Happy Friday, Barkada --

The PSE lost 6477 points (!!) to 0 ▼100%

▌In today's MB:

• MPI grants request to defer delisting vote
• FILRT duplicates dud dividend
• MREIT to buy 7 towers from MEG
• DFNN overcomes limitations of accountancy
• Fruitas buys cloud kitchen company
• Vulcan Industrial suspended due to public float
• DUMB STUFF: DFNN's fun metadata

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▌Main stories covered:

• [NEWS] MPI grants request to defer delisting vote... Metro Pacific [MPI 4.37 ▲0.5%; 178% avgVol] disclosed that it granted a request from the MPI Consortium to “defer the vote on the approval of the voluntary delisting” of MPI. The MPI Consortium said that they intend to make the fairness opinion available to MPI shareholders before MPI’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting “to give the shareholders information on the basis of the Tender Offer Price,” even though the rules only require the MPI Consortium to supply that fairness opinion with the Tender Offer Report. The MPI Consortium said that because the fairness opinion “has not been finalized” yet, and the AGM is early next week, they’re requesting for a deferment of the vote to give the MPI Consortium time to finish the fairness opinion and deliver a new “notice of intent to undertake a Tender Offer” to MPI’s shareholders. MPI granted that request, but did not provide an updated timetable for when any of this would happen.
  
  • MB: Everything about this story says to me that there’s more going on behind the scenes that we just don’t know about, so I’m not really sure what to make of this. Does it seem incomprehensible to anyone else that a company as sophisticated as MPI could so completely blunder the sequence of events between the fairness opinion and the delisting vote? MPI’s united resolve in the face of the initial pushback to the price signaled to me that they were satisfied with the results of the opinion, but then, suddenly, we were hearing from individual members of the board, not from Chairman Manny Pangilinan, about how the opinion isn’t yet final and that it may change upon further review. This is just my speculation, but it seems obvious to me that the price quoted touched a nerve somewhere in the system. We saw that with April Tan’s all-caps directive to MPI shareholders, and with COL Financial’s weird insistence on emailing AGM details to shareholders – why don’t they do this for every AGM? Did something in the process rub the exchange the wrong way as well? Something feels off the rails about this, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. This doesn’t seem like extra-dimensional chess on the part of MPI to whipsaw public opinion on the way to closing a good deal.
• [NEWS] Filinvest REIT declares low Q1 dividend... Filinvest REIT [FILRT 4.25 ▲2.9%; 241% avgVol] declared a Q1/23 cash dividend of ₱0.071/share, payable on June 30 to shareholders of record as of June 15. The dividend implies an annualized yield of 6.68% based on the previous closing price. The total amount of the dividend is ₱347 million, sourced from distributable income generated up to April 30, which is 100% of the ₱347 million in distributable income that FILRT reported for the period. Relative to FILRT's IPO price, the dividend increased FILRT's total stock and dividend return to -28.29%, up from its pre-dividend total return of -29.3%. FILRT did not specify if this dividend represents just the first quarter of FILRT’s distributable income, or if it is intended to represent the first four months as the cut-off date would imply.
  
  • MB: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” When is the market going to listen to what FILRT has been screaming for months? This dividend matches FILRT’s all-time low, confirms that the tiny Q4/22 dividend was not a mistake or fluke, and yet the market trades FILRT like it’s the twin brother of AREIT. Quarter-on-quarter, the dividend is the same. It matches the low. But this dividend is 39% lower from a year-on-year perspective.
• [NEWS] MREIT signs MOU to acquire 7 new towers from Megaworld... MREIT [MREIT 14.00 ▲1.4%; 2% avgVol] signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with its parent company, Megaworld [MEG 1.99 ▼2.5%; 511% avgVol], to possibly acquire seven “grade A office assets” with a combined gross leasable area (GLA) of 150,000 square meters. MREIT said that the assets in question, located in Taguig, Iloilo, and Davao, generated approximately ₱1.2 billion in rental income last year and have a combined occupancy rate of 94%. MREIT said that it hopes to sign definitive agreements for the translation in Q3 of this year. The injection would increase MREIT’s GLA by 46%.
  
