JG Summit nets P295M in Jan-Mar

JG Summit Holdings Inc. posted a P295-million core net income in the first three months of the year as margin gains from its food and beverage and petrochemicals businesses cushioned the declines of its real estate, airline and banking segments.

The holding firm of the Gokongweis said its consolidated net income stood at P122 million during the quarter amid forex losses on the US dollar bonds of the parent company.

Meanwhile, JG Summit’s revenues for the first quarter stood at P67.6 billion.

“The improved utilization of its petrochemical plants, the contribution from its Chengdu real estate project and the resilient topline performance of its food and banking segments offset the year-on-year decline in its air transport revenues,” JG Summit explained in a disclosure on Friday.

The firm’s food and beverage arm, Universal Robina Corp., recorded 51-percent higher earnings of P3.2 billion in January to March, while its net sales inched up by 3 percent to P34.6 billion amid improved international business units and commodity division.

JG Summit Petrochemicals Group returned to profitability and netted P48 million during the period and likewise saw tripled revenues of P9 billion on the back of higher volumes with strong demand from local and export markets.

The first quarter income of its listed real estate segment, Robinsons Land Corp., was down 13 percent year-on-year while its consolidated revenues climbed 44 percent to P16.4 billion.

Robinsons Bank Corp.’s income likewise declined by 33 percent to P234 million due to lower trading gains and additional provisions, while its revenues ended at P2.3 billion in the first three months of the year.

JG Summit’s airline business, Cebu Air Inc., remained impacted by the pandemic and incurred a loss of P7.3 billion in the previous quarter. Its revenues also plunged 83 percent year-on-year.

The company only flew 7,236 flights and 550,000 passengers during the quarter, representing a 76-percent and 88-percent yearon-year drop, respectively.

“While we remain optimistic about the long term prospects of the group in a post Covid world, we are realistic with our view that short-term volatility will continue to persist. Although we have seen sequential improvement in our business results in the last two to three quarters, the implementation of a stricter lockdown in the NCR+ bubble which impeded mobility is like a reset once again,” JG Summit President and Chief Executive Officer Lance Gokongwei said, referring to the area covering the National Capital Region and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Riza;.

“We expect though that the headwinds will start dissipating once the vaccine rollout is accelerated but surmise that the shape of the recovery will vary across industries in our portfolio,” he continued.

Shares of JG Summit fell by 80 centavos or 1.59 percent to end at P49.50 apiece on Friday.