JG Summit braces for losses amid Mideast conflict

MANILA, Philippines — Conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc. of the Gokongwei Group is bracing for potential losses should oil prices remain elevated amid the ongoing Middle East crisis.

During the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Friday, JG Summit president and CEO Lance Gokongwei acknowledged that geopolitical developments are affecting the company through input costs and foreign exchange movements.

As such, Gokongwei said the group is continuously recalibrating its 2026 forecast and conducting various analyses amid uncertainty over fuel prices.

“On a consolidated basis, a sustained crude oil price of $100 and $200 for jet fuel per barrel could reduce equitized core net income by up to P6 billion per quarter,” he said.

To mitigate this, Universal Robina Corp. is strengthening supply resiliency, working closely with logistics partners to manage higher freight costs and implementing cost-saving and pricing actions.

Cebu Pacific, for its part, is adjusting fares and network, rationalizing capacity through reduced frequencies and consolidated flights.

Gokongwei said the budget carrier continues to rely on its modernized fleet to manage fuel and operating costs.

He said Robinsons Land Corp. is likewise mitigating risk through energy cost hedging, operational efficiencies, disciplined capex management and an agile sales and redevelopment strategy toward more sustainable, remittance-driven markets.

Meanwhile, Gokongwei said JG Summit has engaged a global specialist in petrochemical asset sales to support its divestment process for the petrochemical plant assets of JG Summit Olefins Corp. (JGSOC).

JG Summit said it is in discussions with multiple parties, mostly foreign companies, interested in purchasing JGSOC’s assets.

It said discussions are preliminary and undergoing different stages of the process.

“We continue to explore various options, including having the buyer operate the plant’s assets in place in Batangas and an alternative option that would involve relocating the assets to a buyer’s preferred location,” Gokongwei said.