the Outsider - PSE Points to Ponder

The investment firm bought into a Philippine power champion expecting a long-duration infrastructure play. Six years later, foreign-ownership constraints, governance uncertainty, heavy capital requirements and a stubbornly weak stock price have narrowed its exit routes. MANILA— When KKR first bought into First Gen Corp. in 2020, the investment had the hallmarks of a patient infrastructure wager: scarce generating assets, growing electricity demand and a portfolio positioned around natural gas and renewable power. Six years later, the global investment firm’s roughly 19.9% economic interest has become something more complicated—a large minority position that is difficult to expand, difficult to sell and now difficult to take private. KKR’s attempted solution, a ₱35-a-share proposal that would have enlarged its stake and removed First Gen from the Philippine Stock Exchange, was rejected by controlling shareholder First Philippine Holdings Corp., or FPH, as failing to reflect First Gen’s...

  Years of Quorn write-downs shrank the asset base. Cash-funded debt repayments lightened the liability side. Now the once-troubled protein business is recovering, cash flow is strengthening, and dividends are rising. Monde Nissin’s balance sheet tells a story that its income statement alone cannot. As of June 30, 2026, the Philippine food manufacturer had ₱14.38 billion in cash, total liabilities of ₱20.24 billion and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33—figures that make it look more conservative than the company investors encountered after its 2021 initial public offering. Yet that balance-sheet strength didn’t emerge from a single corporate turnaround. It was forged through two distinct cleanup processes, each with very different consequences for shareholders.  First came billions of pesos in noncash write-downs tied predominantly to Quorn, Monde’s British meat-alternative business. Those charges reduced goodwill, brand values, plant assets and retained earnings. Then came actua...

  A sharp rise in metal prices helped reverse last year’s losses, but debt, mine spending and a thin liquidity cushion make a near-term dividend far from certain Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. has completed a striking earnings turnaround. The question for shareholders is when—or whether—that improvement will reach them in cash. The Philippine copper producer reported net income of ₱4.62 billion for the first half of 2026 , reversing a ₱653 million loss in the same period last year. Net revenue climbed 68% to ₱13.72 billion , while income from operations swung to ₱4.77 billion from a ₱454 million loss.  The reversal was powered principally by copper. Atlas said its average realized copper price rose to $5.97 a pound during the second quarter , 38% above the $4.32 recorded a year earlier. Gold, a valuable credit contained in the company’s copper concentrate, also provided support: average gold prices increased to $4,622 an ounce from $3,112 .  Higher pric...

  Fresh equity gives the Lopez-led broadcaster room to negotiate. For BPI and UnionBank, the question is whether patience preserves value—or lets operating creditors move ahead in the economic queue. **MANILA—**In Philippine street slang, “Judith” is the visitor nobody wants to see: the due date. For ABS-CBN Corp., Judith is approaching twice. A Bank of the Philippine Islands facility has been extended to August 31, 2026 , while a Union Bank of the Philippines facility has been extended to September 30, 2026 , according to the broadcaster’s latest quarterly filing. Together, the two facilities were originally described as roughly ₱9.75 billion, although the ABS-CBN parent company carried a lower accounting balance of about ₱8.40 billion as of June 30 after previous payments and adjustments. This time, however, ABS-CBN isn’t greeting Judith empty-handed. The company has announced a plan to raise ₱6 billion in new equity . I&C Holdings Corp. is expected to provide ₱3.5 billi...

  The property trust reported higher earnings and dividends per share despite issuing stock for acquisitions. However, a swelling book of finance-lease and related-party receivables makes the balance sheet increasingly dependent on the Ayala group. MANILA— AREIT Inc. spent the first half of 2026 getting bigger without leaving shareholders with a smaller slice of earnings. The Philippine real-estate investment trust reported net income of ₱5.62 billion for the six months ended June 30, up 36% from ₱4.12 billion a year earlier. Revenue increased 30% to ₱7.72 billion , reflecting the full contribution of properties acquired in 2025 and income from assets added during the second quarter. The more consequential figures for investors were measured on a per-share basis. Earnings per share increased 5.5% to ₱1.35 from ₱1.28 , while dividends declared for the first two quarters rose 6.8% to a combined ₱1.25 a share from ₱1.17 . Those increases suggest that AREIT’s use of shares to acquir...