By Yantoultra Ngui, Karen Lema and Roshan Thomas
MANILA/HONG KONG, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Shares of fintech firm Mynt, operator of mobile wallet GCash, rose 1.7% in their market debut on Tuesday after the company raised 60.9 billion pesos ($966.99 million) in the largest-ever initial public offering in the Philippines.
The stock opened at 6.63 pesos a share, up from its offer price of 6.60 pesos, before rising further to 6.71 pesos. The broader Philippine Stock Exchange index was down 0.02%.
The firm's debut demonstrated investor demand for Mynt's payments business even as a broader selloff in AI-related shares made investors more selective about new tech listings.
"It is a record and, more importantly, a statement of confidence in Mynt, in the Philippine economy and in the strength of our capital market," Philippine Stock Exchange President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon Monzon said.
Mynt's listing came as South Korean AI firm Elice fell sharply in its market debut on Tuesday, highlighting a more cautious mood toward companies tied to the AI boom.
Mynt President and CEO Martha Sazon said the listing marked a new stage in the company's effort to widen access to financial services for Filipinos who have long been outside the formal banking system. Nearly 90% of GCash customers come from low- to middle-income households, she said.
Mynt, backed by Globe Telecom, Ant Group and Ayala Corp, owns GCash, the Philippines' largest finance app, according to its prospectus. The platform offers payments, money transfers, lending, savings, investments and insurance products.
The company had 41.5 million monthly active users in the three-month period that ended on June 30, or nearly 56% of the Philippines' adult population, according to its prospectus. GCash users completed payment transactions worth 9.84 trillion pesos in the first half of 2026.
BIGGEST IN THE PHILIPPINES
Mynt's IPO surpassed Monde Nissin's 52.2-billion-peso IPO in 2021 to become the largest-ever IPO in the Philippines, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the listing came at a time when the stock market needed renewed investor interest and broader participation, adding that attracting fresh capital remained a challenge.
He said strong demand from local and international investors offered a "reason for optimism" and reflected continued confidence in Filipino enterprises.
The Mynt IPO attracted more than 20 cornerstone investors, who committed about $500 million, or nearly 60% of the base deal, according to the company. Investors included BlackRock, Citadel, Fidelity International and the International Finance Corp.
Mynt sold 8.03 billion shares at 6.60 pesos each. The exercise of an overallotment option increased the deal size to 60.9 billion pesos from 53 billion pesos.
Mynt plans to use the proceeds to fund growth in its digital financial services business, product development and general corporate purposes, according to its prospectus.
Mynt said that for the six-month period that ended on June 30, its net income rose 7.3% from a year earlier to 10.82 billion pesos. Revenue rose 10.4% to 43.27 billion pesos.
($1 = 62.9790 Philippine pesos)
(Reporting by Karen Lema in Manila and Yantoultra Ngui in Hong Kong and Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Thomas Derpinghaus)
