The corporate giant reported a 16-percent rise in net income for the first nine months of 2024, driven by robust revenue growth and benefits from merging Robinsons Bank with Bank of the Philippine Islands.
Management’s view
“While the overall macro environment is expected to rebound with the easing inflation, most of our businesses are still affected by the weaker consumer sentiment that has dampened demand for products and services,” said Gokongwei, the president and CEO of JG Summit.
“We are seeing the propensity of consumers towards value food and beverage products, the seasonally weaker quarter for travel, and the prolonged industry downcycle for petrochemicals impacting our latest results,” he said.
“We, however, expect a better fourth quarter to finish the year on a good footing. This will also establish a stronger base as we pursue initiatives to sequentially drive better topline growth and margins across our operating units,” he added.
Revenue growth
JG Summit revenues grew 10 percent year-on-year to P277 billion, driven by strong demand in travel, value-based food and beverage products, and higher utilization of its petrochemical facilities.
Core profits surged 39 percent to P20.3 billion, benefiting from wider earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (ebitda) margins and merger-related gains, despite higher depreciation and interest costs.
Including non-core mark-to-market losses, net income settled at P17.9 billion, up 16 percent from last year.
JG Summit faced challenges in Q3
Revenue in the third quarter remained steady at P89.1 billion, but net income dropped 39 percent to P3.1 billion, hit by weaker performance from JG Summit Olefins Corp., lower sugar earnings at Universal Robina Corp., and discounted fares from Cebu Pacific.
The petrochemical division continued to struggle due to a global market downturn.
Despite these challenges, JG Summit maintained a solid balance sheet, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65 and net gearing at 0.53, while parent company dividends rose 8 percent to P16.9 billion, helping cut net debt by 17 percent since late 2023.
