BDO Unibank Inc. reported Friday that foreign ownership in the country’s largest lender by assets stood at 25.18 percent at the end of 2023, leaving the balance in the hands of Filipino investors, primarily the Sy Group.
The Philippines allows full foreign ownership of local banks.
In a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange, BDO reported that shares held by foreign and Filipino investors that are lodged with the Philippine Depository and Trust Co. account for a little over 38 percent of the bank.
Common and preferred shares held by Filipino investors total 4.4 billion shares, equivalent to a 74.82 percent stake. The SM Group held nearly 60 percent of BDO.
SM Investments, the listed investment holding company of the Sy Group, hold 36.44 percent of the BDO while other Sy Group companies– Multi-Realty Development Corp., Sybase Equity and Shoemart–held a combined 12.58 percent. These stakes were
All of the preferred shares, equivalent to a 10.5 percent ownership in BDO, are held by the Sy Group through Sybase Equity and Shoemart Inc.
Also in the PSE filing, BDO said P2.678 trillion in corporate funds have been invested at the end of 2023—P57.17 billion in stocks, P105.01 billion in private company bonds and commercial debt papers, P2.026 trillion in loans, credits and advances, P673 million in government treasury, and P489.83 billion in other investments.
