Balai Ni Fruitas Inc., the listed bakery arm of businessman Lester Yu, said Thursday its net income reached P59 million in 2023, up 58 percent from P37 million in 2022 on the back of higher sales.
Balai said in a disclosure to the stock exchange its revenues climbed 57 percent to P535 million in 2023 from P341 million in 2022 as gross margin remained strong despite the continuing challenges from inflation.
Balai said all three brands posted year-on-year same-store sales growth amid increased foot traffic in malls and food courts, introduction of new products and more repeat transactions from customers.
The company said it also limited price increases and changed its product mix towards higher-margin products.
“2023 marked significant milestones for Balai as we passed 100 stores and the half-billion peso revenue level. We continue to maximize shareholder value by expanding intelligently and controlling our costs,” said Yu, Balai president and chief executive.
“We responded to the pandemic by acquiring Balai Pandesal and rolling out community stores and we are glad that this strategy paid off. We are now growing same store sales by earning customer loyalty and constantly improving our product offerings,” he said.
Yu said the company would continue to expand its footprint outside Metro Manila and build capacity to serve this market to sustain the company’s growth.
It opened 20 stores to end the 2023 with a total of 118.
Balai is a 75-percent owned subsidiary of Fruitas Holdings Inc.