A Year of Growth
How did the SM Group perform this year?
The SM Group delivered another year of record performance in 2025, despite a year that tested the resilience of usinesses and households alike. Consumption remained one of the Philippines’ most reliable growth drivers and ou broad exposure to the Filipino consumer helped us navigate economic shifts and weather-related disruptions
Consolidated earnings grew by 10% to PHP90.5 billion, while revenues increased by 4% to PHP681.7 billion. Bankin emained the largest contributor to earnings at 49%, followed by property at 27%, retail at 18% and portfolio investment at 6%.
In SM Retail, earnings were supported by higher food volumes and continued network expansion. Non-food categories such as fashion, health and beauty and kids and pets posted steady growth, while home and athletics were softer amid shifting consumer priorities.
Our banks, BDO Unibank and China Banking Corporation, grew earnings by 6% and 13%, respectively, driven by core lending and deposit growth, disciplined risk management and stable asset quality. Both banks continued to support individuals and enterprises through credit, payments and savings products.
In our property business, SM Prime Holdings delivered 7% earnings growth, anchored by recurring income from malls, with rental revenues up 6%. Hotels and convention centers also posted solid gains. Residential demand in Metro Manila remained subdued.
Portfolio Investments delivered 6% of our net income, mainly driven by Philippine Geothermal Production Company and NEO buildings.
Taken together, our performance reflected a clear story: as we continued to invest where people live, work and spend, customers responded by staying engaged with our businesses.
What were the highlights of 2025?
As the parent company of the SM Group, a defining milestone this year was our 20th Listing Anniversary at the Philippine Stock Exchange, capping a period of extraordinary growth. We also took concrete steps to return value to shareholders by increasing total dividends by 44% to PHP13 per share and by launching a PHP60 billion (~USD1 billion) share buyback program, the largest in Philippine corporate history.
Across our businesses, we were active in expansion and capital market activity:
We opened new malls in Laog and La Union, extending our footprint in Northern Luzon. SM Prime also introduced the Signature Series by SM Residences for the premium residential segment and made significant progress in its 360-hectare Pasay reclamation project. SM Prime successfully raised USD350
million through the joint SM Investments/SM Prime Euro Medium-Term Note (EMTN) program in Singapore at highly competitive rates.
SM Retail added 490 new stores, with Alfamart reaching 2,309 locations nationwide. Our cash-generating retail business continued to be self-funding and a source of solid dividends for the parent.
In banking, Chinabank rejoined the PSE Index, reflecting renewed investor confidence. BDO grew its lending book faster than the industry and raised USD500 million in five-year senior notes that were more than 3.2 times oversubscribed and issued PHP115 billion in ASEAN Sustainability Bonds, which drew demand 23 times the offer size.
In our portfolio businesses, 2GO Group achieved profitability in majority of its business lines, marking a full operational turnaround. PGPC continued to explore geothermal opportunities in six additional sites to its current two operating steam fields. Meanwhile, Atlas Mining commissioned the country’s first megawatt-scale floating solar panel project at its Malubog dam in Cebu, supplying ~10% of the mine’s power needs.
Alongside business growth, we advanced environmental and sustainability initiatives, carefully tracking carbon reduction, water recycling, plastics repurposing and waste management. We also remained ahead in sustainability reporting as an early adopter of FRS Sustainability Standards.
Through our foundations, we continued to deliver community impact, granting 870 new scholarships and building and renovating new schools, healthcare centers and wellness centers in 2025.
What were the challenges of 2025 and how did SM address these?
The local operating environment remained volatile last year, shaped by external trade uncertainty, domestic political noise and unusually severe typhoon activity in the second half of the year.
However, the fundamentals of the Philippine economy remained intact, providing a stable base for disciplined operations and capital deployment. Our long-term perspective and focus on resilience enabled us to adapt and continue with our business plans.
A key challenge was weak international sentiment toward investing in the Philippines. Despite achieving over 200% growth in earnings since 2019, the share price of SM Investments remained severely undervalued at pandemic-era levels. Our long-term share buyback program and higher dividends were in response to this as we sought to support our shareholders.
Amid these uncertainties, our strategy for growth remains anchored on balance sheet strength, operational efficiency and serving essential needs. Our diversified portfolio continues to benefit from stable demand fundamentals, particularly in businesses that support everyday consumer and financial needs.
What makes SM distinct from other companies?
What sets SM apart is how deeply we are woven into the everyday lives of Filipinos and how well we operate as an ecosystem of supportive businesses.
From essential goods to financial services to integrated developments, our businesses support people through daily routines and important life moments. We are known for having the pulse and trust of the Filipino consumer.
Each of our businesses supports the others with distinct and unique synergies: SM department stores and retail formats are key tenants in our malls; our banks support our tenants, suppliers and customers; and our malls anchor Integrated Property Developments that provide the hubs for our community-based presence. In the meantime, our logistics and renewable energy investments support practical needs for the growth of our businesses and our network.
This ecosystem allows us to scale responsibly — connecting consumption, finance, infrastructure and services in ways that are visible to customers and measurable to investors. It is this operating model that underpins our long-term value creation.
Our ecosystem also creates financial strength for our Group. Each business has a role in generating diverse and reliable cash flows, ensuring a strong balance sheet, access to funding and providing the financial stability that allows us to invest for our long-term growth.
In recognition of this, we received a number of awards we are proud of last year, including: TIME Magazine’s World’s Best Companies; best annual report in
Southeast Asia by IR magazine; Platinum award for transparent reporting by the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards; Platinum award for sustainability
leadership by The Asset; and our maiden EMTN issuance was awarded IFR Asia’s Philippine Capital Market Deal of the Year as well as The Asset magazine’s Triple A Award for Best Bond – Corporate.
What makes SM distinct from other companies?
Shared value is embedded in how we operate. Our many businesses deal with many stakeholders — our customers, employees, partners, communities and shareholders. They are all critical to our growth and for us to be successful they need to win as well.
In 2025, we delivered PHP90.5 billion in earnings, paid PHP30.8 billion in taxes and government fees, employed over 141,000 people directly and many more indirectly, supported over 100,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including tenants and suppliers. Together we brought essential goods, services and aspirational experiences to many millions of customers nationwide and in doing so invested in communities.
For us, looking after those we depend upon and who depend upon us is a source of resilience and is key to our own long-term success.
Following this approach, SM has grown market capitalization by over 13x and delivered more than PHP700 billion in earnings since listing in 2005.
What are the SM Group’s priorities for the next few years?
We are a growth company and we remain ambitious — focused on building on our strengths for the long term.
Our priorities are clear:
We will continue expanding our core businesses nationwide, particularly in provinces with strong economic momentum.
We will pursue long-term value creation through large-scale developments, such as the 360-hectare Pasay reclamation project, which has completed sand placement, with horizontal development soon to commence.
Our portfolio investment companies will support Group synergies and help improve parent earnings.
We will maintain prudent financial management, with strong liquidity, access to capital and internal funding capacity.
We will also look for ways to improve returns to our shareholders such as through buybacks and dividends.
Equally important, we will sustain high standards of governance, transparency and environmental and social responsibility, while continuing to serve the aspirations of our customers and uplifting the lives of the communities in which we operate.
For another year of solid growth and expansion, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of our stakeholders for their support — to our dedicated employees, our partners and our millions of loyal customers. With your support we intend to continue our story of success into the next 20 years and beyond.