Building success in South East Asia

What have been the biggest challenges over the last 12 months from an IR perspective?

Parsing the actions of the new government [led by Rodrigo Duterte] and finding a way to incorporate that into our messaging for investors and analysts. The new government has made several pronouncements about its planned economic policies, its push for infrastructure spending and [its decision to] abide by rulings on pending cases. Since most of our subsidiaries are highly regulated, it is important for us to be able to communicate the possible impact of these pronouncements to our companies. We have yet to see the actual execution, hence the need to ensure the messaging is clear enough to manage investor expectations.  

How did you deal with this?

We try to be as frank as possible with our audience while reminding it of the value of our business, so cautious optimism has been our way of delivering the promise of a new administration. 

What challenges do you think Asian small caps face compared with small caps in other regions?   

Mostly, the size of Asian markets and how small caps struggle to secure trading volume in them as opposed to small caps in larger markets. 

What do you think has been your greatest achievement as the IR professional at Metro Pacific?

Building the unit from the ground up to where it is today.  

What do you see being your company’s greatest IR-related challenge over the next 12 months?

Regulatory action, or inaction, and how that impacts valuation, cash flow and profits. It will have a direct impact on our businesses – particularly on the tariffs for power, water, toll roads and rail sectors. The challenge for IR is to be able to regularly update investors on the status of the pending cases/issues and communicate clearly our strategies to resolve them. We have seen that regulatory risk is the major concern of investors looking to buy into our stock.  

What has been the greatest lesson you have learned throughout your IR career?

Preparation is key to meeting any of your stakeholders’ demands 

What did winning the IR Magazine Award mean to you and your company?

It gave us validation and gave senior management confidence in the ability of employees to continue doing their duty with autonomy.