MEXICO CITY, March 13 (Reuters) - Mexico's Alsea, which

operates chains such as Domino's Pizza and Starbucks ( SBUX ), plans to

invest six billion pesos ($358.85 million) into the business

this year, up 27% from 2023 spending, the firm's chief financial

officer said on Wednesday.

Nearly half of that will go toward opening new locations,

with 25% to be spent on maintenance, 15% on remodeling and

another 15% on digitalization, CFO Federico Rodriguez said at

the company's investor day event.

More than half of the spending will be concentrated in

Mexico, Rodriguez added.

Shares in Alsea were up more than 3.5% in mid-morning

trading.

Alsea is aiming to exceed 5,000 stores this year, CEO

Armando Torrado said, which would mark nearly 9% growth if

achieved.

"We operate more than 4,600 stores and our plan is to

surpass the 5,000-store milestone by the end of the year," he

said, adding that Alsea was anxious to become a "7,000-store

company in the near future."

Torrado said Alsea has identified a "white space," or market

opportunity, to open 2,460 more stores, with around half in

Mexico, 30% in Europe and the rest in South America.

He noted that most of those planned stores would be

Starbucks ( SBUX ) cafes, followed by Domino's, full-service

establishments and Burger King restaurants.

"Rodriguez said the openings were planned over the next 10

years."

The CFO said Alsea expects revenue to grow more than 10% in

2024, with same-store sales up 7% to 9%. Most of that increase

in same-store sales will be from increased foot traffic and

orders, he said, with some coming from inflation-related price

increases.

Core earnings, or earnings before interest, taxes,

depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), should also grow more

than 11% this year, Rodriguez said.

($1 = 16.7200 Mexican pesos)