JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (JGS), the flagship of the Gokongwei Group, reported a smaller consolidated net loss of P859 million in the first nine months of the year from the P2.4 billion loss suffered in the same period last year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the diversified conglomerate said forex losses and other mark-to-market adjustments ate up gains from higher revenues and the sale of some of its shares in Manila Electric Company.

Excluding these non-recurring losses, JG Summit said its core net income increased over ten-fold to P6.5 billion in the first nine months of 2022 from the P0.6 billion in the same period last year.

The surge was driven by the significant improvements in the operating results of its consumer-facing businesses as well as a one-time gain.

JG Summit recognized a P3.2 billion portfolio management gain from the sale of its partial 3.2 percent stake in Manila Electric Company (MER) in July 2022.

This core net income was also delivered on the back of a 34 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in JGS’ consolidated revenues to P224.8 billion in the first nine months of 2022.

Its key subsidiaries in food, property and banking posted double-digit topline growth, while its airline saw strong recovery as travel restrictions were eased.

Revenues of P73.7 billion in the third quarter alone rose faster at 46 percent year-on-year but this was tempered by the shutdown of its petrochemical plants from May to August 2022, a deliberate decision given high customer inventories and weak overall demand globally.

Meanwhile, the significant depreciation of the peso from P51.00 to a dollar in December 2021 to P58.63 in September 2022 resulted in foreign exchange translation losses on the group’s US dollar-denominated debt.

“Our core businesses in food, airline, real estate and banking continue to benefit from the sustained strong demand brought about by the increase in economic activity and mobility despite the high inflationary environment while our petrochemicals business continue to suffer from weaker export demand,” said JG Summit President and CEO Lance Gokongwei.

He added that, “We have implemented strategies from gradual pricing actions and cost management initiatives to cushion the impact on our bottom line and margins.”

“While we anticipate to finish the year stronger with topline momentum continuing into the fourth quarter, our stance on margin recovery remains cautious,” Gokongwei said.

Universal Robina Corporation’s nine-month core net income grew 10 percent but the gain on sale of idle assets recognized last year caused an apparent 11 percent decline in net income to P9.3 billion this year.

Robinsons Land Corporation posted a 6 percent growth in attributable net income to P6.7 billion due to the higher share of minority interest from RL Commercial REIT, Inc. (RCR). Including the minority share, RLC’s total net income is up 21 percent YoY.

Cebu Air reduced net losses by nearly 50 percent to P12.0 billion despite a surge in revenues as margins were still greatly affected by higher jet fuel costs and the peso devaluation.

JG Summit Olefins Corporation posted net losses of P9 billion due to higher depreciation, interest, and forex losses while Robinsons Bank Corporation’s net income expanded by 37 percent P1.3 billion, surpassing its full-year 2021 profits.

The equity income of JGS in Meralco rose 17 percent YoY to P5.5 billion, driven by the continuing growth in energy sales and increased earnings of its power generation business in Singapore.

These results already take into account the lower ownership stake of JGS at 26.4 percent in the third quarter of 2022 versus 29.6 percent last year given the share sale in July 2022.

Dividends received from PLDT, Inc. grew 43 percent to P2.8 billion while equity earnings from the Singapore Land Group rose 40 percent to P1.4 billion.