JG Summit doubles core net income to P18.1 billion in H1

JG Summit Holdings Inc., the Gokongwei family’s diversified conglomerate, on Monday said it doubled its core net income for the first half of the year, on the back of the realized gains from its bank merger and the double-digit topline growth of its core businesses.

JG Summit said its core net income climbed 99% to P18.1 billion in the first half, while its recurring core profits—which excludes the P7.9-billion gain from its bank merger—increased by 12% year-on-year.

This comes as the Gokongwei group’s Robinsons Bank merged with Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) at the start of the year, with the latter as the surviving entity.

JG Summit’s consolidated revenues increased to P187.8 billion, reflecting a 13% growth in the second quarter, and 15% increase in the first half due to higher demand for tourism and recreation, and increased petrochemicals operations and food and beverage sales volumes.

“We continue to post overall topline growth despite the lingering effects of inflation which dampened consumer sentiment,” JG Summit president and chief executive officer Lance Gokongwei said in a regulatory filing.

“As we move on to the second half, we hope to sustain this momentum with the expected decline in inflation that in turn could ignite the sequential rebound in consumer demand,” he added.

Its food business Universal Robina Corporation (URC) saw a 3% growth in its revenues to P80.7 billion, bringing core profits up 5% to P6.3 billion. The real estate unit Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC) reported an 8% increase in revenues to P20.0 billion, and core profit up 9% to P6.0 billion.

The air transportation business Cebu Air Inc. reported an 18% increase in revenues to P51.4 billion and core profits up 26% to P3.7 billion, while the petrochemicals business JG Summit Olefins Corporation grew its revenues by 80% to P25.5 billion, but higher costs led to a P7.4-billion net loss.

“We will continue to execute our commercial strategies to drive topline growth while implementing overall operational discipline to ensure we sustain the year-on-year recovery in core net income and margins,” Gokongwei said. — BM, GMA Integrated News