MANILA, Philippines — Driven by intense trading velocity and a surge in service-related revenues, the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) nearly doubled its bottom-line performance at the start of the year. The local bourse operator logged a remarkable 49.9 percent year-on-year increase in its first-quarter net income, capitalizing on a heavily bullish market cycle that characterized early 2026.
The company’s financial disclosures reveal that its first-quarter net income jumped to ₱381.71 million, up significantly from the ₱254.67 million reported during the same period in 2025.
The bourse’s overall top-line performance experienced broad-based expansion, with operating revenues growing 18.5 percent to reach ₱746.81 million (up from ₱645.49 million previously). The growth was primarily anchored by double-digit spikes across core financial pipelines:
- Service Fees: Yielded the highest growth trajectory, surging 24.8 percent as both the PSE and the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) experienced highly accelerated market activity.
- Trading-Related Fees: Rose 15.7 percent during the quarter, indicating a heavy influx of local and institutional capital.
- Depository Securities: Improved by a steady 5.9 percent, providing additional foundational support to the exchange operator’s quarterly revenue.
- Other Income: Climbed 30.2 percent to ₱41.97 million (from ₱32.23 million), padded substantially by strategic foreign exchange gains and a positive recalculation in the fair value of the bourse’s financial assets.
Crucial to the 50-percent profit realization was the PSE’s ability to keep its internal operational costs tightly checked. Despite expanding its services and managing higher trading volumes, the company successfully minimized its financial outflows:
| Financial Metric | Q1 2025 | Q1 2026 | YoY Change |
| Operating Revenues | ₱645.49 Million | ₱746.81 Million | +18.5% |
| Total Costs & Expenses | ₱339.14 Million | ₱334.79 Million | -1.3% |
| Net Income | ₱254.67 Million | ₱381.71 Million | +49.9% |
“The market’s positive momentum may have been short-lived, but the bullish stance during the first two months of the year helped lift our first-quarter numbers. Despite persistent global and domestic headwinds, we remain committed to our strategic roadmap and continue to pursue product, technology, and sustainability initiatives that will reinforce the Exchange’s long-term resilience and competitiveness.” — Ramon S. Monzon, PSE President and CEO
The strong first-quarter financial buffer gives the PSE solid positioning as it aggressively chases its highly ambitious ₱175-billion capital-raising goal for 2026. To further stimulate market liquidity and diversify asset classes throughout the year, the bourse is currently working to relax Initial Public Offering (IPO) float rules to attract massive listings, while moving forward with structural upgrades to its digital trading platforms.
