SM Investments Corporation (SM), the parent company that owns many SM businesses in the Philippines, announced on April 29, 2026, that it will give more money back to its shareholders – increasing dividend payments by 31%.
What Are Dividends?
Think of dividends like sharing your allowance. When a company makes money, it can choose to share some of that profit with the people who own pieces of the company (called shareholders). SM is now sharing more money with its owners than before.
The Numbers Explained
According to the press release filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange, SM will pay PHP17 per share this year, up from PHP13 per share in 2025. This means if you owned one share of SM stock, you would receive PHP17.
In total, SM will distribute PHP20.7 billion to all shareholders, compared to PHP16.0 billion last year. Using the December 31, 2025 share price, this represents a 2.4% dividend yield.
A Pattern of Sharing More
This isn’t just a one-time thing. SM has increased its dividends for five years in a row. Last year alone, they raised dividends by 44% per share.
Looking at the bigger picture: in 2021, SM paid out PHP5 billion in dividends. By 2025, that number grew to PHP16 billion. That’s a compounded annual growth rate of over 32% – meaning the amount has been growing by about a third each year on average.
Since SM first started trading on the stock exchange in 2005, the company has returned a total of PHP148.9 billion in dividends to shareholders as of end-2025.
When Will Shareholders Get Paid?
Shareholders who own SM stock on record as of May 14, 2026 will receive their dividend payments on May 28, 2026.
Why Can SM Afford This?
According to Frederic C. DyBuncio, President and CEO of SM Investments, the company can afford to give more money to shareholders because their businesses make steady, reliable cash. He explained: “Our businesses provide us with strong, diverse and reliable cashflows that enable us to do so while also growing our businesses and maintaining a strong balance sheet.”
The press release notes that 90% of SM’s earnings come from “recurring sources” – meaning regular, predictable income from their three main business areas: retail (shopping malls and stores), banking, and property (real estate and buildings).
About SM Investments Corporation
SM Investments is one of the largest companies in the Philippines. It owns:
- The country’s largest and most diverse retail operations (SM malls and stores)
- SM Prime Holdings, Inc., the largest integrated property developer in the Philippines
- BDO Unibank, Inc., the country’s largest bank
- China Banking Corporation, one of the country’s largest private domestic banks
The company has 1,218,843,560 common shares outstanding and trades on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Mr. DyBuncio emphasized the company’s strategy: “Our approach remains consistent: reinvest in high-quality businesses and consistently return capital to shareholders.”
Source Note:This article is based on the company’s official press release and disclosures filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange’s Electronic Disclosure Generation Technology (PSE EDGE) system. For the complete and official version of the announcement, readers may visit the PSE EDGE website and search for the company’s filing directly.