  • MB: MREIT pulled up short of mentioning the deal’s total value, but we can very loosely estimate the value by using the smaller deal that MREIT completed earlier this year as a guide. With that transaction, MREIT closed on 44,567 GLA of office space in Taguig and Iloilo for ₱5.3 billion, which is about ₱119,000/sqm. Here, if we multiply that value by the 150,500 GLA that MREIT estimates for this package, we end up with a value of ₱17.9 billion. According to my data, MREIT has about ₱13.4 billion of “buying power” between its available equity (₱1.1 billion) and debt (₱12.3 billion). Unless MREIT is able to consider the properties to be acquired as part of its deposited properties, and then use that additional debt quota to buy the assets, it would seem as though MREIT is going to have to do some kind of equity raise to increase its public float to remain about the 33.33% public float minimum threshold.
• [NOTES] Quick takes from around the market...
  
  • DFNN [DFNN 2.92 ▼1.0%; 175% avgVol] [link] finally overcame the limitations of archaic accountancy to submit its FY22 Annual Report. DFNN reported an FY22 net income of ₱82 million, which is a 122% increase from the ₱368 million net loss it reported the previous year. DFNN attributed the “tremendous turnaround” to its successful equity restructure, and to “the continuous increase in sales and the launch of numerous tailored interactive technology platforms.”
    • MB Quick Take: The press release sets off all sorts of alarms in my head in terms of the repeated mentioning of the “residual effects of Covid”, and the overall “to be fair you need to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty” tone of DFNN toward its own business model, but I can’t deny that I like DFNN’s overall positioning in terms of its industry (gaming is in demand), its low overhead, and its potential for growth with a software product line that has a low/negligible marginal cost for production. I’m just glad they figured out QuickBooks.
  • Fruitas [FRUIT 1.20 ▼2.4%; 223% avgVol] [link] acquired Fly Kitchen Inc (FKI) to “accelerate the growth of its cloud kitchen business”. FRUIT said that it signed an agreement to buy 100% of FKI’s outstanding shares, giving FRUIT access to FKI’s inventory, recipes, and leasehold interests in four kitchens.
    • MB Quick Take: A cloud kitchen is a centralized food preparation site that is like a restaurant but with no public-facing components. No cashier, no seating, no take-out window. It’s designed to integrate with food delivery apps. It’s valid to ask whether the cloud kitchen model is as important as it was back in the COVID Years when in-person dining was restricted by brutal public health orders, but my own anecdotal experience is that my new consumption habits from the COVID Years have been sticky. I’m doing way more of everything online. Cloud kitchens aren’t going anywhere (IMHO).
  • Vulcan Industrial [VUL 1.24 ▲2.5%; 1271% avgVol] [link] was suspended by the PSE for violating the 20% minimum public float requirement as a result of the backdoor listing of the East Coast Mineral Resources Company. The PSE said that VUL’s stock will remain suspended until VUL complies with the 20% public float rule, and that VUL has until November 30th of this year to fix the problem or face automatic delisting.
    • MB Quick Take: This is a huge part of why I hate these landmine subscription agreements. This liability sat on VUL’s books for nearly three years, and shareholders (who are now stuck in this trade for the foreseeable future) had no reasonable expectation of this happening after the lapse of the due diligence period back in 2021. I don’t think there’s a substantial risk of VUL delisting (it’s crazy if they didn’t already plan for this), but this probably caught a bunch of traders that hopped into this stock by surprise. ₱28 million in VUL stock changed hands yesterday before the suspension was announced after-hours.
• [DUMB STUFF] I live for this...
  
  • The DFNN Annual Report contains some hilarious metadata in the PDF. Most notably, the line: Greetings to #ITnet members biolator VeRvE^ and all DALNet peoples...i Hate u All. Credit to Red Baboy on Twitter for this amazing find!

