JG Summit earns P691M in first quarter

JG Summit Holdings Inc. of taipan John Gokongwei earned P691.3 million in the first three months of 2001, a sizeable increase of 36 percent over the same period last year due to the solid results of its food, property and financial services units.

Financial statements submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed total revenues during the period reached P9.4 billion or 25 percent more than the P7.5-billion revenues in 2000.

The company said that aside from the steady contribution of its local businesses, revenue growth was also enhanced by the consolidation of its regional consumer branded food operations in Southeast Asia and China beginning April 2000, along with a substantial increase in feeds and flour sales.

For its anchor business, branded consumer food unit Universal Robina Corp., net income went up over 12 percent on higher sales of P456 million as volume soared by 28 percent boosted by higher demand from its regional operations.

URC has manufacturing and distribution presence in Southeast Asia and China of its branded snack food, mainly the Jack & Jill brand. In the domestic market, URC also continued to maintain its leadership positions in the core snack, candy, chocolate and biscuit categories.

Property arm Robinsons Land posted a 14-percent net income growth in the three-month period to P231.2 million on gross revenues of P830 million or 12.1 percent higher, as its real estate and hotel operations improved.

JG Summit’s profitability was also boosted by the turnaround of its textile business, Litton Mills, which registered net earnings compared with a net loss last year. Litton Mills is the country’s largest fabric producer with about 30 percent of Philippine denim production.

Airline unit Cebu Air Inc. or Cebu Pacific also turned in higher numbers as its net income soared to P705 million, a significant jump from only P2.9 million last year due to the noteworthy increase in load factor and passenger yield.

Even JG Summit’s once losing companies, Ditigal Telecommunications Inc. (Digitel) and JG Summit Petrochemicals Corp. (JGSPC) are making headway toward a reversal of operations.

Digitel reported that its income growth stayed flat, despite higher expenses accruing from its start-up information technology (IT) ventures, while JGSPC – the overall market leader among local market of downstream petrochemicals polypropylene and polyethylene – managed to post a 27-percent increase in revenues to P877 million.

JG Summit also has business interest in other areas such as power generation, financial services and supplementary areas like electronics, printing and insurance brokerage.

As of March 31, 2001, JG Summit had consolidated assets of P128.63 billion. – Conrado Diaz Jr.