Philippine Tycoon Gokongwei Eyes Post-Pandemic Recovery With $1.3 Billion Bet On Airline, Hotels And Banks

Billionaire Lance Gokongwei is spending 73.6 billion pesos ($1.3 billion) this year to ready his sprawling conglomerate to reap the fruits of a post-pandemic recovery. His family’s JG Summit is stepping up investments in each of its major businesses—airline, hotels and banking—to tap resurgent demand in the Philippines and key markets across Southeast Asia.

More than half of the planned capital expenditure will go toward buying new aircraft for, Cebu Air, the Philippines’ largest airline, which witnessed a more than four-fold increase in passenger traffic last year as domestic and international travel resumed following the relaxation of movement restrictions around the region. The rest of the spending will be on expanding the conglomerate’s banking footprint and accelerating property development.