JG Summit earnings up 88% in Jan-Sept

MANILA, Philippines – JG Summit Holdings Inc., the holding firm of the Gokongwei family, posted an 88.4% growth in earnings from January to September 2014, or P15.85 billion ($352.46 million*) from P8.41 billion ($187.01 million) in the same period last year.

The conglomerate owns food and beverage company Universal Robina Corporation; property developer Robinsons Land Corporation; budget carrier Cebu Pacific; petrochemical company JG Summit Petrochemicals Corporation; and Robinsons Bank Corporation. It also holds a stake in power distributor Manila Electric Company (Meralco).

Due to its major subsidiaries’ strong performance, consolidated revenues grew to P132.7 billion ($2.95 billion) from P111.18 billion ($2.47 billion).

JG Summit’s core net income, on the other hand, rose 37% to P15.02 billion ($333.79 million) from P10.96 billion ($237.60 million) in 2013.

Based on a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the holding firm’s earnings were lifted by equity earnings from Meralco; one-time gain on sale of JobStreet of P1.45 billion ($32.29 million); and lower foreign exchange losses.

Earnings from Meralco surged 298.7% to P5.78 billion ($128.48 million) from P1.45 billion ($32.24 million) from the same period last year.

Its budget carrier, Cebu Pacific Inc. (Cebu Pacific) posted a 213% gain to P2.1 billion ($46.61 million) in the first 9 months of the year.

The airline’s net income amounted to P2.08 billion ($46.16 million) from January to September 2014 or P1.33 billion ($29.52 million) higher versus the P664.08 million ($14.74 million) posted in the same period in 2013.

Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., meanwhile, posted 33.3% increase in net income, attributable to equity holders of the parent company to P2.3 billion ($51.05 million) from P1.8 billion ($39.95 million) for January to September this year, driven by increased income from operations and higher interest income.

For the 9-month period ending September 2014, core net earnings excluding interest income, equitized net earnings from its 40% stake in Robinsons Bank and forex gains, increased  by 13.3% to P2 billion ($44.39 million) from P1.8 billion ($39.95 million) last year.

Also, consolidated net sales rose 19.1% from P47.2 billion ($1.05 billion) to P56.2 billion ($1.25 billion), attributed to the sales contribution of the 276 new stores, including newly acquired businesses (15.4%) and the higher-than-expected same store sales growth (SSSG) of 3.7%. – Rappler.com

*($1 = P45.06)