Franchising

Photo shows Jollibee Foods Corp. president, Tony Tan Caktiong, and  the Jollibee mascot

Strong sales lifted  the earnings of Jollibee Foods Corp., the country’s largest food service company,  in the third quarter.

JFC told the Philippine Stock Exchange that its net income surged 31.8 percent to P711 million in the July to September period.

“Jollibee’s same store sales growth was strong, driven by higher volume. Today, more people eat in each Jollibee store in the Philippines than in each of the past two years due to higher product value appreciation as rated by consumers in market research,” Tony Tan Caktiong, JFC chief executive officer, said. [See eight opportunities in the food business here]

Besides the "strong double-digit growth" of JFC brands, the company also said sales of its stores abroad posted growth.

“In the third quarter of 2010, our sales grew by 23.5 percent in China, 12.4 percent in the United States, 95.1 percent in Vietnam, and 36.8 percent in the Middle East. We look forward to a sustained high growth of our businesses abroad in the years ahead,” Tan Caktiong said.

However, the company  remains cautious owing to the rising  inflation rates in Asia,  which could  jack up the prices of raw materials.

The conglomerate added that its  recent acquisitions, and divestments had no impact on the financial results of operations of  the company. JFC recently acquired 70 percent of Mang Inasal for P3 billion, following its earlier announcement of selling Delifrance for P100 million. [Read about the latest update on the purchase of Mang Inasal here]

JFC owns and operates 1,578 stores all over the Philippines. Abroad, JFC has 375 stores including its Chinese chains, Yonghe King and Hong Zhuang Yuan aside from its Filipino brands.

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