Jollibee will stop owning land

Jollibee Foods Corporation, one of the largest Asian food service companies, is amending its Articles of Incorporation so it can no longer directly own real estate, a move that will pave the way for more foreign shareholders in the most successful homegrown Filipino brand. 

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said the Board of Directors approved the amendment to the Second Article of the Amended Articles of Incorporation of the Company.

“The approval by the stockholders of the proposed amendment to the Second Article will be sought to remove from the primary purpose, the ability of the Corporation to directly own real properties, but to retain the company’s ability to invest in companies that own real properties, including land, within the limits allowed by applicable laws,” the company said in the statement.

The ratification of the amendment will be taken up during the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting to be held on June 30, 2023 and the necessary notices be sent for the purpose of presenting to the stockholders for their approval.

The proposed amendment to the Articles of Incorporation shall be effective after approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Philippine Constitution and the Public Land Act prohibit foreign individuals from owning land. Only Filipino citizens or corporations or partnerships wherein at least 60 percent of its capital stock is owned by Filipinos can acquire and own land.

Once Jollibee stops owning land directly as a corporation, it can now raise its foreign ownership beyond the 40 percent limit imposed on firms that own real properties. 

Jollibee is investing P20 billion to P23 billion for capital expenditures this year as it projects to sustain its growth to record-breaking levels in 2024.

The firm said capex will be allotted mainly to fund the planned opening of 700 to 750 owned and franchised stores this year.

Based on its target for 2024, JFC projects full year system-wide sales growth to be in the range of 10 percent to 14 percent, with same store sales growth of 5 percent to 7 percent and store network increase of 7 percent to 8 percent. Operating profit growth will be in the range of 10 percent to 15 percent.

JFC reported a 16 percent improvement in attributable net income to P8.77 billion last year from the P7.56 billion earned in 2022 while net income rose 22.4 percent to P8.99 billion in 2023 from P7.34 billion in the previous year.

“Our full year 2023 results reflect the strength of our execution and resiliency of our brands. We achieved an all-time high revenue of P244.1 billion, a 15.2 percent increase year-over-year which translated to a new record operating profit of P14.4 billion, up by 45.0 percent compared to full year 2022.

“Year on year, we improved gross profit and operating profit margins each by 120 basis points (bps), reinforced by our cost efficiency initiatives and our ability to control non-inventory-related costs,” said JFC Chief Executive Officer Ernesto Tanmantiong.