JG Summit nets P10.7 billion in January-September

MANILA, Philippines - JG Summit Holdings Inc., the investment vehicle of the Gokongwei family, reported a 36.5-percent growth in its nine-month net earnings to P10.76 billion, boosted by dividend income from its investment in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. as well as mark-to-market gains from financial assets.

In a financial report submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange, JG Summit said it received an additional P1-billion dividend income from PLDT in September, increasing total dividends to P3.14 billion year-to-date from only P190.37 million a year earlier.

JG Summit said it also benefited from the continued appreciation of the peso against the dollar, which resulted in a net foreign exchange gain of P1.22 billion. The company booked mark-to-market gains of P1.34 billion from a net valuation loss of P16.09 million a year ago.

Consolidated revenues increased 10.7 percent to P101.27 billion, largely due to improved contributions from all business units except JG Summit Petrochemicals Corp.

 Equity in net earnings of associates declined 22.5 percent from P1.74 billion to P1.35 billion due to reduced income from JG Summit’s investment in international property unit UIC Ltd., drop in sale of properties and lower revenues from hotel operations.

Food manufacturing arm Universal Robina Corp. continued to account for the lion’s share of JG Summit’s total revenues, contributing P53.05 billion or an increase of 4.88 percent. Airline unit Cebu Air chipped in P27.87 billion, up 14 percent.

Property subsidiary Robinsons Land Corp. pumped in P9.96 billion, 7.5 percent higher than the previous year. Petrochemicals contributed P4.05 billion while financial services accounted for P1.85 billion of JG Summit’s total revenues.

Cebu Air, the operator of Cebu Pacific, managed to post a 2.4 percent rise in net earnings during the period in spite of surging fuel expenses. Revenues expanded 14 percent to P27.87 billion, brought about by the 12.3 percent increase in passenger volume to 9.8 million this year as a result of the increased number of flights in 2012. Number of flights moved up 14.6 percent year-on-year with the acquisition of additional aircraft.

JG Summit Petrochemicals incurred a net loss of P209.62 million, higher than the P88.9 million recorded in 2011. Revenues, however, rose 9.2 percent to P4.06 billion, mainly from higher sales to external customers.