THE holding firm of tycoon John L. Gokongwei, Jr., the country’s second richest man, registered flat earnings last year on the back of the weakness of the airline business.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Friday, JG Summit Holdings, Inc. said core net income — excluding non-operating and non-recurring items — slipped to P29.56 billion last year compared to P29.97 billion in 2016.
The biggest drag to the conglomerate’s performance is the airline business, which suffered from higher fuel costs and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar. The double-digit growth in the petrochemical segment and higher equity earnings from associates tempered the decline.
Including extraordinary items, consolidated net income from equity holders of the parent reached P29.37 billion, surging 169% from P10.92 billion in 2016 when it booked P16.71 billion in impairment losses from the decline in market value of the group’s investment in PLDT, Inc.
Consolidated revenues rose 13.7% to P273.45 billion from P240.50 billion, buoyed by the stronger sales of most business units.
Universal Robina Corp. registered an 11% uptick in revenues to P125.01 billion from P112.61 billion, as international sales of the branded consumer food group and sales of the sugar division increased by a third.
Revenues of Cebu Air, Inc. went up by nearly a tenth to P68.03 billion from P61.9 billion due to the growth in passenger volume and average fares.
JG Petrochemicals Group chalked up a 42% expansion in revenues to P41.41 billion from P29.07 billion, driven by higher sales volume and average selling price of polymers and olefins.
Revenues of Robinsons Land Corp. declined to P22.45 billion from P22.75 billion as lower real estate sales weighed on the company, which was partially offset by the increase in rental revenues.
Banking revenue improved 31% to P4.48 billion from P3.41 billion, buoyed by higher interest income from finance receivables and trading gains.
Revenues from core investments dropped as dividend income received by the group fell 28.5% to P1.45 billion from P2.03 billion due to the lower dividend income declared by PLDT.
Equity in net earnings of associates, primarily from investments in United Industrial Corp. Ltd, Singapore Land, and Manila Electric Co., climbed 21.2% to P9.91 billion from P8.18 billion, which includes the full-year impact of Global Business Power Corp.
Shares in JG Summit fell P1.20 or 1.88% to close at P62.80 each. — Krista Angela M. Montealegre

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