JFC sets $347.4m capital expenditure for 2022

A portion will be used for their new stores and renovations.

Philippines’ Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) is allotting around $347.4m (P17.8b) in capital expenditure for 2022, higher than the $152m (P7.8b) set in the previous year.

In a statement, JFC said $195m (P10b) will be used for new stores and renovations of existing stores, wherein it is planning to open 500 new stores this year, following the opening of 398 stores in 2021.

The remaining amount will be used mostly for supply chain and business technology investments, it said.

JFC is planning to build a new commissary facility in Cebu province in central Philippines to support its expansion in Visayas and Mindanao regions.

The capital spending amount will be funded by cash from operations, bank loans, and excess cash from the remaining proceeds from the bond issuances, it said.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, JFC saw a 59.6% year-on-year (YoY) jump in its net income attributable to equity holders, reaching around $62.4. (P3.2b), whilst its operating income during the same period increased 63.3% YoY to $48.8m (P2.5b), following a $59.6m (P2.9b) loss in 2020.

JFC CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong said JFC’s system wide sales in its international business in the fourth quarter has reached the same level of sales in the same period before the outbreak of the pandemic, whilst the sales in the Philippines were still 22.6% lower than the same period in 2019.

“However, despite this, the Philippine business’ operating income in Q4 2021 had already equaled those in 2019’s. We look forward to continuing strong recovery of the business in 2022 particularly if the restrictions in the Philippines are fully lifted, coupled with increased consumer spending during this election year,” he said.

Beyond 2022, Tanmantiong said the outlook for business growth is “even brighter,” with expansion plans in North America, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe and expects the business in the Philippines “to sustain its healthy profitable growth.”

$1 = P51.24