By Ben Otto

Jollibee Foods Corp. shares fell steeply in their first day of trading after the fast-food company warned that profit this year would suffer due to the Covid-19 pandemic and said it would review its stores globally.

Shares of the Manila-based company slumped 10.4% to PHP119.20 in morning trade, taking year-to-date losses to 45%.

Jollibee, which operates more than 5,000 stores mainly in the Philippines, North America and China, had on Friday said that profit in the coming quarters was likely to fall on-year due to store closures amid global measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus. It also said it would spend 7 billion Philippine pesos ($137.9 million) to adapt its restaurants and operations to changing consumer behavior amid the pandemic.

The company said it would increase capacity for delivery and drive-through services, invest in digital commerce and undertake a strategic review of non-performing stores, supply chain facilities and other facets of operations.

Jollibee Foods last year acquired Los Angeles-based The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for $350 million in its largest overseas business expansion. It also operates its name-brand stores and others like Red Ribbon and Burger King in various countries.

Markets in the Philippines were closed on Monday for a holiday. 



  Write to Ben Otto at ben.otto@wsj.com