Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), one of the largest Asian food service companies, reported a 10.6 percent decline in unaudited consolidated attributable net income to P2.1 billion in the first quarter of 2023 from P2.31 billion in the same period last year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said the lower earnings was due to one-time gains made in the same period of 2022. Excluding the impact of the one-off gain in the first quarter of 2022, attributable net income grew by 331.9 percent.

It explained that, other income for the first quarter of 2023 was P311.1 million, a decrease of P1.4 billion or 81.8 percent compared to the same period of 2022 mainly due to the P1.8 billion gain on land conveyance and sale of other land properties in the first quarter last year.

“Our first quarter financial results reflected continued strong momentum, delivering another quarter of strong topline and operating income growth,” said JFC CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong.

He noted that, “System wide sales (SWS) and revenues for the quarter rose by 31.1 percent and 28.5 percent, respectively while operating profit grew by 80.9 percent.”

SWS growth was broad-based with all brands posting strong double-digit growth compared to the first quarter of 2022.

Same store sales grew by 22.4 percent, with the Philippine business growing by 31.6 percent and the international businesses by 8.8 percent. Compared to the first quarter of 2019, JFC’s SWS grew by 44.9 percent.

Jollibee Group CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong

“Our same store sales (SSS) growth was driven by a 6.3 percent increase in average check and a 15.1 percent growth in volume or transaction count following a softer first quarter 2022 due to the omicron surge,” Tanmantiong said.

He noted that, “We continued to invest in new stores that will help drive sustainable value for our shareholders. We opened 111 stores and grew store network by 4.7 percent versus prior year. We are on track to achieving our 550-600 new store target for 2023.”

“We delivered strong operating profit growth despite continued macro challenges. We remain focused on navigating through these uncertainties and are confident in our ability to deliver another year of strong growth,” Tanmantiong said.

For international SWS, China grew by 20.7 percent, North America 20.2 percent, EMEAA 20.0 percent, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (CBTL) 18.7 percent, SuperFoods 28.5 percent, and Milksha 182.6 percent.

First quarter SSS growth in the Philippines was driven by improvement in volume or transaction count (17.3 percent) and increase in average check (12.2 percent).

International SSS growth was led by SuperFoods (21.6 percent), China (12.5 percent), EMEAA (8.6 percent), CBTL (6.7 percent), and North America (6.7 percent).

At the end of March 2023, JFC operated 6,542 stores worldwide: Philippines (3,281) and International (3,261).

JFC Chief Financial Officer Richard Shin said “We remain focused on continued improvement in our business fundamentals, which resulted in sustained gross profit margin expansion and significant growth in underlying profit performance. We are confident in our ability to execute our strategies and deliver our financial goals for 2023.”