BIZ BUZZ: DyBuncio delivers

BIZ BUZZ: DyBuncio delivers

When he took the reins of one the country’s biggest companies in 2017, international banker Frederic DyBuncio was also charged with a challenging set of mandates.

It was during this time the board of SM Investments Corp., led by the second-generation Sy siblings who collectively own the country’s largest personal fortune, picked a nonfamily professional to steer the conglomerate, a dominant force in banks, malls and retail.

As CEO of the company, DyBuncio had to boost the performance SM’s already giant segments while scaling up emerging “portfolio” firms, which today include 2GO Group, Philippine Geothermal Production Co., Goldilocks bakeshop and gaming interests via City of Dreams Manila.

He told the Japanese publication Nikkei in 2017 that one of the expectations of the family was to create growth areas outside the core businesses to drive future growth.

Years later, DyBuncio delivered on that commitment with remarkable success.

In 2023, SM Investments posted not only its highest profit of P77 billion—more than double its earnings in 2017—but also the largest net income reported by a domestic corporation in the country’s history, overcoming inflationary pressures and geopolitical problems.

While its bottom line was lifted by property, retail and all-time high earnings at the banks BDO Unibank and Chinabank, SM’s portfolio companies held their own with a sizeable 9-percent profit contribution, a figure that is forecast to grow in the coming years.

In a rare briefing with reporters last week, DyBuncio chatted excitedly about expansion plans in their noncore renewable energy and data centers, the first of which will rise this year in Batangas province.

But it was clear the sector he was most excited about is their logistics businesses 2GO Group and Airspeed, which aligns with SM’s own strategic push toward provincial areas as Metro Manila becomes saturated.

Apart from his responsibilities at

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