By P.R. Venkat

Jollibee Foods Corp. swung to a loss in the first quarter as many of its stores were shut following the restrictions imposed by governments in several countries to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The food services company, which also owns Los Angeles-based The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, posted a net loss of 1.79 billion Philippine pesos ($35.41 million) for the quarter ended March, it said Thursday.

The Philippines-based company had posted a net profit of PHP1.46 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue fell 2.3% to PHP39.43 billion.

"We expect the business to start recovering in the third and fourth quarters, but we assume that the recovery will be slow," Ysmael V. Baysa, the company's chief financial officer said.

Jollibee, which operates more than 5,000 stores mainly in the Philippines, North America and China, said it has strengthened its balance sheet and had a net cash balance of PHP26.5 billion as of end March. 



  Write to P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com