the Outsider - PSE Points to Ponder

  We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer:  This is for informational purposes and is  not  investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. Bloomberry Resorts Corp. (BLOOM) ended 2025 with a set of numbers that read like a case study in timing risk: the group added a new earnings pillar through Solaire Resort North (SR North) and rolled out MegaFUNalo! , its broad-mass digital gaming platform—both of which raised the cost base—just as the legacy Solaire Entertainment City operation ran into a VIP-led downturn and a weaker hold rate . The result was a sharp compression in EBITDA and a marked decline in operating cash flow , pushing the company into the red for the year.  The headline: from profit to loss, with EBITDA taking the brunt Bloomberry swung to a net loss of about ₱2.6 billion in 2025 from a ro...

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer:  This is for informational purposes and is  not  investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. At first glance, Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corp. (OPM) rarely attracts attention in a market dominated by banks, conglomerates, and property developers. Its oil production is modest, trading liquidity is thin, and earnings growth is anything but exciting. Yet beneath the surface, OPM stands out as a textbook value investment —one that combines an unusually strong balance sheet with embedded upside from rising crude prices. Fortress Balance Sheet Sets OPM Apart What differentiates OPM from most Philippine-listed oil and gas plays is not production scale, but financial strength . As of its latest reported results, OPM holds roughly US$90 million in total assets , the overwhelm...

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer:  This is for informational purposes and is  not  investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) enters 2026 on a strong operating run: 2025 delivered double‑digit throughput growth , high‑60s EBITDA margins , and US$1.81 billion in operating cash flow —the kind of fundamentals that typically support both expansion and payouts. Yet the market’s immediate focus is shifting from the rear‑view mirror to capital allocation: ICTSI has just declared a materially higher 2026 cash dividend while simultaneously leaning into an expansion cycle (including the Durban takeover), as a fresh bout of Middle East conflict threatens to reshape shipping routes and logistics costs worldwide.  Dividend surprise: ICTSI raises the cash re...

We’ve been blogging for free. If you enjoy our content, consider supporting us! Disclaimer:  This is for informational purposes and is  not  investment advice. Figures are taken from company disclosures and exchange data; valuation ratios include the author’s calculations based on cited inputs. Wars don’t just move armies—they move molecules . And when energy trade routes start pricing in disruption, governments quickly rediscover a political constant: nothing tests public patience faster than rising electricity prices . The ongoing US–Iran conflict has heightened uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints—raising the risk premium on delivered crude and LNG through a mix of shipping hesitation, security risk, and insurance repricing. For the Philippines, the consequence is immediate: when imported fuels reprice higher, the government’s room for policy experiments narrows. That shifts the calculus around a seemingly technical ...