SMIC expands board seats

MANILA, Philippines — The Sy family is bolstering the boardroom of its flagship holding firm SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) by expanding the number of its directors.

In a stock exhange filing, SMIC said it is amending the company’s articles of incorporation to increase the number of directors from eight to nine.

The company said the amendment is being made in recognition of the principles of board diversity and independence of business judgment.

“The increase in the number of directors of the company from eight to nine will add to the mix of competence, expertise and experience of the current board, enabling it to enhance its response to the evolving needs and goals of the company,” SMIC said.

SMIC is a conglomerate led by the Sy family whose core businesses are in retail, banking and property.

While cautiously optimistic for 2024, SMIC is committed to remain on growth mode as it sees a lot of opportunities for expansion in the country.

In particular, the group is betting big on the regional areas to support its continued growth.

SMIC intends to concentrate its efforts on identifying and optimizing opportunities in various regional markets for its core businesses and portfolio investments.

To help spur more economic activity in the provinces, SMIC is beefing up investments in logistics through 2GO Group and Airspeed, which are among the group’s portfolio companies.

SMIC reported a net income of P77 billion in 2023, a 25 percent jump from P61.7 billion the previous year, behind solid contributions from its core businesses.