Philippines Has Priciest Property Stock on Business Hub Plan

Neil Jerome Morales

Sun, Mar 9, 2025, 4:00 PM 2 min read

(Bloomberg) -- A Philippine cemetery chain’s ambition to make a caller concern hub for the federation has its banal trading astatine an eye-popping 100 times publication value.

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Golden MV Holdings Inc. reached that valuation past period erstwhile its thinly traded shares surged to a grounds high. It’s the astir costly banal connected the Bloomberg World Real Estate Index, astatine a price-to-book ratio much than treble that of immoderate different member. The satellite gauge has a PB ratio of conscionable nether 1.

The stock terms has surged implicit 130% successful the past year, boosting the wealthiness of president and controlling shareholder Manuel Villar Jr. That’s cemented the erstwhile lawmaker’s presumption arsenic the richest idiosyncratic successful the Philippines, with a nett worthy of $24 cardinal according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Going nationalist successful 2016 arsenic Golden Haven, the institution drew attraction by expanding from cemeteries into affordable housing. Now investors are betting connected its Villar City, an property projected to scope 10 times the size of New York’s Central Park that’s inactive successful development.

The planned 3,500-hectare crippled is bigger than Manila’s Makati and Bonifacio Global City commercialized districts combined. The question is whether that imaginable merits Golden MV’s valuation.

When contacted by Bloomberg News, Golden MV cited the Villar City task arsenic the crushed for the keen involvement from equity investors. The institution is readying to alteration its sanction to Villar Land Holdings Corp. arsenic it focuses connected the project.

It’s present astatine a marketplace capitalization of implicit $26 billion. Last twelvemonth it became the Philippines’ largest stock, overtaking chap spot steadfast SM Prime Holdings Inc. By mode of comparison, SM Prime trades astatine astir 1.5 times publication value.

The stock’s much than 1,000 times trailing 12-month net aggregate doesn’t look justified by profits alone, said Toby Allan Arce, an expert astatine Globalinks Securities & Stocks Inc. “Its valuation is speculative, resting heavy connected projected currency flows from Villar City and akin assets.”

Golden MV has nary authoritative expert ratings oregon net estimates according to information complied by Bloomberg. The escaped interval accounts for little than 12% of its full shares outstanding.

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