Companies

The country’s trade deficit narrowed in July 2025 as exports posted double-digit growth, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed. The balance of trade in goods declined by 17 percent to USD 4.05 billion in July from USD 4.8 billion in the same month last year. Export sales jumped 17.3 percent to USD 7.3 billion from USD 6.2 billion …

The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) on Friday expressed support for President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to investigate alleged anomalies in flood control projects, saying the move will strengthen accountability and safeguard the public. “Corruption and negligence in flood control projects are not just wastes of taxpayer money—they endanger lives and undermine confidence in government programs,” FPI said in …

The Social Security System (SSS) expects its net income to exceed P100 billion this year on the back of higher investment earnings and improved collection efficiency. “So definitely, we’ll reach the P100 billion mark in net income for 2025. We estimate that in terms of percentage growth of net income, it will range from about 38 to about 43 percent …

Total healthcare benefits and claims paid out by health maintenance organizations (HMOs) rose by 19 percent to P36.29 billion in the first half of the year, the Insurance Commission (IC) reported last week. The figure was higher than the P30.33 billion in benefits and claims paid in the same period last year. Total expenses, including income tax, also grew by …

Philippine Rating Services (PhilRatings) has assigned its highest rating of PRS Aaa to the planned bond issuance of up to P10.9 billion by DoubleDragon Corp. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Tuesday, DoubleDragon said the bonds will carry a fixed interest rate of 7.7 percent with tenors of 3.5 years and 5.5 years. The offering is …

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week reminded publicly listed companies of their obligation to disclose material information to investors following the arrest of Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. chairman Joseph Sy at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Aug. 21 over alleged misrepresentation of citizenship. “Given Mr. Sy’s role as chairman of a publicly listed company, the SEC is …

Tanduay Distillers, Inc. (TDI), the liquor and spirits arm of LT Group, Inc. (LTG), posted its strongest first-half performance on record, with net income nearly doubling on higher revenues, improved margins, and market share gains. TDI reported a net income of P1.36 billion in the first half of 2025, up 91 percent from P712 million a year ago, according to …

The Department of Education (DepEd), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) are now working closely together to address underemployment and the jobs-skills mismatch affecting Filipino learners. During the recent launch of Unilab Education (UniEd), the education pillar of the Unilab Group, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara, TESDA Secretary Kiko Benitez, and CHED Chairperson Dr. …

The Philippines’ balance of payments (BoP) position slipped into a US$167-million deficit in July, reversing the surpluses of ₱226 million a month earlier and ₱62 million in the same period last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported. BSP Deputy Governor Lyn Javier said the shortfall was mainly due to the national government’s drawdowns on its foreign currency deposits …

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has introduced a web-based credit scoring system that will make it easier for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to access financing. Developed with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Credit Risk Database Philippines (CRDPh) System generates credit scores and default probabilities using anonymized financial and non-financial data from participating financial institutions (FIs). “It aims to …