FRUITAS Holdings, Inc. said it logged improved sales in November, the highest since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began, and is bullish for its performance this month.
“We are glad to see the results of our efforts to pivot our business during the pandemic. The introduction of community stores diversified our channels and complements our presence in high foot traffic locations such as malls, offices, and terminals,” Fruitas President and Chief Executive Officer Lester C. Yu said in a disclosure to the exchange.
Without disclosing specific figures, the company said outlet sales in November were 59% higher year on year. The average daily sales of company-owned stores for the month, meanwhile, stood 88% higher and also eclipsed pre-pandemic sales in November 2019 by 26%.
The company rolled out over a hundred community stores and permanently shuttered kiosks that are unprofitable.
In October, the company said it achieved its goal of having 100 community stores earlier than expected. Fruitas plans to continue its expansion and targets to reach 200 community stores in 2022.
Fruitas “aggressively” grew the store network of its newly acquired brands, namely The Tofu Store, which was acquired in February last year and was rebranded to Soy & Bean; and Balai Pandesal, which the company bought in June.
For Balai Pandesal alone, Fruitas expanded the brand’s five outlets to 33 as of October.
In the first nine months, Fruitas trimmed its net loss by 49% to P16.39 million from P32.23 million in the same period last year. The company posted a 23% topline growth to P771.97 million from P628.62 million.
“We expect to benefit from the continuing recovery of the economy and further easing of quarantine restrictions,” Mr. Yu said.
On Monday, Fruitas shares at the stock exchange went down 1.61% or two centavos to finish at P1.22 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte
