PSE eyes P175B in capital raising, four IPOs in 2026

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is aiming to raise as much as P175 billion this year as four companies are expected to sell shares to the public for the first time, but market officials warned that corruption issues could dampen investor confidence.

PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon Monzon said the target represents up to a 25% increase from the P144.14 billion raised in 2025. The amount raised last year was already 75% higher than the P82.37 billion recorded in 2024.

“We raised about P140 billion last year. I said give it a 20% to 25% increase for 2026—P170 billion to P175 billion. That’s my target,” Monzon told reporters in an interview.

Monzon said four companies are expected to go public this year, including PNB Holdings, which holds the real estate assets of the Philippine National Bank, and digital wallet firm GCash, which he described as the "the big one."

Former Globe Telecom Inc. president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu said in 2021 that GCash would go public “in time,” citing public clamor, and hinted at a possible listing in 2025, but this did not materialize.

Cu has said that GCash’s IPO partly depends on whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will allow a lower minimum public ownership level of 10% to 15%, instead of the current 20%.

The SEC said last March that it has yet to receive a formal request for such an exemption.

“I think GCash will file soon—maybe not in the first quarter—once the revised float is approved,” Monzon said, adding that the SEC is now considering lowering the public float to as low as 12% for companies with a market capitalization of over P150 billion.

Only two companies went public in 2025: Cebu-based fuel retailer Top Line Business Development Corp. and west zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc.

In the same interview, however, Monzon noted that the government needs to address corruption concerns for the markets to expand.

“The corruption issue has to be resolved. They just have to, I guess, jail some people as indicated. I think that will deliver a strong message about improved governance and transparency,” he said.

“What’s happening in the market is really a confidence issue. The only problem is everybody wants one or two people to be there. The question is, can they find any evidence? I don’t think so,” he added.

Monzon, along with other officials of the PSE and the Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS), joined the “Trillion Peso March” in September 2025 to protest corruption and issues involving alleged anomalous flood control projects.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. last month disclosed that 20% of the total P545-billion budget for flood control projects went to only 15 contractors, which he described as a “disturbing assessment.”