JG Summit Holdings Inc., the listed holding company of the Gokongwei family, earmarked P87.2 billion for 2024 capital expenditures to finance the expansion of its core airline, property and food manufacturing businesses.
This year’s capital expenditure program is down 11.5 percent from P98.6 billion the group spent in 2023.
JG Summit said in an investor presentation the bulk of this year’s capital spending would go to its airline business Cebu Air Inc., which is spending P48.7 billion for additional aircraft acquisition.
Cebu Air will have 18 new aircraft deliveries this year to end 2024 with 93.
Its property unit Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) also earmarked P22 billion in capital expenditures primarily to expand the commercial spaces of its malls and office as well as build more hotel rooms.
RLC will increase its mall leasable area by 4 percent, its office space by 11 percent, industrial space by 30 percent and hotel rooms by 5 percent in 2024.
Universal Robina Corp. (URC), the food manufacturing unit of JG Summit, will spend P12.7 billion for the construction and outfitting of various manufacturing plants, including the 31-hectare Malvar property.
Meanwhile, the group’s petrochemical business will invest P2.7 billion to sustain operations and settle project contract payments this year.
“JGS’ recurring core net income is targeted to hover to its pre-pandemic level as business units work towards capturing improving consumer sentiments,” the conglomerate said.
JG Summit said URC targets volume-based growth across categories and markets, while RLC continues to expand its portfolio and deliver strong growth across businesses.
Cebu Air expects increases in capacity to continue expansion beyond pre-pandemic levels and expects full recovery on international short-haul business.
JG Summit saw its net income reach P20.2 billion in 2023, up by 30 times from the P700-million net income the prior year, led by higher revenues from its airline and real estate businesses.
Consolidated revenues jumped 14 percent to P343.8 billion also on higher sales from airline business coupled with strong revenues from property, food and petrochemical businesses.