Asian food conglomerate Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) is scaling down some of its operating assumptions, as well as its planned store network expansion and capital expenditures for the year, as the group’s first-half profitability declined despite a strong second-quarter showing.
The Jollibee Group has revised its gross new store opening target for 2026 to a range of 1,000 to 1,100 stores from 1,200 to 1,300 stores originally, while the capex range has been adjusted to P13 billion to P15 billion, from the previous range of P13 billion to P16 billion.
Full-year same-store sales growth guidance has likewise been lowered to a range of three to four percent from four to six percent.
Operating income growth guidance, meanwhile, is now eyed to range from 10 to 15 percent, down from the previous 15 to 18 percent, reflecting the updated same-store sales assumptions, the revised expansion assumptions, continued transition-related costs for China and Smashburger, as well as the still-dynamic cost environment.
The Jollibee Group, however, is maintaining its guidance for system-wide sales growth of eight to 12 percent and store network growth of five to 10 percent, supported by continued demand across key markets and disciplined execution across its global brand portfolio.
Despite the lower gross opening target, the group said it continues to expect overall store network growth to remain in line with its previous guidance, reflecting ongoing portfolio optimization and the timing of store openings and closures. The Jollibee Group saw its net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company drop by 13.3 percent to P4.87 billion in the first half, while net income fell by 16.7 percent to P4.93 billion.
JFC expanded its global store network by 6.4 percent year-on-year to 10,767 stores.
This reflected 461 gross new store openings and the addition of 172 stores from the acquisition of Shabu All Day, which was partly offset by 207 store closures during the first half.
JFC’s second quarter results, however, showed a recovery from first quarter cost pressures, with the group delivering record quarterly net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company, stronger revenue growth and improved margins.
Net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company during the second quarter reached P3.4 billion, up by 5.7 percent from P3.2 billion in the same period last year.
‘Our second quarter results demonstrate the continued strength of the Jollibee Group’s global brand portfolio and the resilience of consumer demand across our key markets,’ JFC chief executive officer Ernesto Tanmantiong said.
‘We delivered healthy system-wide sales growth across all regions, supported by strong contributions from both our Philippine and international businesses, continued same-store sales growth and ongoing expansion of our global store network,’ he said.