Spirits and real estate billionaire Andrew Tan has begun transferring ₱1.83 billion worth of Emperador Inc. shares to his holding company, Alliance Global Group Inc., locking in a roughly 16 percent gain on the stake he acquired in May and June.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Emperador said The Andresons Group has sold three million Emperador shares to AGI at the market price of ₱15.84 per share. After this, Andresons Group still has 132 million Emperador shares left.

In a show of confidence in the company, Tan had mopped up Emperador shares in May and June when its market price had fallen to as low as ₱13.32 per share.

During this period, it bought a total of 135 million Emperador shares, equivalent to 0.86 percent of the company, at a total cost of ₱1.83 billion or an average of ₱13.56 per share.

Last June, Tan spent ₱160 million for 10 million common shares of Emperador, while last May, The Andresons Group acquired a total of 125 million Emperador shares for ₱1.67 billion in a series of transactions.

Chinabank Capital Corporation Managing Director Juan Paolo Colet said earlier that the purchase of more Emperador shares “Signifies Andrew Tan’s strong conviction in the business prospects of Emperador and perhaps a view that there is potentially significant upside from his acquisition price.”

Emperador reported a net income of ₱3.9 billion for the first half of 2025, a 3.1 percent increase from the ₱3.87 billion earned in the same period last year.

Revenues decreased 1.6 percent to ₱28.2 billion, primarily due to softer demand, shifting consumer patterns, and high inflation. However, it registered a 14 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth in revenue in the second quarter of 2025 to ₱15.0 billion.

While its whisky business currently faces challenges, Emperador continues to expand its facilities as it is optimistic of a turnaround and looks forward to a growing market over the medium to long term.

“We are seeing a slowdown in the whisky business across the world: in North America, in China, and even in Europe. The market has become highly competitive in this situation. We believe, however, that this is cyclical,” said Emperador Chairman and President Winston Co during the firm’s annual stockholders’ meeting.

He added that, “We believe that, eventually, the Scotch whisky business should return to growth. And we are hoping that, by next year, starting 2026, there should be a resurgence and a rebound back to regular consumption.”

Co explained that sales in the Scotch whisky market, particularly for single malt, are doing well, and it is the premium, high-end segment that is affected.

“But we believe that consumption should continue and the long-term prospects of Scotch whisky and single-malt whisky continue to be attractive over the long-term period,” he noted.