DigiPlus Interactive has revived its share buyback program with an authorized budget of approximately PHP5.36 billion ($87 million), just three days after investment foundations linked to Poland’s Juroszek family publicly urged the board to prioritize repurchases over new land-based investments.
The program is valid for another 12-month period effective July 9th, the Philippine digital gaming operator said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. At the same board meeting, the company appointed Wilfredo M. Pielago as Chief Risk Officer.
The move comes after the company’s previous repurchase authorization, approved a year ago, expired on July 4th. In an open letter to the board dated July 6th, Betplay Capital Foundation, ZJ Foundation and MJ Foundation, which together hold approximately 1.4 percent of DigiPlus, urged directors to renew the authorization and launch a substantial buyback.
The letter, signed by Tomasz Juroszek, argued that DigiPlus is the lowest-valued B2C gaming company among global listed peers, trading at around 2.4x estimated 2026 EV/EBITDA, roughly one-third of the peer median, while offering a free cash flow yield of around 32 percent. Applying peer median multiples implies a valuation of roughly PHP30 ($0.49) per share, more than 150 percent above the recent market price, according to the letter.
The foundations said the company’s balance sheet ‘remains a fortress’, with more than PHP20 billion ($325 million) in cash and virtually no debt, and argued that ‘further land-based investments are not optimal at this stage and can be deferred’.
That recommendation touches directly on DigiPlus’ push into Manila’s casino sector through Hong Kong-listed International Entertainment Corp, owner of New Coast Hotel Manila. DigiPlus completed its subscription to HK$1.6 billion ($204 million) of IEC convertible notes in two tranches in March and June; full conversion would hand it a 53.89 percent controlling stake, although no notes have yet been converted into shares.
Despite a difficult twelve months, marked by the delinking of e-wallet access from licensed online gaming platforms through 2025, the operator of BingoPlus, ArenaPlus and GameZone posted first quarter 2026 revenue of around PHP17.2 billion ($280 million), about 27 percent above the same period in 2024, the letter noted.
‘Shares repurchased and canceled in the meantime will prove to have been bought at once-in-a-cycle prices,’ the letter said.
