Figaro optimistic of growth amid store expansion

LISTED Figaro Coffee Group, Inc. is optimistic about growing the business as it is set to open more stores in various areas before the year ends to expand its presence across the country. 

Justin T. Liu, its chairman, said during a briefing in Mandaluyong City on Thursday that “there is a lot of room to grow” for the company’s brands. 

“I’m very optimistic about the future,” he said. “I think there are a lot of room for expansion of our brands. We still have a lot of stores coming up.” 

Currently, the group has 192 stores nationwide. These are 116 Angel’s Pizza outlets, 60 Figaro Coffee stores, 10 Tien Ma’s stores, and six Café Portofino establishments.

Figaro Coffee Group said in a stock exchange disclosure on Thursday that it has upcoming store openings in Laguna, Pampanga, Rizal, Cebu, Pangasinan, Bohol, Ormoc, and Davao for the remainder of 2023.

Meanwhile, Mr. Liu said some of the challenges faced by the group are competition from other products and economic headwinds.

“Competition is also a challenge because right now, the Philippines and other countries will go on product fads,” he said. “Now the fad again is coffee. But the business cycle is always up and down. The key is to make sure that you execute well, continuously, and in a stable manner. That’s what we are focused on. It is really innovating more.”

“In the past few years, some challenges include global inflation, cost of ingredients going up, cost of fuel going up, supply chain problems because of import and export of products,” he added.

Recently, Figaro said it logged a 133% increase in its net income to P462.6 million for its fiscal year ending June 30 compared with the P198.2 million posted in the previous fiscal year.   

The company’s revenues improved by 75% to P4.28 billion from P2.44 billion, while its same-store sales climbed 6%.

On Thursday, shares of Figaro Coffee Group dropped one centavo or 1.56% to 63 centavos apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave