Jollibee opens up stock ownership to more foreign investors
Homegrown fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) has removed its foreign ownership limit, allowing more room for fresh equity as it explores other categories and casts a wider net across the globe.
The company led by tycoon Tony Tan Caktiong said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that the Philippine Stock Exchange had approved its request to remove the current 40-percent foreign ownership limit.
As of December 2024, JFC’s foreign ownership level stood at 23.54 percent, data from its website showed.
This comes after the company, known for the widely popular Chickenjoy meals, amended its articles of incorporation to remove its ability to own, acquire, mortgage, pledge or encumber land.
The plan is to give up real estate assets and infuse them into an industrial real estate investment trust to be sponsored by DoubleDragon Properties Corp., where Tan is likewise a key investor.
Juan Paolo Colet, managing director at investment bank China Bank Capital Corp., explained that this particular amendment enabled the removal of the foreign ownership limit.
Under the 1987 Constitution, corporations can only own land if 60 percent of their capital stock is held by Filipinos.
JFC’s share price soared by 8.86 percent to P258 each on Thursday afternoon as investors absorbed the news.
“Having no nationality cap gives them a lot of headroom in case they need to get sizable foreign equity capital for their expansion,” Colet noted.
Unicapital equity research analyst Jeri Alfonso also told reporters on Thursday that JFC’s move “could provide some positive boost to the company, and hopefully materialize through the stock price.”
As it stands, JFC has already expanded into the local chicken barbecue business through Mang Inasal and pastries through Red Ribbon.
Globally, the company has been beefing up its portfolio in the coffee and specialty beverage segment following its acquisition of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Highlands Coffee and Compose Coffee.
In the first nine months of 2024, JFC’s earnings surged by 24.1 percent to P8.47 billion on the back of gains from Compose Coffee and the Philippine market.
The South Korean coffee brand accounted for 4.6 percent of the global system-wide sales growth, and 1.4 percent of overall revenue growth.
JFC’s top line likewise expanded by 10.6 percent to P196.25 billion.
Last month, the company, through subsidiary Milkshop International Co. Ltd., ventured into the wellness soup category after acquiring Taiwan-based Tien Hsia Sheng Co. Ltd.
