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Shang Properties Cuts Debt by ₱1 Billion, but Net Debt Still Rises as Cash Retreats

The Philippine developer reported stronger residential sales and higher quarterly profit, but heavy project spending, contracting operating margins and weaker hotel profitability complicated the picture. Shang Properties, one of the Philippines’ most prominent luxury-property developers, entered the middle of 2026 with more buildings under construction, more condominium revenue recognized, and sharply higher quarterly profit. But beneath the favorable headline numbers, the company’s latest financial report presented a more complicated story: Revenue grew, but costs grew faster. Cash continued to leave the business. Although Shang Properties reduced its bank borrowings, its net debt increased because its cash reserves fell faster. For the three months ended June 30, Shang Properties — traded on the Philippine Stock Exchange under the symbol SHNG — reported revenue of ₱2.73 billion , an increase of 9.3 percent from ₱2.50 billion a year earlier. Net income rose nearly 24 percent to ₱1.12...
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Razon’s ₱81 Solution to the Lopez Family Feud

  Buying First Gen could give Prime Infrastructure a listed vehicle, end a damaging control dispute, and provide the Lopez group with enough capital to repair its empire—including ABS-CBN. Sometimes the price of corporate peace is best expressed per share. For the Lopez family, that figure may be ₱81 . At that price, First Gen Corporation would carry an equity value of approximately ₱291 billion , or about US$4.75 billion . That would represent a formidable premium over FGEN’s recent market price near ₱20, but it would also recognize the hidden value of its interest in Energy Development Corporation, its remaining gas exposure, hydroelectric assets, pumped-storage investments, and an unusually liquid parent balance sheet. FGEN has approximately 3.597 billion common shares outstanding, making the arithmetic straightforward. The most plausible buyer need not be found abroad. Enrique Razon Jr.’s Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. is already doing business with FGEN on both sides of the...
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Razon’s ICTSI Core Profit Engine Stays Robust in 1H 2026 Even as Costs Rise

  The global port operator generated more than $1 billion in operating cash flow and nearly $590 million in profit attributable to shareholders. Excluding changes in its terminal portfolio, its EBITDA margin would have widened to 66.2 percent. International Container Terminal Services Inc., the global port operator led by billionaire businessman Enrique K. Razon Jr., reported sharply higher earnings for the first half of 2026, supported by higher tariffs, a more profitable cargo mix and growing revenue from services beyond basic container handling. For the six months ended June 30, ICTSI’s gross revenue from port operations rose 27.1 percent to $1.92 billion , from $1.51 billion a year earlier. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, increased 24.3 percent to $1.23 billion , while consolidated net income climbed 22.4 percent to $641.4 million .  Net income attributable to ICTSI shareholders reached almost $590 million , up 21.9 percent from $...
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The Battle of the Flagship Banks: The Tys’ Metrobank and the Sys’ BDO Take Different Routes Through a Difficult Half

  Metrobank’s interest engine accelerated in the first half of 2026. BDO, however, paired loan growth with expanding deposits, steadier noninterest revenue and tighter cost control. MANILA — The first-half results of the Philippines’ two largest listed banks offered an instructive contrast in how lenders can produce nearly identical profit growth from very different operating performances. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, or Metrobank, reported the faster expansion in its core interest-earning business. Its net interest income rose 12.8 percent from a year earlier, outpacing the 10.6 percent increase reported by BDO Unibank. But BDO’s overall result was more balanced. It grew loans and deposits together, increased noninterest income and held expense growth below the rate of revenue expansion. Metrobank, by contrast, contended with shrinking deposits, a sharp decline in trading-related revenue and faster growth in operating costs. The result was an unusual near tie at the bot...
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At City of Dreams Manila, the Tables Are Turning in Belle’s Favor

  The casino’s land-based recovery powered most of Belle Corporation’s revenue growth in the first half of 2026, while a shrinking debt load helped convert that momentum into faster profit growth. For several years, Belle Corporation’s sprawling casino investment in Manila offered investors something dependable but not necessarily dynamic: a large property generating regular rent from its operator, even as the gambling business itself worked through a difficult recovery. In the first half of 2026, the more volatile side of that arrangement began to reassert itself. Belle’s share of gaming revenue from City of Dreams Manila rose to 952.9 million pesos, an increase of 23 percent from 772.3 million pesos a year earlier. Growth became considerably stronger in the second quarter, when gaming revenue share climbed 37.5 percent from the same period in 2025. That acceleration made the land-based casino the central story behind Belle’s improved results. Consolidated revenue increased 10 per...
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Megaworld-Backed MREIT Avoids Dilution in 1H 2026, but Cash Falls Behind

The real estate investment trust’s revenue grew fast enough to absorb nearly one billion new shares issued for Megaworld properties, but a sharp rise in receivables weakened cash conversion. MREIT entered 2026 with a familiar promise for investors in real estate investment trusts: Get bigger without leaving existing shareholders behind. For the first six months of the year, it largely delivered on the first part. Revenue rose 26.3 percent to ₱3.41 billion, while net income climbed 31.1 percent to ₱2.53 billion. The gains followed the addition of nine office buildings in McKinley Hill, Taguig, transferred by MREIT’s parent company, Megaworld, in exchange for nearly one billion new shares. The transaction increased MREIT’s outstanding shares by 26.8 percent. Revenue grew at almost precisely the same rate, allowing the company to avoid meaningful earnings dilution. Basic earnings per share rose to ₱0.54 from ₱0.52, a gain of 3.8 percent, rather than declining under the weight of the new s...
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