Jollibee net income rose 18% in Q1

Jollibee Foods Corp., the largest operator of fast food restaurants in the country, said on Friday that its net income for the first three months of the year grew 18 percent to P529 million, due to higher system wide sales. "Overall, our Philippine stores achieved growth rates that were higher than in the past two years. We attribute the strong growth to a recovery in consumer spending behind an improving economy and to our product launches and marketing campaigns," Tony Tan Caktiong, Jollibee chairman and CEO, said in a statement sent to the Philippine Stock Exchange. "In our international business, store sales continued to rise remarkably in practically every foreign market and across all our brands. The consumers in our markets abroad are clearly responding to our continued effort in improving our products, particularly in product tastes and our services," he added. In the year's first quarter, the company opened a total of 24 stores: Jollibee, 11; Chowking, 7; Greenwich, 3; and Red Ribbon, 2; and a store in Brunei. The disclosure failed to state which among its brands opened a branch in Brunei. As of March 31, 2007, the company is operating a total of 1,364 stores locally and 170 stores abroad including the Yonghe King in China and and the Chun Sui Tang Tea House in Shanghai, China. - Cheryl Arcibal, GMANews.TV