MANILA — Globe Telecom is still keen on holding an initial public offering for GCash (Mynt) in the Philippines but wants to offer a smaller part of the fintech giant's shares on the market than is mandated by the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The PSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission at present require listed firms to maintain a minimum public ownership, or public float, of 20 percent of their outstanding shares.

Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu on Friday however said they are looking to offer a smaller float when GCash or Mynt holds its IPO. Cu also said private equity holders may have to sell.

"But I can tell you it is below 20 percent and we are working to remove any kind of private equity overhang that may exist today when we go public. As far as who is going to sell down, that's still up in the air," Cu said during Globe's press briefing on its fourth quarter results.

He added that there is still no definite timeline for the GCash IPO.

When asked if Globe is looking to hold the IPO outside the Philippines, such as the Singapore Exchange, which mandates a lower 10 percent float, Cu said Globe is still eyeing a local listing.

"We have not really looked at other venues outside the Philippines to date and we remain very optimistic that the PSE, the SEC, will see that this IPO is quite unique for investors and that they will see things our way in terms of the need to look at this threshold that has been around for quite some time," Cu said.

He added that the 20 percent float requirement was "quite rigid.. given where our market is at."

The PSEi plunged into bear market territory last week after a slower-than-expected GDP growth and amid worries over how US President Donald Trump's policies may impact the global economy. The main index however regained some of its losses this week. In the last few months, many listed firms have also been doing share buy-backs as prices of their stocks continued to fall despite strong earnings.

"I think it's in the best interest of everyone if they will consider the reduction in public float," Cu said.

Last year, Cu hinted that the company may consider listing GCash in another bourse outside the Philippines. Following fresh investments from Ayala and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, GCash's valuation doubled to $5 billion in August last year.

Globe also reported its share in Mynt's equity earnings reached a record P3.8 billion in 2024, which was 59 percent higher than the P2.4 billion booked in 2023.

"This represents a 12 percent contribution to Globe’s pre-tax net income, a notable increase compared to 7 percent in 2023," Globe said.

The Ayala-led telco said its net income stood at P24.3 billion last year, slightly down by 1 percent from P24.6 billion in the preceding year. But Globe also said that excluding the impact of non-recurring charges, foreign exchange, and mark-to-market charges, its core net income hit P21.5 billion, higher by 14 percent year-on-year. Service revenues meanwhile hit a record P165 billion, up 2 percent.