JG Summit six-month profit flat at P15B

Despite the strong performance of its core businesses, first semester earnings of JG Summit Holdings Inc. were flat at P15 billion due to one-time bank merger gain recognized last year.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, JG Summit said its top line in the January to June period had increased by 3 percent to P194 billion, thanks to higher demand at budget carrier Cebu Pacific.

“We continue to see sustained top-line performance from our core business units as we benefit from improving consumer sentiment driven by easing inflation,” JG Summit president and CEO Lance Gokongwei said in a statement.

Cebu Air Inc., the operator of Cebu Pacific, saw a 23-percent surge in revenues to P63.3 billion in the first six months due to a 21-percent boost in passenger volumes and passenger yields.

Net income zoomed by 153 percent to P9 billion, mostly because of its larger fleet network.

Meanwhile, snack food maker Universal Robina Corp. grew its revenue by 6 percent to P85.9 billion on healthy volume expansion in its domestic branded consumer foods segment.

Its animal nutrition and health division saw challenges because of the African swine fever outbreak, dampening demand for hog feeds. Downtrading also affected the pet food market, JG Summit added.

Real estate under Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) logged an 11-percent growth in its top line to P22.2 billion on sustained growth across its residential and leasing business.

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RLC’s mall and office occupancy rates improved quarter-on-quarter to 94 percent and 87 percent, respectively.

Although JG Summit has yet to disclose its full financial report, it said losses at petrochemical unit JG Summit Olefins Corp. (JGSOC) had tapered.

JGSOC in January announced its indefinite shutdown, hoping to help reduce the drag on its parent firm’s profitability.

JG Summit later confirmed that the closure would take at least two years because of prevailing challenges in the global market.