MANILA, Philippines — JG Summit Holdings Inc., the listed conglomerate of the Gokongwei Group, sees better prospects this year following a rebound across its businesses last year and the first quarter of 2023.
“All in all, I think 2023 will be a much better year for the group,” JG Summit president and CEO Lance Gokongwei said yesterday during the company’s annual stockholders meeting.
JG Summit is allocating a capex of P73 billion this year, higher than the P71 billion alloted for 2022.
“That’s why we’re investing a total of P73 billion in capex for 2023, including for planes we are planning to acquire through sale and lease back financing,” Gokongwei said.
In the first quarter, the company recorded a net income of P5 billion, a turnaround from a net loss of P2.8 billion a year ago.
Core net income was at P4.4 billion, coming from a P689 million loss a year ago as Cebu Air Inc. attained its first profitable quarter since the pandemic and property arm Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) doubled its earnings year-on-year, while Universal Robina Corp. (URC) improved operating margins.
Cebu Pacific posted a net income of P1.1 billion in the first quarter from a P7.6 billion net loss a year ago, while RLC generated a net income of P2.7 billion, nearly twice as high, as its reported profits of P1.4 billion last year. URC’s income was flat at P3.4 billion.
With the recovery in travel demand, JG Summit’s air transport business tripled its revenues while it saw sustained growth momentum across its property and food segments.
JG Summit’s revenue went up by 28 percent to P82.3 billion.
Likewise, there were sizable increases in its equity earnings from Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and its dividends from PLDT.
Equity earnings from Meralco amounting to P2.1 billion improved by 30 percent year on year. This was mainly on account of the strong performance of its power generation units in the Philippines and in Singapore. Its power distribution arm also saw a two percent growth in energy sales volumes.
PLDT, meanwhile, declared a regular dividend of P45 per share, or three pesos higher than last year, and an additional special dividend of P14 per share. This led to a total dividend income of P1.4 billion from PLDT, up 40 percent.
Gokongwei, however, noted that while inflation has been cooling, there are still lingering market challenges, particularly in the petrochemicals industry.