Jollibee Foods Corp. said Tuesday it is aggressively ramping up its coffee and tea business this year as it shifts to franchising.
Jollibee chief finance officer Richard Shin said in a news briefing bulk of this year’s store expansion would come from coffee and tea brands, particularly Compose Coffee, Highlands Coffee and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL).
Shin said the brands shifted to franchise model for expansion.
He said the group opened 360 Compose Coffee and another 150 to 180 Highland Coffee stores. CBTL will also aggressively expand after signing up a franchisee for India.
“Master franchisee expand with speed and cafes are quicker and to some extend easier to build,” Shin said.
The strategy also requires less capital for the company, Shin said.
Shin said the group would also continuously expand its flagship brand Jollibee in the Philippines and North America.
Shin said the company has been getting strong interest to franchise Jollibee in North America.
Jollibee has 104 stores across 15 of 50 states in America.
Jollibee targets to open 700 to 800 stores here and abroad this year.
Shin said Jollibee plans to raise at least $300 million from the offshore market.
Jollibee said Monday it would issue 5-year US dollar-denominated senior unsecured guaranteed notes. It mandated J.P. Morgan Securities Asia Private Limited, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte., BPI Capital Corp. and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Singapore Branch as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the transaction.
Proceeds from the fund-raising activity will refinance maturing US dollar-denominated notes.
Jollibee’s stock price fell 3 percent Tuesday to close at P232.80.