Philippines Financial News

Philippine fintech firm, has hired banks, including Citi, Jefferies and UBS, to work on an up to $1.5 billion domestic initial public offering, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, in what would be the country's biggest ever stock offering. The IPO is expected to take place as early as the second half of 2025 or in 2026, subject to broader market conditions, two of the sources said, declining to be named as the matter was private. If the listing goes ahead it would be Philippines' biggest ever, surpassing the $1 billion IPO of Philippine food company Monde Nissin in 2021.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Every month, Mint’s Plain Facts gives you an update on key global data to help you thread together the biggest developments worth paying attention to. The accompanying analysis and charts explain how each story is creating ripples on the global stage, where it is headed in the coming weeks, and whether it could have an impact on India.After months of steady cooling, consumer prices are rising once again as the escalating war in West Asia continues to disrupt energy markets and global supply chains.The inflationary shock is most severe in import-reliant Asian economies.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The global jet-fuel crunch is hitting Asia’s low-cost airlines harder than their full-service counterparts. Governments should prepare financial or operational support to avoid further flight cancellations during the busy summer travel season—as well as outright shutdowns like the collapse of America’s Spirit Airlines.Discount carriers like Malaysia’s AirAsia, Indonesia’s Lion Air and Cebu Air of the Philippines are already bearing the brunt of the energy shock. Policymakers must consider targeted measures in the form of loans, grants or fuel price relief.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Global investment firm Carlyle has acquired a majority stake in Knack RCM and EqualizeRCM, two US-based healthcare revenue cycle management (RCM) providers, the companies said in a statement on Monday, as it looks to build an artificial intelligence (AI)-led platform in the US healthcare RCM market.The transaction combines two complementary RCM operators to create what the companies described as an AI-native, multi-specialty platform serving physician groups, rural hospitals and durable medical equipment (DME) providers.Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.“The US healthcare revenue cycle market is growing rapidly, driven by margin compression, workforce shortages, and the shift to value-based care,” said Kapil Modi, Partner at Carlyle India Advisors. “We believe Knack and Equalize stand out as leaders with their AI-native, specialty‑focused, and outcomes‑driven approach, which aligns well with the growing needs and demand in healthcare RCM.”The combined entity is expected to expand scale and delivery footprint across the US, India and the Philippines, while deepening capabilities in automation and analytics, the company said.Carlyle said it intends to pursue additional acquisitions to build out the platform, underscoring a consolidation strategy in a sector that remains highly fragmented.“One of the core tenets of this investment is to build a scaled, strategically attractive physician and rural hospital RCM platform in a fragmented industry.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.TOKYO—One of the major surprises about the gravest energy shock since the 1970s is how resilient much of the world has been so far.The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has yanked around 13 million barrels of oil a day from global energy supplies. Blackouts have hit Pakistan, the Philippines has imposed a four-day workweek, and countries including Slovenia and Bangladesh have rationed fuel.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.How soon will the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raise rates and how high will it take them? Those have become urgent questions for bankers in Mumbai after elevated energy-import costs pushed the rupee to a record low last week. RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra has signalled a preference to stay on pause. The central bank would step in, he said in an 18 April speech at Princeton University, “through its influence on inflation expectations rather than through blunt demand compression,” a euphemism for monetary tightening.Still, Malhotra’s cheap-money era is likely drawing to a close, thanks to the pressure from the foreign-exchange market.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.It has been almost two decades since the late Shinzo Abe [former prime minister of Japan] stood in India’s parliament and told the assembled legislators that “it is incumbent upon us two democracies, Japan and India, to carry out the pursuit of freedom and prosperity in the region.” Abe defined their task as protecting freedom of navigation in what he was perhaps the first to call the Indo-Pacific. That task has gotten only more urgent as America withdraws—or, more recently, imposes blockades on crucial straits—and China pushes harder against the first island chain.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Asia’s Gen Z is facing a summer of discontent. Already grappling with bleak job prospects and lacklustre growth, it is now being stung by the shock from the Iran war, which is driving up prices of everything from fuel to food. The immediate impact is economic, but there is a growing risk of political instability.

Indian audio and video content, usually considered a draw for domestic audiences and specific diasporic markets, is now finding a home in unusual export destinations.Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Philippines are among the countries where Indian content is popular, according to the Content Trends Report launched recently at the Content India Summit 2026, organized by Dish TV.Experts said this demand is not diaspora-led, unlike more established markets such as the US or the UK. Instead, it appears to be driven by cultural alignment.

Mint. “There's been strong extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations in place for over a decade and that has now evolved into mandatory recycled content regulations as well.”The firm announced a first close of $220 million for its second fund, which has a targeted corpus of $300 million.

trade deficit and high gold imports.The impact of the war-led disruptions—built on top of the calibrated depreciation—pushed the rupee towards a level not previously anticipated. Even then, economists believe that the RBI should not defend the rupee too much as it may provide temporary relief, but could stoke sharper depreciation later."If this is a long-drawn-out crisis, you want to preserve your forex reserves because when we got into trouble in 2013, our reserves went down, then the taper tantrum made it worse," said Gaura Sengupta, chief economist at IDFCFirst Bank.Forex reserves declined 3.4% and 0.6% in FY12 and FY13, but failed to arrest the rupee’s decline.

