Lucio Tan III is entering his fourth year at the helm of LT Group Inc. during what could become one of the conglomerate’s toughest tests, as price shocks and soaring inflation threaten its sprawling consumer-focused empire.
So it came as a surprise to many reporters when the millennial tycoon, who rarely grants interviews, joined LT Group’s first media briefing since before the pandemic after its annual stockholders’ meeting on Wednesday.
Alongside chief financial officer Jose Gabriel Olives, the grandson of taipan Lucio Tan answered questions confidently and appeared relaxed, especially when discussing their prospects in 2026.
“The key is we’re trying to execute, as much as possible, in terms of delivering and focusing on the operating profitability, operating income of a lot of the different companies,” Tan said.
“So far, we’ve been doing a great job with that,” he added.
Sticking to the core
This comes as LT Group extended its record earnings streak to a fourth straight year in 2025, with Philippine National Bank (PNB), cigarette giant Fortune Tobacco, and liquor operations (Tanduay Distillers and Asia Brewery) pushing full-year profits up 7 percent to nearly P31 billion.
But the group is especially exposed to price shocks due to its heavy focus on the consumer market, especially when compared to other conglomerates with defensive assets like power, water, and other utilities.
Still, management said the group is not looking to diversify into these sectors anytime soon.
“Unfortunately what we have are the effects of the energy situation and obviously it’s driving a lot of costs and that’s why as our president has pointed out we’re cautiously optimistic,” Olives said.
Investors have so far stayed with LT Group (LTG), whose shares are up about 3 percent this year against the broader Philippine Stock Exchange Index’s 1.6 percent decline.
Banking, other growth drivers
Tan said PNB, the group’s biggest earnings driver, will continue to lead growth, with the company still expecting loan expansion despite concerns over rising interest rates and their impact on asset quality.
“Overall stability was very key in achieving 2025’s figures and, as you know, looking forward to 2026, just on a high level we do expect to also have very successful net income as well for 2026,” he said.
“[A]nd growth for loan volumes we expect to increase. Of course, we are trying our best to mitigate a lot of the adverse effects of the macroeconomic situation caused by the oil issues,” he added.
He also sounded optimistic about the recovery prospects of real estate arm Eton Properties Philippines, Inc., saying the company had cleaned up much of its pandemic-era debt and unfinished inventory.
For tobacco, Tan said the group remains focused on curbing illicit cigarette trade, which helped lift volumes in 2025 after years of pressure from smuggling.
Liquor growth
Tan also expressed confidence in Tanduay Distillers, saying supply chain improvements and production efficiencies helped the liquor giant reach record profitability while still leaving room for volume growth.
“We are currently not seeing too many effects at this point due to the fact that our volumes still have a lot of opportunity to grow. So thankfully, we’re still in a situation where we can continue to grow our volumes,” Tan said.
LT Group remains optimistic so far, but much of that outlook depends on how quickly price pressures stabilize after headline inflation accelerated to 7.2 percent in April from 4.1 percent in March.
Question of timing
Already, one of the group’s largest deals has been disrupted by the Middle East conflict.
Tan said they’re considering pushing back the planned P56 billion listing by way of introduction for PNB Holdings Corp., which owns key assets such as the PNB Financial Center in Pasay and the PNB Makati Center.
Like Tan’s sudden appearance on Wednesday, the anticipated listing is now a question of timing that management believes will eventually be resolved.
“We still do hope that we can list sometime soon,” he said.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