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The average annual cost of raising a child in America is nearly $21,000, according to a study by financial information provider SmartAsset, which analyzed 381 metro areas across the country

Eight companies get funding to drive US leadership in fusion energy

Green energy plan

Fusion commercialization with Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program

The eight awardees: building the future of fusion energy

• Commonwealth Fusion Systems (Cambridge, MA)
• Focused Energy Inc. (Austin, TX)
• Princeton Stellarators Inc. (Branchburg, NJ)
• Realta Fusion Inc. (Madison, WI)
• Tokamak Energy Inc. (Bruceton Mills, WV)
• Type One Energy Group (Madison, WI)
• Xcimer Energy Inc. (Redwood City, CA)
• Zap Energy Inc. (Everett, WA)

Implication for disadvantaged communities

Conclusion

• Microsoft and Helion to bring fusion power to the grid

Game Information

• PC (Jun 1, 2023)
• Switch (Jun 1, 2023)

• Announcement Trailer
• Gameplay Trailer
• How to Trailer

Critic Reviews

I’m torn on these remakes. On the one hand, I don’t think they work on Switch. Not in recreating the original vision of Etrian Odyssey, at any rate. The best way to play these is to jettison the mapping feature that was so core to the experience on the DS and 3DS. This truly is disappointing. On the other hand, even as a stock-standard set of dungeon crawlers, the three Etrian Odyssey titles bundled up here are beautifully elegant, ethereal, and artful. They’re challenging and fundamentally enjoyable, classic dungeon crawlers. If these new releases help a new legion of people discover Atlus’ dungeon-crawling genius for the first time, then I’m ultimately very glad they exist.

Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is an excellent collection of three titles that have made the history of their genre. The gaming experience may be anachronistic for the youngest, but it is a nostalgia operation that works very well: beyond some aspects penalized by the console, such as the need to get a stylus not supplied to better map the dungeons, we are facing a return of a piece of history of the Nintendo DS. Among other things, the amount of content within the package is remarkable, to the delight of fans of the series.

Three old school JRPGs that are so perversely old-fashioned they force you to draw your own map - and yet they’re surprisingly captivating and fully deserving of this welcome remaster collection.

[Translation] Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is great news for dungeon crawler lovers who want to rediscover a turn-based combat classic on Nintendo Switch and PC. The function for which it is necessary to draw the maps yourself could be disorienting for those who have never tried a chapter of the saga, but it will make you feel like real explorers looking for their fortune in uncharted territory. [...] The main flaw of the Collection is the introductory price of 80 euros, which in our opinion is rather high. which immediately transforms the bundle of three games into a product only for those who are fans of all three titles and want to relive them with better graphics, updated mapping tools and greater fluidity in exploration. If you are looking for a very solid dungeon crawler and you have met this series for the first time, it is better to dedicate yourself only to the third chapter, the most solid of the trilogy.

Etrian Origins Collection may not be the 'definitive’ re-release that many hoped it would be, but these games are well-respected in the DRPG space for good reason and it's great to see them on Switch.

The Etrian Odyssey HD Origins Collection is an excellent way to start your expedition into the dungeon-crawling genre. All three titles are excellent, but the first two entries are missing some of the major quality-of-life updates found in the Untold remakes. It’s sad to think those versions were left out, given they greatly improve the experience. Regardless, the dungeon crawling system, character classes, and overall enjoyment of this collection come to a head with the inclusion of Etrian Odyssey III, which takes all the best mechanics and provides a memorable adventure to cap off an addictive and fun collection of titles.

The Etrian Odyssey games have always been a triumph, and Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is the sort of loving proof of concept to convince Switch and PC owners that yes, it’s still just as good on a platform that doesn’t feature two screens. Etrian Odyssey I, II, and III remain fantastic, challenging, and engaging games that will drive players to explore. Even better is that the auto-mapping and difficulty options increase the ease of entry, making them even more appealing. It’s wonderful to see all three games again, and I hope this is a precursor to a seventh installment.

The Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection was an interesting title to review. As a newcomer to the series, it was a daunting series to get into without having played this style of dungeon crawler in over a decade. The benefits of including easier modes for people who just want to explore what the dungeons have on offer should not be discounted, but with a notebook, some grid paper, plenty of patience, and a willingness to experiment and try different strategies in battle makes for a compelling trilogy. However, if you do not the patient type of player, or if excessive exploration and dungeon crawling for minimal plot do not sound all that appealing, it may not be the title for you.