Figaro Coffee Group (FCG), a leading player in the Philippine food and beverage industry, said net income jumped 14 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024 to P222 million from P194.7 million in the same period in 2023 despite flat revenues.
The growth was led by efficient overhead management and continued store expansion, FCG said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Tuesday.
Revenues, however, were flat at P1.44 billion as the 12-percent decline in same-store-sales growth was tempered by continued store expansion.
“Revenues remained steady at P1.44 billion, closely aligned with last year’s performance. While global inflation pressured raw material costs, we successfully managed overhead and operating expenses while increasing capacity,” said FCG chief financial officer Pet Español III.
FCG opened 13 new stores from October to December 2024, bringing the total number of stores to 216 by the end of 2024. It said these included 142 stores under the Angel’s Pizza, followed by 63 Figaro Coffee outlets, eight Tien Ma’s branches, two Café Portofino outlets and a Koobideh Kebabs store.
Meanwhile, gross profit declined 5 percentage points primarily because of the lower margin during the period brought about by the increasing raw materials and the increase in minimum wage.
Operating costs were controlled to 21 percent of revenues, as it managed to optimize existing overhead capacities despite the increasing capacity requirements resulting from increasing volume from store opening.
“We are looking forward to continuing our prudent expansion strategy together with launching more exciting and innovative menu items and promos this 2025,” FCG Group chairman Justin Liu said.
The share price of FCG closed lower by 3.7 percent to P0.78 Tuesday.
FCG’s unit Figaro Innovation and Development Inc. secured the green light from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for a planned pizza manufacturing project in Laguna in October.
The planned facility will be located at Laguna Technopark Special Economic Zone, Mamplasan, Biñan City, Laguna.