JG Summit H1 income up by 4% to P13.4B

GOKONGWEI-LED conglomerate JG Summit grew its first semester net profit by 4.4 percent to P13.43 billion, on the back of a double-digit growth in earnings from its food and beverage manufacturing, airline and real estate businesses and the profit turned in by its petrochemical business.

Food and beverage manufacturer Universal Robina Corp. posted a 10.9-percent growth in six-month net profit to P6.31 billion while aviation unit Cebu Air boosted its six-month net profit by 63.6 percent year-on-year to P5.2 billion.

These two were the biggest contributors to the group-wide bottom line.

Based on a regulatory filing, real estate arm Robinsons Land Corp. expanded its six-month net profit by 17.3 percent year-on-year to P2.96 billion on higher earnings from shopping malls, hotel operations and residential development.

Overall, the smaller increase in JG Summit’s first semester net profit was due to the high comparative level in the previous year, during which the conglomerate booked a one-time gain of P1.45 billion from the sale of its interest in job portal Jobstreet.

Excluding non-recurring items, JG Summit’s first semester core net profit increased by 33 percent year-on-year to P14.09 billion in the first half.

The increase in JG Summit’s core earnings was largely driven by Cebu Air, which benefited from the substantial reduction in fuel prices.

On the other hand, JG Summit Petrochemicals Corp. (JGSPC) and JG Summit Olefins Corp. achieved a net income of P490.41 million for the six-month period, a turnaround from the P216.91-million net loss in the same period last year. As JGSPC resumed its commercial operations after the completion of its polymer plant expansion and rehabilitation projects in March 2014 and the naphtha cracker in November 2014, sales volume significantly picked up, jacking up six-month gross revenues to P12.15 billion from only P530.53 million in the previous year.

For URC, total revenues in the first semester rose by 18 percent year-on-year to P54.93 billion, boosted by the new contribution from New Zealand’s iconic biscuit-maker Griffin’s, which the company acquired and consolidated into its books starting November 2014.

Cebu Air’s total revenues, on the other hand, went up by 10.4 percent to P29.51 billion for the first half of 2015 due to the consistent rise in passenger volume.

RLC’s total revenues also increased by 12.9 percent to P9.79 billion in the first six months, brought about by the revenue contribution of seven new malls, two office buildings and three new hotels.

On the banking business, Robinsons Bank Corp. generated lower net earnings of P64.72 million for the first half compared to P125.62 million in the previous year.