The Estée Lauder Companies has signed an agreement to acquire the stake it doesn’t already own in Indian luxury beauty company Forest Essentials, with the transaction expected to close in the second half of 2026, said Stéphane de La Faverie, president and chief executive officer of The Estée Lauder Companies.The deal completes an 18-year partnership with the luxury Ayurveda brand, which was founded by Mira Kulkarni.Forest Essentials sells Ayurvedic skincare and haircare products and competes with premium labels such as Kama Ayurveda. Estée Lauder had a 49% stake in the company in 2013, which it increased from a 20% stake it took in 2008.Speaking to Mint, La Faverie, said, “Today, this brand is the leader in prestige skincare in India, which is still a very small segment of the larger beauty business in India.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. HONG KONG—Decades of spending increases have helped China build one of the world’s most substantial militaries, stirring fears that it could seize Taiwan or provoke a clash over territorial disputes with neighbors such as Japan or the Philippines. But the chief victim of the buildup of China’s military so far has been its own elite, as Chinese leader Xi Jinping has purged a swath of top generals accused of corruption and disloyalty.

₹8,000 crore, with assets surpassing ₹9,000 crore across 55 plants across India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Egypt.Often seen in impeccably tailored suits, he possessed a quiet, scholarly gravitas, though his interests spanned flying and painting. In his definitive biography of Birla, author Minhaz Merchant captures the essence of a man who managed to be both a “soft-spoken, sensitive individual” and a “hard-driving, visionary industrialist”.This refinement was anchored by a fierce sense of national pride.

The impact of Trump 2.0: The year saw a stark turn in US engagement, with Trump’s approach to the Indo-Pacific characterized by unpredictability at best and rent-seeking at worst.The recently-released US National Security Strategy was emblematic of this ambiguity, prioritizing quid pro quo ties over legacy commitments and the use of muscular rhetoric while offering little doctrinal clarity.This has sent out mixed signals on China, as its deterrence rhetoric coexists with policy fuzziness and even deference in some parts, with US partners struggling to identify US thresholds for action, particularly on high-stakes issues such as Taiwan.Despite the rhetorical turbulence emanating from Washington, alliance architectures did not collapse, although they didn’t sprint forward either.Traditional security partnerships with Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Philippines have endured amid a sobering realization of the magnitude of US capabilities, particularly vis-à-vis strategic concerns about China.Nonetheless, the pace and predictability of strategic cooperation have waned, which is telling in the context of a tenuous regional landscape.Hence, although formal alliances will continue to matter, their political meaning has shifted, with partner countries less willing now to outsource strategy entirely to Washington and more inclined to shape outcomes independently, reflecting a post-‘hub-and-spokes complacency’ mindset.Similarly, multilateral formats like the Quad persisted and adapted, but the coherence of their agenda often reflected leadership from partners as much as from Washington.Initiatives such as maritime domain awareness and cooperation on critical minerals, for example, were driven more on the ground by Canberra,

A sharp rise in exports in November, aided by a low base, helped pull India sharply ahead of other emerging market (EM) peers, as shown by the latest Mint's Emerging Market Tracker, even as the rupee and stock market performance remained weak. India, with a composite score of 71, was way ahead in the race.

Bajaj Auto Ltd is crafting a turnaround for KTM, its biggest acquisition, to boost profitability even as it loses market share in its home market.Pune-based Bajaj Auto will look to discontinue smaller brands under KTM, rejig core operations and unlock synergies between the supply chains of Bajaj and KTM to reduce costs, according to management commentary during the earnings call and meetings with analysts.“After the KTM acquisition, Bajaj Auto would now focus on the restructuring of the core operations. They would also look to leverage synergy benefits in manufacturing operations, the supply chain, and the distribution network,” analysts at Motilal Oswal wrote in a 15 December note after meeting Bajaj Auto's leadership team.A revival plan for KTM is aimed at bolstering its premium offerings, as its exports remain profitable, while India’s fourth-largest two-wheeler maker’s domestic market share continues to decline.Bajaj Auto acquired struggling motorcycle maker KTM for about €800 million.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Chennai/Kochi: The divergence is stark. Both Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries were established the same year—1972.

Mint breaks down how Beijing managed this feat and what it means for India and the world economy.China’s outbound shipments have proved remarkably resilient. In the first 11 months of 2025, exports grew 5.7% even with average US tariffs at 47.5%. Sales to the US slumped 18%, but Chinese manufacturers more than made up for it elsewhere: exports to Europe climbed 9%, while shipments to Southeast Asia and Africa surged 15% and 27%, respectively.Largely, yes.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI : Nephrocare Health Services, better known as NephroPlus, is pitching itself as a global dialysis disruptor on the back of what chairman and managing director Vikram Vuppala touts as a low-cost, high-efficiency operating model. Built at India’s price point and refined through scale, the company now plans to replicate this template in higher-priced international markets.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. China’s diplomatic anger obeys a law of conservation: the total quantity remains constant, but the targets change. Some countries, notably Canada and South Korea, have recently emerged from China’s doghouse.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The rupee breached 90 to the US dollar on Wednesday, marking a new low for India’s currency, which has steadily weakened over the year and is now the worst performer among major emerging- and advanced-market currencies. The rupee's slide (it has fallen more than 5.5% this year as of 2 December) has been driven largely by a trade impasse with the US and continuing foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows from Indian markets.