MANILA, Philippines - The holding company of business tycoon John Gokongwei Jr. enjoyed a 36.5% increase in its P7.88 billion January-to-September net income, largely due to hefty dividends from its shares in the country's telecommunications giant.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, November 14, JG Summit Holdings Inc. said its 12% stake in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) contributed dividends of P2.95 billion, accounting for bulk of the group's total dividend income of P3.14 bilion for the first 9 months of 2012.

“The increase in net income was attributable to the additional P1 billion dividend income received from PLDT plus the surge in bond prices in the same month, which brought additional mark-to-market gains from our financial assets," JG Summit said.

"In addition, the continued appreciation of peso against the US dollar further boosted our bottomline,” it added.

For the third quarter alone, the conglomerate registered a net income of P3.28 billion, a hefty 72.6% against the P1.9 billion it earned in the same quarter in 2011. Sales also inched up by 6% to P32.1 billion.

Strong performance from all business units led to 9-month consolidated revenues of P101.2 billion, a 10.7% increase.

Below is a summary of how the different business units performed in the first 9 months:

• Universal Robina Corp., the group’s food manufacturing unit, posted net income of P5.75 billion, up 24.4%. Consolidated sale of goods and services went up by 4.9% to P53.05 billion, boosted by strong sales from both domestic and international markets.
• Robinsons Land Corp., the group's property unit, posted a net income of P3.35 billion, up 10% as real estate and hotel revenues increased 10% to P9.97 billion.
• Cebu Air Inc., the airline unit, posted profits of P2.27 billion, up only 2.4%. Revenues reached P27.87 billion, up 14% due to the 12.3% increase in passenger volume from more flights in 2012.

Aside from food manufacturing, airline and real estate, JG Summit also has investments in petrochemical and financial services sectors. - Rappler.com