Gaming, tourism looking to electrify PH stocks this year

MANILA, Philippines  —The Metrobank Group’s investment banking arm is bullish on tourism and gaming as inflationary headwinds start to clear, although weak market volumes remain a concern.

First Metro Investment Corp. sees improving investor sentiments and easing interest rates propelling the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) higher to 7,000 to 7,500 and corporate earnings increasing 11 percent this year, research head Cristina Ulang said on Thursday.

During a media briefing to discuss their 2024 outlook, Ulang said gaming stocks and tourism were bright spots that would help fuel economic growth this year.

“I’m excited about gaming and the automation of gaming,” she said, citing the surge of gambling-focused non-index names such as Pacific Online Systems Corp. and DigiPlus Interactive Corp. over the past year.

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Companies such as billionaire Enrique Razon Jr.’s Bloomberry Resorts Corp. and tycoon Andrew Tan’s Megaworld Corp. are also raising investments in gaming and hotels, which will benefit other sectors serving tourists.

Increased investments

“There’s going to be a lot of activity there that is going to lift the property [segment] in terms of hotel occupancy and air travel and hopefully China [tourism] recovers,” said Ulang, who was also keen on power and companies investing in healthier food alternatives amid shifting consumer preferences.

Daniel Camacho, executive vice president and head of investment banking, said total value traded in 2023 fell for a second straight year to P1.2 trillion—even lower than the P1.6 trillion recorded when the global health crisis hit in 2020.

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However, the exodus of foreign money was showing early signs of reversal and this could further accelerate as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas starts to cut interest rates by the second half of the year.

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“Trading volumes in 2023 were very thin and were well below that of recent years, however, we have seen a notable improvement last week, the first full trading week of the year—an indication that we are possibly back on radar screens of investors, foreign and domestic alike,” he said during the briefing.

Camacho also expected more initial public offerings this year versus the three public listings in 2023 while banks were poised to benefit from loans coming from big-ticket airport and railway infrastructure projects as interest rates decline.