THE products of the SM Group emerged as the top trusted and most popular brand in the country based on the fifth Philippine Trust Index by the Eon Group.
The trust index is Eon’s proprietary research that looks into the levels and drivers of trust among Filipinos.
Based on a poll of 1,200 Filipinos aged 18 and above from March to April 2017, SM ranked first among 10 companies as the most popular and most trusted among the general and informed public. Lender BDO Unibank Inc. was also cited among the top 10 most popular and most trusted brands.
Other results of the study showed Filipinos trust brands they come in contact, whether as employees or as customers, most often.
Most of these trusted brands fall under the manufacturing and retail sectors, followed by restaurants and fast-food chains.
Among this larger pool is a sample of 600 Filipinos called by Eon Group as “the informed public”, or Filipinos at least 25 years old with at least three years of tertiary education and who tune in to news at least twice a week.
SM Investments Corp., the holding firm of the businesses of the Sy family, said its income grew 9 percent to P16.6 billion, from last year’s roughly P15-billion profit.
Excluding onetime items in 2016, recurring income increased 16 percent in the first six months, the company said in a statement.
Consolidated revenues rose 7 percent to P181.6 billion in the first half, from P169.7 billion last year. “Even without the benefits of an election year, we saw sustained growth across all our core businesses, driven by the strong economy and resilient consumer sentiment,” SMIC President Frederic DyBuncio said in a statement.