After years where the Philippine Stock Exchange seemed defined more by the listings that didn’t happen than the ones that did, last week brought a different headline. The market welcomed its largest IPO since 2021, a deal that landed despite cautious sentiment and a queue of companies still watching from the sidelines.
IPO hopefuls have repeatedly pushed back their plans over what they describe as unfavourable market conditions. The long-awaited listing of GCash, once anticipated to signal the rise of the country’s first major tech stock, has been put on hold. SM Group shelved the listing of its real estate investment trust, expected to be the country’s biggest REIT IPO, citing “prevailing market conditions” last April.
Prime Infrastructure Capital, which had been preparing what would have been the second-largest IPO in Philippine history, also deferred its debut.
Maynilad was among the companies that waited. Initially expected to list as early as 2023, the water concessionaire delayed multiple times as the market remained volatile. On Friday, November 7th, it finally proceeded.
“We believe that despite all of this overhang that we’re hearing, investors put in the investment anyway, and judging from the results of the IPO, I think we made the right decision,” said Ramoncito S. Fernandez, President and CEO of Maynilad Water Services.
The company’s maiden offering raised 34.3 billion pesos ($580 million), making it the largest IPO in the Philippines since Monde Nissin’s 48.6 billion peso debut ($830 million) in May 2021, and one of the biggest in Southeast Asia so far this year.
It landed in a market still running cold: the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Index slipped 1.31% to 5,759.37 on the day of listing, its lowest close since the end of September 2022 and in a year that has seen only two IPOs to date, down from ten in 2022 and three each in 2023 and 2024. The PSE earlier targeted six IPOs for the year. The offering stood out not just for its size, but for arriving at all.
When Maynilad finally pushed through with its long-delayed listing this week, it did more than add a new name to the exchange. It showed where the market currently sits: quiet and risk-averse, but not entirely shut, with room for large issuers to tap capital when conditions align. The way investors responded to Maynilad’s debut offers a glimpse into the rhythms and caution that now define the Philippine stock market.
Demand for stability
“Maynilad’s entry shows there’s an appetite for real value, not hype,” Jonathan Ravelas, veteran stock market analyst and senior advisor at RT&Co, told DealStreetAsia.
“It’s a vote of confidence in Philippine infrastructure. Investors are chasing stability, and Maynilad offers that in spades. The strong regional interest shows that capital is flowing toward essential services – water, power, logistics – not speculative plays.
Analysts agree that a strong debut illustrates a clear investor preference for stable, cash-generating companies, particularly amid economic and political uncertainty.
Latest data shows that Maynilad, which claims to be the operator of the largest water concession in the Philippines and Southeast Asia in terms of active connections and population, serving a single concession, saw its net income rise 23% in the first half of the year.
“Is Maynilad the kind of company the market wants now? Absolutely. In a volatile macro environment, investors want predictability. Maynilad’s regulated returns, steady cash flow, and essential service profile tick all the right boxes. It’s defensive, resilient, and recession-proof — perfect for uncertain times,” Ravelas told this publication.
“Yes, given the prevailing economic and political uncertainties, Maynilad offers a compelling dividend yield that provides downside risk protection to investors,” Unicapital Securities Inc. equity research analyst Peter Garnace also told DealStreetAsia.
Garnace further said that despite the economic slowdown, Maynilad posted strong earnings, underpinned by higher implemented tariffs and resilient demand, given that water is an essential good or a staple commodity.
International participation
The IPO highlighted robust foreign interest in Philippine equities, with Asia taking the lion’s share at 53.56% of allocations, followed by Europe at 14.7%, local investors at 29.6%, and the US at 1%. Cornerstone investors accounted for 61.1% of the total IPO shares, signaling strong institutional confidence. Analysts say the mix reflects not just faith in Maynilad itself, but a broader vote of confidence in the Philippine market, even amid a slow year for listings.
The participation of IFC and ADB helped attract additional investors to the water concessionaire.
“When IFC and ADB came into our company, it attracted a lot more investors. It was good because people showed significant, strong interest from both local and international investors. They have given us very positive feedback on the company’s performance, the capex plans, and also our dividend funds,” said Ramoncito S. Fernandez, President and CEO of Maynilad.
International cornerstone investors, ranging from abrdn Malaysia to Robeco Switzerland, also lent credibility to the offering, a key factor in a market that has seen limited IPO activity over the past three years.
“Maynilad’s successful debut is an affirmation of investor confidence in the local capital markets. We believe that Maynilad has healthy demand from both institutional and retail investors, viewing it as a defensive play,” Garnace said.
Highly selective market
While the Philippine IPO market remains slow, Maynilad’s offering was 2.7x oversubscribed, reflecting strong investor demand. Despite this, the stock closed at 14.98 pesos per share on debut, just below the 15 pesos per share offer price, amid a broader market selloff.
Despite the slight downturn, analysts noted that the stock held up better than the benchmark index, which hit a fresh three-year low on the same day.
“Despite Maynilad’s IPO coinciding with the release of a sharply slower 3Q25 Philippines GDP, which put downward pressure on the overall market, the stock held steady and outperformed the benchmark index that lost 1.31%,” Garnace said.
The response to Maynilad’s IPO demonstrates that investor appetite in the Philippines is present, but highly selective.
“The flat but steady debut shouldn’t be read as a lack of interest,” said Ravelas. “Investors are selective, not bearish. The market is hungry for quality but price-sensitive. Maynilad’s entry shows there is appetite for real value, not hype,” Ravelas said.
Analysts said that Maynilad’s listing could act as a catalyst and a case study for the pipeline of companies awaiting more favorable market conditions.
For Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who personally attended the IPO and rang the PSE bell during the listing, Maynilad’s IPO is a sign of better days in the stock market, especially in terms of foreign interest. “Maynilad’s public listing signals what I have been telling the world: that the Philippines is open, ready, and eager to do business with you,” he said.
