JG Summit profits more than double

JG Summit Holdings Inc., the flagship holding firm of the Gokongwei group, saw its nine-month core income surge by 128 percent to P14.9 billion from P6.5 billion last year amid sustained revenue growth and improved margins from strategic business units (SBUs).

Consolidated revenues increased to P251.3 billion from the P224.8 billion recorded in the same period last year, the company said on Tuesday.

For the third quarter alone, core net income climbed to P5.5 billion from P5.1 billion, while revenues rose 24 percent year-on-year to P87.9 billion from P73.7 billion.

“We continued to sustain the topline growth and margin expansion with good operating results in the third quarter from our business units,” JG Summit President and Chief Executive Officer Lance Gokongwei said in a statement.

“We, however, remain cognizant of both macro and industry challenges that our SBUs continue to face, especially with the recent volatility in fuel costs and FX rates and elevated borrowing costs,” he added.

“With this in mind, we carry through with our initiatives to improve efficiency and profitability while pursuing growth.”

The company said that improved air transport operations, coupled with margin gains in its real estate and food businesses, drove topline performance during the period. This helped offset the absence of the P3.2-billion gain from the sale of Manila Electric Co. shares in 2022 and the longer petrochemical shutdown this year.

In the food business, Universal Robina Corp. managed a 6.0 percent year-on-year growth in net income to P10.3 billion, following a 9.0 percent expansion in revenues to P117.6 billion.

Real estate arm Robinsons Land Corp.’s attributable net income was said to have grown by 31 percent to P8.84 billion from P6.74 billion a year earlier.

Cebu Air Inc., meanwhile, booked a 78-percent year-on-year increase in revenues to P66.9 billion, anchored on higher passenger demand coupled with higher fares and improved ancillary yields.

This resulted in a net income of P5.03 billion, a reversal of the P12.05 billion net loss incurred a year earlier.

Meanwhile, petrochemical business JG Summit Olefins Corp. narrowed its net loss to P8.8 billion in the first nine months, while Robinsons Bank Corp.’s net income fell by 35 percent to P800 million.

JG Summit shares on Tuesday rose by 20 centavos to close at P38.20 apiece.