the Outsider - PSE Points to Ponder

  The Philippine property giant remains profitable and has ample access to financing, but weak residential sales and a sharp decline in operating cash flow show why outside capital remains essential. MANILA | Ayala Land Inc. is still making billions of pesos from building homes, operating malls and leasing offices. The harder question is how much of that growth it can finance on its own. The answer from the first half of 2026 is: not nearly enough. The property developer generated ₱4.51 billion of cash from operations during the six months ended June, down 64% from ₱12.65 billion a year earlier. At the same time, it used ₱19.21 billion in investing activities, leaving a roughly ₱14.70 billion gap between internally generated operating cash and reported investment outlays. Financing activities supplied ₱12.99 billion, while cash and cash equivalents still declined by ₱1.72 billion to ₱16.95 billion. That combination captures the central tension in Ayala Land’s development model. Th...

  EastWest’s planned ₱9 billion rights offering highlights a difficult trade-off for Philippine lenders: preserve dividends, finance loan growth, or prepare for a longer period of high rates and elevated credit losses. Philippine bank stocks have long appealed to income investors for a straightforward reason: They combine regular cash dividends with exposure to an economy that, over time, should require more mortgages, business loans, credit cards and wealth-management services. That proposition is becoming more complicated. East West Banking Corp.’s plan to raise as much as ₱9 billion through a stock-rights offering has put a new question before dividend investors. If inflation stays high, the peso remains under pressure, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas keeps monetary policy restrictive, will other banks eventually have to conserve earnings or raise fresh capital? EastWest’s move isn’t evidence of a systemwide capital shortage. Philippine banks entered 2026 with substantial b...

  The grocery operator delivered the strongest combination of profitability and balance-sheet strength, while Robinsons Retail grappled with rising costs and Metro Retail staged a recovery from a smaller base. The Philippines’ biggest listed retailers all collected more at the checkout counter in the first half of 2026. The difference was how much they kept. Puregold Price Club Inc. pulled ahead of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. and Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. by turning faster sales growth into substantially higher profits. The grocery and warehouse-club operator also entered the second half with the strongest balance sheet of the three, giving it room to expand, defend prices and absorb economic shocks without leaning heavily on borrowed money. Robinsons Retail remained a close competitor in sales and produced more gross profit than Puregold. But rising operating costs, higher interest expense and losses outside its core retail operations weighed on earnings. Metro Retail, the...

  Philippine broadband provider spent ₱5.7 billion on capital expenditures in the first half, while slower growth and rising costs pressured earnings Converge ICT Solutions Inc. continued pouring money into its fiber network during the first half of 2026, betting that broader coverage will eventually produce new customers and recurring revenue even as the company’s profitability weakened. The Philippine broadband provider spent about ₱5.7 billion on capital expenditures and intangible assets during the six months ended June, more than double the roughly ₱2.6 billion spent in the comparable period a year earlier. Much of the investment supported continued network expansion, including Converge’s effort to deepen its presence in the Visayas and Mindanao and build approximately 900,000 additional fiber ports during the year.  That spending underscores Converge's central challenge. The company must continue building infrastructure to secure future growth, but the financial returns...

  EastWest’s ₱9 billion rights offering would strengthen capital after rapid asset growth and heavy credit provisions, but issuing shares at a deep discount could dilute book value and place near-term shareholder payouts under pressure. MANILA, Aug. 27, 2026 | East West Banking Corp.’s controlling shareholders are preparing to put more money into the bank, just months after collecting its largest dividend yet. The Gotianun family’s Filinvest Development Corp. and affiliated companies have committed to support EastWest’s proposed ₱9 billion stock-rights offering , including taking up shares left unsubscribed by other investors. EastWest says the capital will finance loan growth, wealth and priority banking, digital investments and other corporate purposes while strengthening the balance sheet. Final pricing, entitlement ratios and the offering timetable remain subject to regulatory approvals and haven’t been announced. The transaction looks less like an emergency rescue than a reco...