JG Summit bounced back in H1 2023, posted P10.4B in profit

MANILA  -Gokongwei family-conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc. bounced back during the first semester of 2023 after booking a profit P10.4 billion, reversing losses of P2.7 billion during the same period last year.

“The group’s earnings improvement further accelerated in [the second quarter] with the sustained demand recovery and growth across our food, airline and property businesses,” JG Summit president and CEO Lance Gokongwei said in a statement on Friday.

“On top of this, initiatives across our business units to tackle cost inflation and implement efficiencies to recover our margins continue to bear fruit,” he added.

JG Summit owns Cebu Pacific Air, Robinson Land Corp., Universal Robina Corp. and JG Summit Olefins Corp.

It closed the January to June period with revenue of P163.4 billion, up 12 percent over the same period in 2022.

Core income, which removes the impact of non-recurring items surged seven times to P9.5 billion. Earnings were further bolstered by better margins, the stabilizing foreign exchange environment and dividends from affiliates such as Manila Electric Co. and PLDT Inc.

JG Summit said dividends during the period totaled P9.1 billion while net debts fell 8 percent to P50.7 billion.

“We are now working double time to augment our capacity and improve operational resiliency by adding more planes for Cebu Pacific, addressing the supply chain issues in URC to increase order fill rates, and improving RLC’s occupancy rates and carefully launching new project developments,” Gokongwei said.

“Meanwhile, we have begun ramping up our petrochemicals operations after months of being shut down. I am confident that we would be able to sustain this positive momentum for the balance of the year as we proactively carry-out initiatives to stay ahead of the curve,” he added.

JG Summit said plant operations under JG Summit Olefins were being restarted in phases beginning last May.