Balai income up in 2023 on strong sales

Listed bakery operator Balai ni Fruitas Inc. saw its earnings expand by more than half in 2023 as sales sizzled during the year.

Balai reported a 58-percent jump in net income to P59 million last year from P37 million in 2022.

The growth was driven by strong revenues amounting to P535 million, a 57-percent surge from the 2022 revenues of P341 million.

“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,” Balai president and CEO Lester Yu said.

Yu said the company’s strategy of acquiring Balai Pandesal and rolling out community stores in response to the pandemic have paid off.

“We are now growing same store sales by earning customer loyalty and constantly improving our product offerings. We believe we have also barely scratched the surface in terms of provincial expansion and we have already started to build capacity to serve this market,” he said.

In 2023, Balai said all of its brands, led by Balai Pandesal, registered significant same-store sales growth.

Sales of Balai Pandesal stores increased by gaining more repeat transactions among customers in the communities where they are located.

Introduction of several new baked goods in its menu and widening the curated selection of third-party goods in its stores likewise helped boost Balai Pandesal store sales.

Balai said Buko ni Fruitas and Fruitas House of Desserts, meanwhile, benefited from higher foot traffic in malls and food courts.

The company added 20 stores last year, expanding its retail network to 118 as of end-2023.

Balai said other strategic initiatives that contributed to the company’s significant sales growth included distribution of Balai Pandesal baked goods in other Fruitas stores belonging to its associates, increased ecommerce sales through the Fruitas group’s website and third-party aggregators and third party modern trade distribution, particularly in Cebu.

Based on latest available publicly disclosed financial results, Balai said it outperformed all other food service firms listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange in terms of both revenue growth and net income margin in 2023.

“As a team, we can exceed our customer’s expectations and continue this growth trajectory,” Yu said.