MANILA -- SM Investments Corporation (SMIC), one of the country's largest conglomerates, has approved a P60 billion share buyback program. SMIC officials said they believe the company is undervalued, hence the need to buy back shares. 

SMIC Executive Vice President for Finance Franklin Gomez said the company has the funds to buy back an estimated 77 million shares or 6 percent of outstanding shares. 

"It’s an opportune time for us to do a buyback now because share price has been very low and we do not have currently any limitations as to how we can fund both the growth and the buyback," Gomez said.

SMIC Investor Relations head Timothy Daniels highlighted the significance of this program, which has no deadline or is open-ended. 

"That's about $1 billion. This is the first time that SM Investments has done a buyback program, and I think it's the largest buyback program ever announced by a Philippine corporate," Daniels said. 

By buying back shares, SM hopes this can help create and return value to shareholders. Officials said the price per share has been very low in recent years, which is opposite the growth of the company. 

"We're doing it because our share price is very low. At the current valuations, our shares are significantly undervalued. We really believe that," Daniels said. 

He added, "Our share price on the close of Thursday was about P780, and that's within a range that our share price has been back to before the pandemic. We've moved within a range of 750 to 950 pretty much up and down for about 5 years." 

SMIC reported a 6 percent growth in revenues in 2024 at P654.8 billion and a 7 percent growth in earnings at P82.6 billion. SMIC is the parent firm of SM Prime, SMDC, BDO, and Chinabank, among many others.