Jollibee FY23 profit: P8.8-B (up 16%)

Jollibee [JFC 262.00, up 0.8%] [link] posted an FY23 net income attributable of P8.8 billion, up 16% from its FY22 net income of P7.6 billion. Systemwide sales were up 16.3% to P345 billion, with the biggest growth coming from China (+21.9%), the Philippines (+17.6%) and EMEA (+16.0%). Same-store sales growth was up 10.6%, with the biggest growth coming from the Philippines (+13.9%), China (+12.4%), and EMEA (+7.6%). JFC tracks the performance of its three newly-acquired brands (CBTL, SuperFoods (Highlands Coffee), and Milksha), and provided analysis to show that of these three, Milksha experienced the highest systemwide sales growth (+29.6%) and the highest same-store sales growth (+14.8%). SuperFoods, as compared to the other two tracked acquisitions, exhibited the worst performance across those two metrics with systemwide sales up only 6.4% and same-store sales down 4.3% (the only decline in data tracked by JFC). The company blamed “weak macros in Vietnam and increased competition in the coffee space” for SuperFoods’ underperformance.

MB BOTTOM-LINE: JFC is quickly turning into a global juggernaut with a diversified portfolio of quick-service restaurant brands, so what I’m looking for in these reports is that the company is performing as it expects to perform. They have enough brands in enough countries for there to be spots of trouble somewhere, but that’s to be expected with a company of this size with as many moving parts as JFC has to manage on a continuing basis. That’s why I focus on the management team’s performance as compared to its guidance. With that said, how did they do in 2023 relative to their guidance? Last year (MB link), JFC said it expected systemwide sales to grow 15-20% (16.3%; pass), same-store sales to grow 7-10% (10.6%; pass), operating income to grow 20-25% (45%; pass), and that JFC would open 550-600 new stores (658 new stores; pass). They went 4/4. That’s great. But what about the year to come? JFC guides us that it expects 2024 to bring systemwide sales growth of 10-14%, same-store sales growth of 5-7%, operating profit growth of 10-15%, and 700-750 new stores. The 2024 targets are marginally lower, but it overachieved in several categories this year so that might not be such a problem.

—

Merkado Barkada is a free daily newsletter on the PSE, investing and business in the Philippines. You can subscribe to the newsletter or follow on Twitter to receive the full daily updates.