrates the Jollibee Group’s commitment to creating value for its shareholders and its confidence in its ability to deliver on its 2024 financial outlook,” Shin said.