the Outsider - PSE Points to Ponder

  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...

In the first quarter of 2026, two of the Philippines’ most closely watched food-and-beverage empires delivered a study in contrasts: Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. showed the strength of scale, while Betty Ang’s Monde Nissin Corp. showed the power of margin recovery and faster growth. Ramon S. Ang is chairman of San Miguel Food and Beverage and chairman and CEO of San Miguel Corp., while Betty T. Ang has been Monde Nissin’s president and director for more than 45 years. SMFB remained the heavyweight. Its first-quarter sales reached ₱103.1 billion , more than four times Monde Nissin’s ₱22.8 billion net sales, underscoring San Miguel’s commanding position across beer, spirits, and food. But the smaller Monde Nissin moved faster: sales rose 9.1% , outpacing SMFB’s 4.3% growth, as demand across its Asia-Pacific branded food business and a rebound in meat alternatives lifted the top line. The divergence was sharper at the profit line. Monde Nissin’s net income jumped 34.1% ...

  Monde Nissin Corp.’s most scrutinized business may finally be showing signs of life. The Philippine food maker controlled by entrepreneur Betty Ang reported a sharp improvement in its Meat Alternative segment in the first quarter of 2026, offering investors the clearest evidence yet that the company’s long-troubled plant-based meat bet is beginning to stabilize. The segment, which includes Quorn, swung to core income after tax at ownership of ₱87 million , reversing a ₱58 million loss a year earlier, while core EBITDA more than doubled to ₱325 million from ₱140 million .  For a company whose domestic noodles, biscuits, cakes, and beverages business has remained a dependable cash generator, the performance of Meat Alternatives has been the overhang. Monde’s acquisition-led push into plant-based protein once promised global growth, but the category’s slowdown, inflationary pressure, and operational challenges turned it into a drag on earnings and sentiment. Q1 2026 suggests t...