Fruitas Holdings Inc., a leading food and beverage kiosk operator, said Friday it will resume its aggressive store network expansion by opening 100 stores next year.
Fruitas said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it reopened around 800 stores as of early November and was prepared to reopen the other closed stores once quarantine restrictions were lifted.
It said that despite the pandemic, the company was on the lookout for attractive acquisition opportunities which could be highly scalable and integrated into its suite of products.
The group earlier acquired several brands including De Original Jamaican Pattie, Sabroso Lechon and SoyKingdong which it managed to grow and are now contributing company’s profit.
Fruitas said it narrowed its net loss in the third quarter to P19 million from P27 million in the second quarter. Nine-month net loss stood at P32 million.
The company noted an improvement in operations as revenues increased by 90 percent in the third quarter to P167 million from P88 million in the previous quarter when most of its stores were closed because of the pandemic.
“We are glad to see that sales are recovering strongly as quarantine restrictions continue to ease. In the meantime, we have not relented in transforming our business. We have opened numerous channels so our customers can reach us easier and faster. We are also excited with the performance of our community stores, which will be a growth engine moving forward,” Fruitas president and chief executive Lester Yu said.
“With the balance of the initial public offering proceeds, we continue to be well-placed to expand our core kiosk business as prime spaces become available and seize attractive acquisition opportunities. Once the economy is back in full gear, we are confident that a stronger Fruitas will be a key beneficiary,” Yu said.
The share price of climbed 5.84 percent Friday to close at P1.45.