By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter

JG SUMMIT Holdings, Inc. returned to profitability as it posted a third-quarter net income of P844.1 million for its equity holders, reversing the previous quarter’s losses but still way below last year’s earnings.

The Gokongwei-led firm said better contributions from its petrochemicals and real estate units allowed it to record improved quarterly results.

JG Summit President and Chief Executive Officer Lance Y. Gokongwei said he is “cautiously optimistic” despite projecting that weaker consumer sentiment will continue to be a factor for the company’s products and services in the near term.

His optimism comes after the holding firm managed to move from its first-half losses of P720.25 million when the second-quarter net loss reached P2.62 billion. But the improved third-quarter bottomline is still far from the P3.68-billion income in the same period last year.

Mr. Gokongwei said he was “encouraged” by the company’s results for the third quarter, despite the economic challenges brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“With the easing of restrictions, economic activity has slowly returned and our different business units showed some quarter on quarter recovery but I also note that these results are far from ideal and still showed steep declines versus a year ago,” he said.

“The prospects of a vaccine likewise give us hope that this will unlock further acceleration and recovery towards the latter part of 2021,” he added.

For a nine-month period, JG Summit’s net income amounted to P123.85 million, down from P21.07 billion a year ago, while its consolidated revenues fell 27% year-on-year to P167.3 billion.

JG Summit’s petrochemicals unit, JG Petrochemicals Group, posted a third-quarter net income of P772 million due to lower naphtha prices that are used in production.

For a nine-month period, it recorded a net loss of P1.9 billion and revenues of P14.5 billion. The company’s food unit, Universal Robina Corp., registered a net income of P7.5 billion for the three quarters, a 7% increase from a year ago.

Meanwhile, Robinsons Land Corp. posted a net income of P717 million for the third quarter due to stronger showing from its malls, hotels, and residential businesses, coupled with the sustained expansion in its office and warehouse leasing units.

For a nine-month period, the property company recorded a 31% drop in its net income to P4.4 billion due to additional depreciation from newly opened properties and interest expenses on newly issued loans.

Cebu Pacific Air, Inc. trimmed its net loss for the third quarter to P5.5 billion due to savings on operations and fuel consumption.

For a nine-month period, the budget airline ended with a net loss of P14.7 billion, with revenues declining 70% to P19.3 billion.

“Passenger revenues were down 74% while ancillaries decreased by 69% due to lower passenger volumes. The limitations on frequency of flights and varying requirements and processes from local government units continue to be a challenge,” the disclosure said.

JG Summit’s banking unit, Robinsons Bank Corp., reported a net income of P786 million for a nine-month period due to a 14% increase in its revenues to P6.9 billion.

On Friday, shares in JG Summit were unchanged at P72 per piece.

Lucio C. Tan’s holding company LT Group, Inc. posted a 10.9% increase in third-quarter net income to P6.08 billion for its parent equity holders despite recording a decline in gross revenues during three-month period.

In its quarterly report submitted to the stock exchange, the company recorded gross revenues of P22.87 billion, down 2.8% from a year ago. It managed to trip its expenses.

For the January-September period, LT Group reported a 9% increase in its attributable net income to P16.10 billion, with its tobacco business contributing three-fourths of the total.

The firm said its tobacco business accounted for 75% of total income at P12.12 billion, followed by Philippine National Bank (PNB) at 14% or P2.24 billion, Tanduay Distillers, Inc. at 7% or P1.09 billion.

Other business units contributed a smaller figure with Eton Properties Philippines, Inc. at P630 million, Victorias Milling Co., Inc. at P148 million, and Asia Brewery, Inc. at P4 million.

PNB’s net income under the pooling method fell 39% to P4 billion for the nine-month period due to the P9.03 billion provision for credit losses it booked as a result of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

LT Group’s tobacco unit posted a 27% increase in its net income for the period to P12.17 billion due to the shift among customers to mid-priced cigarettes, coupled with the higher excise taxes implemented in August 2019.

The company’s liquor unit, Tanduay Distillers reported a net income of P1.09 billion due to higher sales volume. It also posted a 36% drop in selling and marketing expenses to P725 million against P1.14 billion previously.

Meanwhile, Eton Properties posted a 1% rise in net income to P633 million during the period due to an increase in rental income.

“At the end of September 2020, Eton Properties had a leasing portfolio of approximately 181,000 square meters of office space and over 43,000 square meters of retail space,” the disclosure said.

LTG said some of its planned projects include the 36-storey Blakes Tower in Makati City, the 4.3-hectare Eton City Square in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, and NXTower I, an office building along Ortigas Ave.

Asia Brewery’s net income fell 98% to P4 million due to lower sales volumes across all products during the quarantine period as a result of the pandemic.

On Friday, shares in LTG rose 3.14% or 38 centavos to end at P12.48 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Casual dining restaurant group Max’s Group, Inc. incurred losses of P377.48 million in the third quarter, a reversal of its profits a year ago, as operations were hit by lockdown measures during the ongoing pandemic.

In the same quarter last year, Max’s Group recorded a net income of P128.08 billion for the parent firm’s equity holders.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Friday, the company said revenues during the quarter fell 59% to P1.38 billion, while system-wide sales, or sales from company-owned and franchised stores, declined 54% to P2.24 billion.

