JG Summit mulls entry into new infrastructure projects via PPP

MANILA, Philippines - JG Summit Holdings Inc., the investment holding firm of the Gokongwei family, wants to beef up its infrastructure investments and is open to entering new businesses such as road, power, airport and other public utilities, especially those that would fall under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program of the government.

Company president Lance Gokongwei said they are “eagerly awaiting” the list of projects under the PPP which government will unveil in a briefing next week.

“We want to go into new businesses that we will have competitive advantage in, even those we have not been into yet,” he said.

JG Summit’s subsidiaries and affiliates include listed companies Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc., CP Air Holdings Inc., JG Summit Petrochemical Corp., Robinsons Savings Bank Corp., First Private Power Corp., Robinsons Land Corp., JG Summit (Cayman), Universal Robina Corp., JG Summit Philippines Ltd., JG Summit Ltd., JG Summit Capital Services Corp., Express Holdings, Inc. and Unicon Insurance Brokers.

Gokongwei also told The STAR that they are on the lookout for new investments in the banking sector, including the acquisition of existing banks. JG Summit is awaiting approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the merger of its two banks.

Robinsons Savings Bank (RSB) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) recorded revenues of P1.2 billion for the nine months of fiscal year 2010, a 48.4 percent increase from last year’s P806.28 million, since bank revenue this year includes revenue from RBS, which was acquired during the second quarter of fiscal 2010.

Net income for the period for the banking subsidiaries amounted to P206.51 million a 42.5 percent increase from last year’s P144.91 million. Officials said the growth in net income is mainly due to higher interest income recorded by RSB during the period, from P720.45 million for the nine months period last year to P911.85 million.

Meanwhile, JG Summit’s net income for the first nine months of 2010 amounted to P12.77 billion, a 113.3 percent growth from the P5.99 billion generated in the same period last year. Third quarter net income amounted to P5.02 billion.

Company officials explained that the remarkable performance of major subsidiaries of the group contributed to the significant growth in its bottom line. The group’s core earnings before taxes showed a 115.6 percent growth for the nine months of the year from P7.12 billion to P15.36 billion.