FIGARO Coffee Group Inc. (FCG) said Wednesday it planned to continue its store network expansion across the country amid continuing macroeconomic challenges.

"The company is positioned to continue the growth of its stores and brands nationwide to further expand its presence in the Philippines," FCG Chief Financial Officer Pet Español 3rd said in a statement.The food and beverage conglomerate said it launched a total of 68 stores last year, bringing its total store count to 203. These include 64 Figaro Coffee stores, 124 Angel's Pizza outlets, 10 Tien Ma's Taiwanese cuisine locations, one Koobideh Kebabs store and four Cafe Portofino outlets.As of February 7, the food and beverage firm was operating a total of 207 stores across all brands.Despite global inflationary challenges, Español said they "navigated 2023 successfully" through prudent cost management, which trimmed the cost of goods sold to 32 percent from the 38 percent recorded a year earlier."The strategic management of financing costs, improving efficiencies and utilizing economies of scale was instrumental in softening the negative effects posed by inflationary pressures," he added.FCG told the stock exchange that it considered 2023 a "banner year," with full-year consolidated revenues surging by 55 percent to P5.0 billion from 2022's P3.2 billion.For the quarter ending December of last year, total revenues were said to have grown by 42 percent to P1.45 billion from P1.02 billion. This resulted in a net income of P194.7 million, up 7.2 percent from P181.7 million."The company saw improvements in top-line sales, bottom-line margins, enhanced store operations, strengthened commissary capacities and laid the groundwork for further growth in the future," FCG said.Figaro's share price was unchanged at 70 centavos on Wednesday. Read The Rest at :