Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), one of the largest Asian food service companies, reported a 5.7 percent dip in attributable net income to P6.82 billion in the first nine months of 2023 from the P7.24 billion earned in the same period last year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the firm said last year’s profit included a P5.3 billion non-recurring gain from land conveyance and disposals.

But system-wide sales, a measure of all sales to consumers both from company owned and franchised stores, grew 19 percent to P251.09 billion during the period under review while revenues rose 18 percent to P177.43 billion.

Operating income also jumped 47.7 percent to P11.91 billion in the first nine months of 2023 from P8.06 billion in the same period last year.
 

JFC Chief Executive Officer Ernesto Tanmantiong noted that, “we delivered another strong performance in the third quarter with a record-high operating profit of P4.3 billion, increasing by 42.8 percent year-on-year from a revenue growth of 11.0 percent. This is JFC’s third consecutive quarter of record-high operating income.”

“Both our Philippine and international businesses achieved strong operating profit growth reflecting the strength and resilience of our brands in an environment that remains volatile and challenging,” he added.

Overall system-wide sales for the quarter grew by 11.8 percent driven by the robust performance of the Philippine business which posted a 16.5 percent system-wide sales growth and a 13 percent same store sales growth. 

JFC’s international business saw a growth of 5.4 percent in system-wide sales and 2.6 percent in same store sales. 

“Our Jollibee brand, which has over 1,600 stores globally and accounts for 49.0 percent of JFC’s system- wide sales grew by 16.7 percent in the third quarter. JFC opened 429 stores, of which 365 stores are in the international markets,” said Tanmantiong.

He added that, “while we anticipate continued positive momentum in our business performance, we are maintaining our 2023 growth guidance for revenue (10 percent to 15 percent growth), same store sales (7 percent to 10 percent), operating income (20 percent to 25 percent) and store network (up 5 percent) as we recognize the ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility.”

System-wide sales grew by 11.8 percent in the third quarter and revenues grew by 11 percent. For the quarter, system-wide sales of the Philippine business grew with most brands growing by high double-digits. 

The international business expanded with the China business growing by 2.6 percent, North America 7.5 percent, and EMEA Philippine brands 11.8 percent. SWS of JFC’s coffee and tea business increased by 2.7 percent.

Global same store sales for the quarter increased by 8.8 percent driven by a 4.9 percent growth in transaction count or volume and a 3.7 percent growth in average check. 

JFC’s strong topline performance and robust gross profit margin of 18.3 percent (120 bps versus same period last year) produced a record operating income of P4.3 billion for the quarter and a 7.0 percent operating income margin. This represents a year-on-year increase of 42.8 percent and a margin improvement of 160 bps. 

Attributable net income for the quarter increased by 13.6 percent to P2.4 billion, despite a higher base as last year’s third quarter net income included a P2.4 billion gain from land conveyance and disposals. 

JFC Chief Finance Officer Richard Shin said “our strong results for the quarter demonstrated JFC’s continued financial resilience highlighted by our record-high quarterly system-wide sales and operating income.” 

“While the external environment has not improved, we remain confident in our ability to deliver sustainable growth as we continue to focus on what we can control, invest in line with long-term strategy, prudently manage our expenses, and drive efficiencies in our organization,” he noted.