the Outsider - PSE Points to Ponder

  Fresh equity can repair the broadcaster’s balance sheet, but creditor banks tied to the Ayala and Aboitiz groups will determine whether the money finances a recovery—or merely repays old obligations. **MANILA—**ABS-CBN Corp.’s proposed ₱6 billion capital infusion gives the debt-laden media company something it has lacked since losing its broadcast franchise in 2020: time. Whether it produces a turnaround is another question. The broadcaster said I&C Holdings Corp. would invest ₱3.5 billion, while three Lopez family investment vehicles—Crème Investment Corp., Mantes Corp. and Presta Holdings Co.—would contribute a combined ₱2.2 billion. Lopez Inc. would invest another ₱300 million. ABS-CBN’s board approved the transaction on August 13, a day after the subscription agreements were signed. The company said the proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes.  The transaction would inject permanent capital without adding interest expense. I&C, established by invest...

RCBC vs UBP Q1 2026 Results: How Rising Interest Rates Hit Yuchengco and Aboitiz Banks Differently In banking, interest rates are not simply a blessing or a curse. They come as a bargain. Wider margins can fatten the income statement, while the same market forces can bruise the balance sheet through bond losses that sit quietly in other comprehensive income. In the first quarter of 2026, that bargain looked much kinder to Aboitiz-backed Union Bank of the Philippines than to Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation . UBP reported ₱3.83 billion in net income, up 167 percent from a year earlier, while RCBC posted ₱2.7 billion , up 11.6 percent .  The contrast was not that RCBC failed to benefit from the rate environment. It did. The bank’s net interest income rose 25 percent to ₱15.4 billion , a strong performance driven by better yields and a sharp decline in interest expense. Its net interest margin improved to 5.2 percent , from 4.8 percent at year-end 2025. But the ...

  After a difficult stretch, Union Bank of the Philippines has rediscovered the pleasures of spread income. But bond-market losses and a weakening deposit mix show that the recovery still comes with strings attached. In banking, good quarters often arrive quietly. There is no factory line to inspect, no cargo ship to count, no mall foot traffic to observe. Instead, the evidence appears in basis points, provisioning lines, and the stubborn arithmetic of funding costs. By that measure, Union Bank of the Philippines had a conspicuously better first quarter in 2026. UBP reported net income of ₱3.83bn for the three months ended March 31st, 2026, up 167% from ₱1.43bn a year earlier. Net revenues—net interest income plus other income—rose to ₱21.73bn , around 12% higher year on year. For a bank that has spent recent years digesting expansion, digital investment, and higher credit costs, the quarter looked less like a sudden windfall than a demonstration of operating leverage finally w...