Jollibee Group outlines P2.8 billion cost containment plan

MANILA, Philippines — Asian food conglomerate Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) is undertaking a P2.8-billion cost containment plan as part of efforts to restore margins and reinforce long-term value creation amid challenges brought about by recent geopolitical developments.

The plan is aimed at offsetting structural input cost pressures through disciplined and balanced cost controls, as well as choiceful capital expenditures deferment.

“So there is a cost containment plan, both at the corporate office but also at the business units. And I will caveat this by saying that we’re going to be smart about it. If there’s a growth plan like Tim Ho Wan where we’re getting very good returns on our headcount or store investments, of course we’re going to continue to do that,” JFC chief financial and risk officer and Jollibee Group international business chief executive officer Richard Shin said.

“But the way we’re looking at capex right now, we’re making sure that it’s very choiceful, and wherever we need to defer, we’ll defer as the situation still needs to be observed. But nonetheless, on the three quarters ahead of us, we’re committed to P2.8 billion cost savings,” he said.

JFC was previously looking to expand its network by 1,200 to 1,300 stores for 2026, with capex ranging between P13 billion and P16 billion.

During the first quarter, elevated input costs took their toll on the profitability of JFC, with its net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company plunging by 38.8 percent to P1.5 billion.

Elevated direct costs for the period were due to inflationary pressures impacting certain commodities and supply chain inputs amid recent geopolitical developments.

In line with management priorities to restore margins and reinforce long-term value creation, JFC has also implemented starting in April scheduled pricing to address margin compression while preserving demand elasticity and value choice for consumers.

“Moderate single-digit price increase is required now to not only recover some of the profit loss that happened in the first quarter, but also to cushion the balance of the year’s inflationary pressures,” Shin said.

Nevertheless, Shin said current developments are not affecting the expected timelines for the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of Highlands Coffee in Vietnam as well as JFC’s planned listing of its international business as an independent company on a US securities exchange by late next year.

JFC earlier said Highlands Coffee has started work on defining the structure, process and timing for the potential IPO, with target completion by the first quarter of 2027.

“On Highlands, it’s very simple. There is absolutely no correlation to inflation to our listing time. And the JFC international listing, I am prohibited to say too much, but we are absolutely targeting the same dates to IPO,” he said.

As one of the world’s fastest-growing restaurant companies, JFC has a network of 10,421 stores – 3,499 in the Philippines and 6,922 abroad – as of end-March 2026.