Jollibee income up 20.5% to P1.07 B

MANILA, Philippines - Strong sales from both new and existing branches significantly boosted earnings of fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) in the first quarter.

The country’s largest quick-service restaurant chain reported that its net income surged 20.5 percent to P1.07 billion from P895 million a year ago.

“The profit growth was driven by strong same-store sales, both in the Philippines and abroad,” JFC said. Same store-sales growth refer to restaurants that were opened at least a year ago.

Systemwide sales, a measure of all sales to consumers, both from company-owned and franchised stores, picked up 14.6 percent to P27.3 billion from P23.83 billion year-on-year.

“This was the highest quarterly organic sales growth in five years,” JFC said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

In particular, the Philippine business recorded a 12.3-percent growth in systemwide sales while the foreign business improved by 24.3 percent with China growing 22.3 percent, Southeast Asia and the Middle East by 39.1 percent, and the US 19.5 percent.

Sales in the Philippines were buoyed by double-digit growth rates for Greenwich, Red Ribbon and Mang Inasal.

“In the Philippines, same-store sales growth came mostly from increased volume from higher consumer visits. There were also slight upward adjustments in selling prices in the first quarter to cover the increase in cost of raw materials,” the fast-food giant said.

Same-store sales from its foreign businesses continued to be strong, with five to six percent growth in China and the US and double-digit uptick for Vietnam, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

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

JFC operates the largest fastfood service network in the Philippines with 2,217 branches composed of 828 Jollibee branches, 405 Chowking, 202 Greenwich, 287 Red Ribbon, 460 Mang Inasal and 35 Burger King.