Gokongwei-led JG Summit spending less this year

MANILA, Philippines – Gokongwei-owned JG Summit Holdings Inc. will spend P40 billion for the expansion of its businesses this year.

The amount is lower than last year’s P50 billion, which was mainly used for the construction of a naphtha cracker plant, according to JG Summit senior vice president and chief strategy officer BJ Sebastian. The plant will start commercial operations this year and will produce raw materials for plastic products.

JG Summit owns food manufacturing firm Universal Robina Corporation (URC), property developer Robinsons Land Corporation, and budget carrier Cebu Pacific. It is also engaged in petrochemical, banking and recently, power distribution, through its stake in Manila Electric Company (Meralco).

Sebastian said bulk of the conglomerate’s 2014 budget will go to:

• Robinsons Land – P16 billion, for new shopping centers, residential projects, hotels and office buildings
• URC – P9 billion, for the expansion of its food and feeds businesses and construction of bioethanol plant

JG Summit president and COO Lance Gokongwei said Robinsons Land and URC would continue to perform well on the back of strong demand from consumers, and he expects Meralco to make a significant impact on the company’s earnings this year.

“In a nutshell, things are fairly good. The economy is robust and most of our businesses are doing well,” he said.

“The equity stake should probably make it second in terms of contribution to company after URC,” he added.

In December, JG Summit completed the acquisition of a 27% stake in the Philippines’ largest power distributor from San Miguel Corporation for P72 billion. – Rappler.com