For the nine-month period, the company posted a net loss attributable to parent equity holders of P977.18 million, reversing net earnings of P493.38 million a year ago.

System-wide sales of Max’s Group from January to September also dropped 46% to P7.8 billion while revenues fell 50% to P5.17 billion.

The government’s decision to revert Metro Manila to stricter quarantine measures in August suspended dine-in operations and affected its sales momentum, the company said.

“Despite this, local sales steadily recovered for the third quarter. The average local system-wide sales for the third quarter of 2020 increased by 38% versus that of the second quarter of this year,” the disclosure said.

Meanwhile, Max’s Group said its international stores, which account for 8% of its total store network, performed better.

“For the third quarter and nine months that ended on September 30, system-wide sales for international locations declined by only 29% versus the same periods last year. In comparison to the second quarter of the year, international system-wide sales rose by 46%,” it said.

Max’s Group Chief Executive Officer and President Robert F. Trota said that despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, he projects an increase in topline sales resulting from the steady return of dine-in patronage and the company’s shift to new product channels.

“As delivery takes on a more prominent role, we have also ensured that the applicable structures are in place to readily cater to consumer needs during the upcoming peak season,” Mr. Trota was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Max’s Group Chief Operating Officer Ariel P. Fermin said that as the company heads into the end of the year, he estimates that the benefits of its recalibrated and resized operations will be felt.

“We have intensified product development work to continue offering our customers craveable food that our brands are known for,” Mr. Fermin was quoted as saying.

“We remain secure in the strategic decisions we have made and in the reach of our unmatched portfolio of brands,” he added.

As of end-September, the company said it had a total of 716 stores, with 80% of these being operational. Some 657 sites are in the Philippines while 59 are across North America, the Middle East, and Asia.

On Friday, shares in Max’s Group at the stock exchange fell 0.59% or P0.04 to end at P6.75 per piece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

ALLIANCE GLOBAL Group, Inc. (AGI) on Friday reported an attributalbe net profit of P2.03 billion in the third quarter as the looser quarantine measures and gradual reopening of the economy brought improved quarterly results for the Andrew L. Tan-led holding firm.

Although lower than the P4.73-billion attributable income in the same period a year ago, this year’s third-quarter profit was higher than the second quarter’s P837.71 million, the company’s quarterly report to the stock exchange showed.

AGI Chief Executive Officer Kevin L. Tan said the company is motivated by the improvements posted by its business units during the third quarter.

“Our interim performance also validated the soundness of our diversification strategy as evidenced by the strong results delivered by our international liquor operations even amidst the global pandemic,” Mr. Tan said.

For the nine-month period, AGI’s net income fell 54.6% year-on-year to P5.83 billion against P12.83 billion in 2019.

AGI’s property unit, Megaworld Corp., posted a net profit of P2 billion. Its rental income rose 10% to P10.6 billion versus the previous quarter due to the strong performance of its office rentals business.

For the nine-month period, Megaworld’s net profit fell 42% to P7.4 billion while consolidated revenues declined 31% to P33.3 billion.

Meanwhile, Emperador, Inc., the company’s liquor unit, posted a net income of P2.5 billion for the third quarter, while its total revenues amounted to P12.9 billion.

From January to September, Emperador’s net profit rose 11% to P5.9 billion while its consolidated revenues improved 2% to P34.5 billion.

Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., the owner and operator of Resorts World Manila, posted an attributable net loss of P1.7 billion despite posting total gross revenues of P3.7 billion during the quarter.

For the first nine months of the year, Travellers posted a net loss of P5.4 billion compared with a net income of P786 million a year ago.

“Total gross revenues reached P11.5-billion, down 55% year on year, as gross gaming revenues fell by the same token to P9.3 billion, while non-gaming revenues plunged by 53% to P2.2 billion, weighed down by limited hotel and meetings, incentives, conferencing, and exhibitions (MICE) activities,” the disclosure said.

Golden Arches Development Corp. (GADC), also known as McDonald’s Philippines, trimmed its net losses in the third quarter to P257 million, as its sales revenues reached P4.5 billion due to more stores resuming operations.

For a nine-month period, GADC posted a net loss of P967 million, against a P1.2 billion net income in the previous year.

“Sales revenues fell 39% year on year to P14.2 billion as system wide sales hit P24.2 billion due to the heavy impact of the lockdown in the second quarter. GADC ended the period with 658 stores as compared to 669 stores at the start of the year,” the disclosure said.

AGI’s Mr. Tan said the company remains optimistic that it can maintain its improvement across business units, adding that he expects the economy to improve moving forward.

“Meanwhile, we continue to help rebuild consumer confidence by assuring our stakeholders of the safe live, work and play environment in our townships,” Mr. Tan said.

“We have maintained our cost discipline and continue to observe financial prudence to support our operations amid this disruption. At the same time, we remain agile to identify and take advantage of opportunities in this rapidly changing environment,” he added.

On Friday, shares of AGI improved 1.94% or 17 centavos to end at P8.92 per piece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave