Jollibee posts higher income despite rising costs

MANILA, Philippines – Fast food giant Jollibee Foods Corporation said Wednesday, May 14 its first-quarter earnings grew 24.7% from a year ago, owing to higher sales and selling prices.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Jollibee reported its net income rose to P1.098 billion in January to March from P881 million in the same months of 2013.

It said system-wide sales, or sales by both company-owned and franchise stores, went up 14.6% to P27.305 billion from P23.837 billion last year.

Jollibee said its Philippine business enjoyed a 12.3% growth in system-wide sales, while its overseas operations had a growth of 24.3%, with China growing 22.3%.

“Sales in the Philippines continued to be strong in practically all brands, with double-digit growth rates for Greenwich, Red Ribbon and Mang Inasal,” the company said.

It noted store sales growth came mostly from more customer visits, and a slight increase in selling prices to partly cover the increase in raw material costs.

“The group implemented price adjustments in the latter part of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, but they were not yet sufficient to recover… JFC will take the necessary steps to sustain healthy profit margins, including implementing cost improvement and price adjustments in the balance of 2014 and quarters ahead.”

Jollibee operates the largest network of food restaurants in the Philippines. As of March 31, the company was operating 2,217 restaurant outlets in the country. It had 2,805 stores worldwide.