SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) is considering reducing its stake in Atlas Consolidated Mining Corporation or taking it out of its investment portfolio since it does not have any synergy with any of the group’s businesses.

In a briefing on Monday, March 2, Frederic C. DyBuncio, SMIC president and chief executive officer, said the holding company of the country’s wealthiest family is evaluating whether to reduce its stake or exit the mining company entirely.

DyBuncio signaled that a decision on the asset’s future within the SM portfolio could be imminent, noting that the board is currently deliberating on the shift in strategy.

“That’s something which we have been discussing at the board level—whether we want to take out Atlas from the portfolio or not,” DyBuncio told reporters.

The potential exit signals a shift in strategy for SMIC, which typically prizes businesses that feed into its massive ecosystem of retail, banking, and real estate.

DyBuncio noted that Atlas Mining is an “outlier,” explaining that while the group’s other holdings benefit from mutual synergies, the mining operations remain disconnected from the broader enterprise.

This lack of strategic fit has led the board to consider a reduction in its exposure as the most likely path forward in the near future, he said.

The SMIC review comes as Atlas Mining grapples with a downturn in its financial performance. The miner reported an 81 percent plunge in consolidated net income to ₱218 million for the first nine months of 2025 from ₱1.13 billion during the same period the previous year. The bottom-line contraction occurred despite a favorable environment for metal prices, as gross revenues slid 17% to ₱12.86 billion.

Operational headwinds have primarily been driven by a three-year redevelopment program at Carmen Copper Corp., the company's main subsidiary.

The overhaul, which is not slated for completion until mid-2026, has constrained production and weighed on earnings. During the first three quarters of 2025, copper prices averaged $4.37 per pound, a five percent increase year-over-year, while gold prices surged to $3,425 an ounce.

However, the higher realized prices were insufficient to offset the operational lag, leading to a decline in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to ₱4.41 billion, down from ₱5.13 billion a year earlier.

Further dragging on the results was a deepening loss from Atlas’s associates. The company’s share in the operations of Berong Nickel Corp. resulted in a net loss of ₱53.39 million for the period, nearly doubling the ₱27.83 million loss recorded in 2024.