Highlands Coffee reports 17% jump in 3rd quarter earnings

This marked a 17.1% increase from a year ago and the highest quarterly EBITDA since the third quarter of 2023, when parent company Jollibee Foods Corporation first published its financial data separately.

Highlands Coffee accounted for around 6.1% of the Philippine company’s total EBITDA and 29% of its coffee and tea business.

Sales at outlets that have been operational for at least 15 months grew by 17.2%.

Highlands Coffee’s EBITDA for the first nine months of 2025 rose by 9.5% to 1.9 billion Philippine pesos.

The chain has 928 outlets in Vietnam and overseas, including 109 opened in the first nine months of this year.

Incorporated in 1999 as a seller of packaged coffee in Hanoi, it expanded into the coffee shop business in 2002 with its first outlet in HCMC. It was acquired by Jollibee in 2012.

Its founder and CEO David Thai said earlier this year that the chain has seen positive results thanks to its business model, customer focus and clear positioning in terms of products, pricing and taste.

The company optimized processes and scaled up systematically, he said.

The chain prioritizes allocating resources to develop flavor before spending on marketing, he said.

Highlands Coffee would soon go public in Vietnam, he said without mentioning a timeframe.

Securities firms and analysts predict it will list in 2026-2027, when a wave of initial public offerings is expected.

A Highlands Coffee store in Da Lat, Lam Dong Province. Photo courtesy of the company

Vietnam’s food and beverage industry generated VND406.1 trillion (US$15.4 billion) in revenues in the first half of this year, slightly higher than the VND403.9 trillion seen a year ago, according to a report by iPOS, which provides digital management solutions to over 100,000 businesses.

Vietnamese consumers are not cutting back on F&B spending but major holidays such as Tet (Lunar New Year) in February and the Reunification Day in end-April did not boost sales as much as expected, the report noted.

The number of F&B outlets is shrinking and the market is entering a phase of fierce competition, it added.