MANILA, Philippines. 25 June 2021 – In his address to Jollibee Foods Corporation shareholders in its Annual Stockholders’ Meeting held earlier today, Jollibee Group President & Chief Executive Officer Ernesto Tanmantiong reported that the food service company had shown remarkable recovery starting in Q4 2020 and continued its momentum in Q1 2021. He expects the business to continue its recovery in the months ahead and further grow in 2021 with the opening of 450 stores.

At the end of March 2021, the Jollibee Group generated Php1.5 billion operating income, representing a significant recovery from the operating loss of Php1.2 billion in the same period of last year. The Jollibee Group also saw improvements in its profit and cash flows as Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization doubled to Php5.2 billion during the first quarter of 2021. In spite of a challenging market environment as a result of the global pandemic, the Jollibee Group has emerged stronger through several key initiatives and prudent actions such as its pivot to off-premise channels, investments in digital technology, acceleration of growth of the international business, and its on-going business transformation.

“Most of our businesses abroad are reaching sales at pre-pandemic levels. In March 2021, our sales in China, North America, and EMEAA (Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia) including Vietnam, were already equal to or higher than March 2019 levels,” shared Tanmantiong.

The Jollibee Group saw a return to profitability in the fourth quarter of 2020, with the Philippines, China, North America Philippine Brands, and EMEAA including Vietnam generating recurring profit.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® (CBTL) likewise showed remarkable profit improvement, with the brand even generating a small amount of operating profit in February and March 2021 – contributing to Jollibee Group’s operating profit turnaround in Q1 2021. This was a significant improvement from its losses when Jollibee Group first acquired it in Q4 2019. CBTL achieved these by recovering strongly in Asia, particularly in Singapore and Malaysia where it has company-owned stores; significantly reducing general and administrative expenses; and closing non-profitable stores.

To further accelerate its profitable growth, CBTL will focus on store expansion mainly in Singapore and Malaysia and increasing sales of existing stores through better branding and marketing. Next year, CBTL will also grow through franchising new stores within and outside the US. The Jollibee Group expects CBTL to become a more important profit contributor in the years ahead.

Smashburger also achieved noteworthy business improvement, with significantly higher sales and lower operating losses. Same-store sales growth for March 2021 for US company stores and traditional franchised stores was up by 58.7% and 62.0%, respectively, vs previous year. Its Q1 operating loss was only a third of the operating loss for the same quarter last year. Smashburger’s new stores in 2020 and 2021 are generating sales 2 to 3 times the average of other stores. It plans to open 25 new stores and renovate a substantial number of older stores in 2021. Smashburger’s financial performance is expected to continue improving markedly in the months ahead towards profitability.

Sustained Global Growth

In total, the Jollibee Group will invest Php12.2 billion in Capital Expenditures for the company’s sustained growth and expansion plans in 2021. This is Jollibee Group’s highest CapEx spending in its history.

The Jollibee Group continued to expand the company’s store network organically with the opening of a total of 338 stores – 81 in the Philippines and 257 abroad – in 2020. This was the first time in the Jollibee Group’s history when the company invested in a higher number of new stores abroad than in its home country, signaling the continued trajectory to build the Group’s international footprint.

“The global crisis made more apparent the advantages of the geographical diversification of our business. We continued to invest for long-term growth even amid the pandemic in countries that presented opportunities,” Tanmantiong added.

The Jollibee Group is one of Asia’s largest food service companies with 17 brands in 33 countries. As of May 31, 2021, the Jollibee Group was operating 5,815 stores worldwide: 3,209 in the Philippines and 2,606 in international of which 402 were in China, 347 in North America, 274 in EMEAA, 531 with SuperFoods mainly in Vietnam, and 1,052 with CBTL. Its largest brands by store outlets worldwide are Jollibee with 1,492, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf 1,052, Chowking 616, Mang Inasal 585, and Highlands Coffee 468.