Jollibee H1 profit up; new CEO appointed

MANILA, Philippines – Fast food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. said Tuesday, August 6, its first-half earnings grew 29.7% from a year ago, owing to higher sales from existing and new stores.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Jollibee reported its net income rose to P2.101 billion in January to June from P1.62 billion in the same months of 2012.

It said system-wide sales, or sales by both company-owned and franchise stores, went up 12% to P49.9 billion from P44.5 billion last year.

Jollibee said its Philippine business enjoyed a 12.6% growth in system-wide sales, while its overseas operations had a growth of 17.5%, with China growing 18.3%.

Jollibee CFO Ysmael Baysa said the company’s gross profit margin improved by 1.9 percentage points in the second quarter alone as sales continued to be strong while cost of raw materials remained stable. “More importantly, store operating expenses as percentage of sales improved significantly.”

In the second quarter, Jollibee posted a net income of P1.22 billion, up 30.1% from P937 million in the same quarter of 2012.

New head

Jollibee also announced the appointment of Ernesto Tanmantiong as president and CEO effective July 1, 2014.

55-year-old Tanmantiong, now COO of the company, is the brother of Jollibee chairman and CEO Tony Tan Caktiong.

Tan Caktiong, who transformed Jollibee into the country’s leading fast food chain, will remain as chairman of the board.

He will also remain active in exploring new ventures and partnerships as well as in product research and development.

“We have been preparing Ernesto for assuming greater responsibilities. He is the right person to lead our organization in building an even stronger, larger and more successful business in the future here in the Philippines and abroad,” Tan Caktiong said.

Tan Caktiong introduced the Jollibee brand in 1978 with only two ice cream parlors. Today, Jollibee is the country’s largest restaurant network, with operations in 11 countries in Asia, North America and the Middle East.

As of end June, Jollibee had a total of 2,672 stores worldwide: 2,102 in the Philippines and 569 overseas. – Rappler.com