JG Summit upbeat on expansion

MANILA, Philippines – The Gokongwei Group, bullish on the country’s economic prospects with the incoming administration, is ramping up its investments with about $600 million earmarked for the expansion of its petrochemicals business.

 JG Summit Holdings Inc. president Lance Gokongwei said the expansion of its businesses was the group’s way of helping president-elect Rodrigo Duterte achieve his economic goals for the country.

 Gokongwei declined to comment on reports that Duterte offered him the Finance portfolio but said incoming finance secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez was an excellent choice.

“The president has a real mandate from the people and has a true love of the country and has selected a finance secretary who is completely competent and trusted by the community,” Gokongwei said.

Gokongwei said the expansion of its petrochemicals business was driven by the strong demand for plastics within and outside the region.

“This will expand the cracker and further build downstream for butadiene and aromatics stream,” he said.

“This will reduce import dependency of the Philippines. This will take three years (to build). This year is the planning stage. But heavy spending will start next year to prepare the ground and secure the bids and permits. We’re confident that with internally generated cash flows and borrowings, we should be able to fund this project,” Gokongwei said.

With the expansion, the capacity of JG Summit’s existing petrochemicals plant will rise to 500,000 metric tons from the current 320,000 MT.

“We remain optimistic on the growth prospects of the group as all subsidiaries are poised for continuous growth and sustained profitability. Amidst a volatile and challenging global environment, the evolving Asean market will also be a key driver of our group’s growth in the medium term,” Gokongwei said.

For its food manufacturing unit, Universal Robina Corp.will continue to focus on productivity.

For the property business, Robinsons Land Corp. is opening four new malls this year.

Budget carrier Cebu Air will add more routes while Robinsons Bank plans to grow its core income and focus on building its lending portfolio and other fee-based income.