the Outsider - PSE Points to Ponder

  In the first quarter of 2026, Bank of the Philippine Islands looked, at first glance, like the sort of bank investors usually like: large, profitable, liquid, and dull in the best possible way. It earned ₱17.02bn in consolidated net income , or ₱16.92bn attributable to BPI shareholders , on ₱57.05bn of interest income . Put differently, BPI generated about ₱0.30 of net income for every ₱1.00 of interest income —a handsome conversion rate for a banking franchise operating in a still-high-rate environment.  Yet the quarter also carried a reminder that banks do not merely lend money; they warehouse duration, credit risk, and market risk. BPI’s reported profit was resilient, rising 1.7% year on year to ₱16.92bn attributable to equity holders , but its total comprehensive income collapsed to ₱2.86bn , from ₱18.34bn a year earlier. The culprit was not a sudden operating loss but a large other comprehensive loss of ₱14.16bn, driven by a ₱13.59bn net fair-value loss on F...

Mynt, the company behind GCash, is showing the power of platform finance: fewer branches, more transactions, and far better profit conversion than two established banks. In 1Q26, it generated more revenue, more than twice the profit, and a much fatter margin than RCBC and Security Bank.   A curious thing happened in Philippine finance in the first quarter of 2026. Two established universal banks, RCBC and Security Bank , each  generated roughly ₱17bn in operating income and about ₱2.7bn in net income. Mynt , the parent company of GCash , reported higher revenue of ₱20.9bn and net income of ₱5.6bn.  The comparison is not perfect. Banks and fintech platforms do different things. RCBC and Security Bank take deposits, make loans, manage capital, absorb credit losses, and operate within a dense regulatory framework. Mynt sits at the heart of the daily financial habits of millions of mobile users. Yet the contrast is revealing. In 1Q26, Mynt was not merely bigger than these tw...

  The GCash parent’s listing would not create cash gains if neither shareholder sells. But it could reveal how much hidden value sits inside Globe and Ayala’s balance sheets. The most interesting asset in Philippine telecoms is no longer a tower, a fiber line, or a slice of spectrum. It is a financial app. Mynt, the company behind GCash, is moving toward a public listing after Globe disclosed that Mynt’s board and shareholders had authorized filings for a potential IPO. The proposed offer is expected to represent about 12% of Mynt’s post-IPO capital , through a mix of primary and secondary shares. Reuters earlier reported that Mynt was seeking a valuation of at least US$8bn , although the final price, timing, and structure remain subject to regulators and market conditions. For Globe Telecom and Ayala Corporation , the IPO is not simply a chance for Mynt to raise capital. It is a moment of revelation. Both companies already own pieces of Mynt. Both already show those stakes somewh...

  Security Bank widened its net interest margin and lifted core spread income in the first quarter, but higher credit-loss provisions, trading and foreign-exchange losses, and unrealized FVOCI mark-to-market losses kept the results from becoming a clean earnings-growth story. For a bank, a wider net interest margin is usually the closest thing to good weather. Loans and securities earn more than deposits and borrowings cost; the balance sheet breathes easier; profits should follow. In the first quarter of 2026, Security Bank Corporation seemed to enjoy just such a climate. Its net interest margin widened to 5.36% , from 4.51% a year earlier, while net interest income jumped 27.6% to ₱15.16bn . Interest income rose to ₱19.92bn , but the larger story was on the funding side: interest expense fell to ₱4.76bn from ₱6.76bn . Yet the weather did not hold. The bank’s bottom line slipped. Net income fell to ₱2.70bn , down from ₱2.82bn a year earlier; earnings per share declined to ₱3.5...

  VITRO REIT will show whether Philippine investors will accept infrastructure growth in exchange for a lower yield. PLDT’s VITRO REIT is not merely a property flotation. It is a test of whether investors will value Philippine data centers as critical infrastructure, operating platforms, and income-producing real estate. The Philippines’ newest real-estate story contains little real estate of the familiar sort. There are no malls to fill, no office towers to lease to call centers, no residential towers to sell by the square meter. The proposed VITRO REIT consists of data halls, racks, cooling systems, power redundancy, and fiber connections—the dull but indispensable plumbing of a digital economy. Its sponsor, ePLDT , a wholly owned subsidiary of PLDT , plans to sell up to 2.2bn existing shares , including the over-allotment option, at up to ₱11 a share , potentially raising ₱24.2bn through a secondary offering. VITRO REIT itself will receive none of the proceeds; the money g...

RCBC vs UBP Q1 2026 Results: How Rising Interest Rates Hit Yuchengco and Aboitiz Banks Differently In banking, interest rates are not simply a blessing or a curse. They come as a bargain. Wider margins can fatten the income statement, while the same market forces can bruise the balance sheet through bond losses that sit quietly in other comprehensive income. In the first quarter of 2026, that bargain looked much kinder to Aboitiz-backed Union Bank of the Philippines than to Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation . UBP reported ₱3.83 billion in net income, up 167 percent from a year earlier, while RCBC posted ₱2.7 billion , up 11.6 percent .  The contrast was not that RCBC failed to benefit from the rate environment. It did. The bank’s net interest income rose 25 percent to ₱15.4 billion , a strong performance driven by better yields and a sharp decline in interest expense. Its net interest margin improved to 5.2 percent , from 4.8 percent at year-end 2025. But the ...