Jollibee Foods Q4 net income up 37.1%

Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) on Monday reported a 37.1% climb in its net income during the last three months of the year, attributed to the company's acquisition of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

In a regulatory filing, JFC said its net income rose to P1.804 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019 from the P1.316 billion the same quarter in 2018.

"The improvement in operating profit was primarily due to the P1.8-billion gain from the acquisition of CBTL arising from the value of the net assets acquired being higher than the purchase price as valued by independent third-party appraisal companies," the disclosure read.

JFC in September 2019 completed its $350-million purchase of Los Angeles-based The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) for $350 million.

Revenues for the period grew 23.2% to $72.724 billion from $59.006 billion, while system-wide retail sales were up 23.2% to $72.724 billion from $59.006 billion.

The full-year 2019 system-wide sales were up 14.9% to $243.792 billion from $212.185 billion, while net income fell 14.4% to $6.334 billion from $7.402 billion.

"2019 was a very tough year for JFC, but the resilience and determination of our people have kept driving the business forward," JFC chief executive officer Ernesto Tanmantiong said.

"We are encouraged by the continued rise in customer visits to our stores, the strong growth in our store network with sustained health return on invested capital, the strong momentum in the delivery business, the recovery of the Red Ribbon product supply in the Philippines, and the very good indicators of recovery of the Smashburger business in the United States," he added.

JFC took full ownership of SJBF LLC, the parent company of all entities comprising the Smashburger business, in 2018.

"We look forward to a much stronger sales and profit performance in 2020 and the years ahead even as we consolidate the financial performance of CBTL into our financial results," said Tanmantiong. —LDF, GMA News