Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Personal care products manufacturer Splash Corp. has been officially delisted from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) as of yesterday. In a notice, the PSE said it has approved the petition for voluntary delisting of Splash and accordingly ordered the delisting of the company’s shares from the official registry of the exchange effective Oct. 7, 2016. “The trading of the company’s shares (ticker symbol “SPH) is currently under suspension due to the company’s failure to comply with the 10 percent minimum public float ownership requirement,” PSE president Hans Sicat said. The company made a tender offer to shareholders for all 158 million publicly owned common shares from July 18 to Sept. 20 at a price of P3.10 per share. Splash applied for delisting because of the low trading volume of its shares over the last 24 months, the response of the investing public to the ongoing share buy-back program, and the company’s desire to avoid telegraphing its business plans to its competitors. As of July 5, 2016, the company’s public ownership stood at 26.66 percent. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “After the termination of the tender offer to be conducted in connection with this petition, the company’s public ownership is expected to fall below the prescribed 10 percent minimum public ownership,” Splash said. The planned delisting comes on the heels of the company’s strong first quarter growth. Splash reported a net income of P160 million during the period, a 13-fold increase from P12 million Read More …

The figure marked a slowdown from 93.4 percent in the same period last year. Philstar.com/File photo MANILA, Philippines – Fund releases to agencies slowed for the fifth straight month in September, but the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) maintained it was not due to the transition in government. A total of P2.75 trillion was released for the first nine months, accounting for 91.7 percent of the P3.002-trillion national outlay, latest DBM data showed. The figure marked a slowdown from 93.4 percent in the same period last year and followed a slowing trend that started during the election month of May. Allotment releases indicate agencies may now enter into contracts for public services, after which funds may be obligated and then spent once checks are available. “The reason is still related to the first answer we gave…It is still not due to transition,” Budget Undersecretary Laura Pascua said in a text message Friday. She was pertaining to the P11.68 billion in releases from the unprogrammed fund last year that was used for rehabilitation of areas hit by typhoon Yolanda in November 2013. Pascua said releases were “quite substantial” last year so much so that base effect may be felt until the end of 2016.  “But releases for the bonuses and additional compensation this quarter may offset it,” she said. In addition, she also pointed to the “large” continuing appropriations of P62.5 billion last year as reason. For this year, that amount was reduced to just P34 million. According to DBM Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez has assured officials of S&P Global Ratings the country is capable of maintaining a strong economic performance under the Duterte administration. “While we greatly value a ratings upgrade to full investment grade…this is only of secondary importance,” Dominguez said. “In the economic plans we lay down, rapidly reducing poverty rates rank first priority,” he added. The statement was sent to reporters yesterday. The finance chief met with representatives from S&P in Washington after the latter warned that policy stability and predictability has “diminished somewhat” under the 100-day-old Duterte administration. In particular, the debt watcher expressed concern about President Duterte’s war on drugs that allegedly contributed to human rights violations and “undermined respect” to institutions such as the judiciary and media. Dominguez, in the statement, appeared to have not addressed these issues and focused on plans to increase spending and reform taxes to cut poverty rate to 17 from 26 percent. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Our people expect this. Our government fully intends to meet that expectation. We do not plan on failing the poorest of the poor,” he said. “This goal cannot be accomplished without sustained economic growth.  Over the next six years, driven by investments and targeted public spending, we expect to sustain GDP growth at seven percent or more,” Dominguez said. “We intend to make our economic growth more inclusive,” he added. S&P, in evaluating the Philippines, had already acknowledged the positive impact from the new Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – More members of the House of Representatives are opposing President Duterte’s tax proposals, which Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez submitted to Congress last week. Opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay joined an increasing number of colleagues yesterday in questioning the administration’s so-called tax reform package. He said the supposed tax reforms and other components of the administration’s economic agenda are not moving because of Duterte’s “preoccupation on his brutal anti-drug campaign.” He said the proposed tax reform package “is anti-poor and anti-marginalized because, among others, it taxes holiday pay, overtime pay, night shift differential pay, hazard pay, and 13th-month pay received by low-income earners and repeals VAT (value added tax) exemption of people with disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens.” It would also impose a P10 excise tax on lubricating oils and greases, waxes and petrolatum, regular gasoline, leaded premium gasoline and aviation turbo jet fuel, and a P6 excise tax on processed gas, denatured alcohol, kerosene, diesel, LPG, asphalts, and bunker fuel, he said. “Since the burden of excise taxes on petroleum products cascades to the ultimate consumer or the general public, the brunt of the tax is borne by ordinary people who constitute the bulk of the consuming public who will not benefit from the tax package,” he stressed. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In a related development, Rep. Mikee Romero of party-list group 1-Pacman proposed yesterday the grant of a one-time tax amnesty to raise needed funds for the government. Romero said Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – President Duterte’s decision for the country to align with China is already spurring a number of Filipino and Chinese firms to embark on joint venture deals. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in an interview there are currently a number of joint venture deals being worked out between companies from Philippines and China in line with the government’s plan to renew ties with the world’s second largest economy. Lopez is set to join the President in his planned visit to China this month. “A lot of private businesses are saying that they will time their signing also there as with their counterpart. These are business to business deals,” Lopez said. “So far three groups have already talked to me. One is in the food industry,” he added. Aside from the expected business-to-business signings, the Philippine government will seek to further trade relations as well as enhance joint cooperation with China during Duterte’s visit, Lopez said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He said trade and investment opportunities in China remain large for the Philippines. “It will be for economic cooperation. Also for promotion of trade and investments. We invest more to China so we have to invite more Chinese investments here in the country. They also export more to us so we want to export more to China. So we want to approach a trade balance,” Lopez said. China-ASEAN Business Council executive president Xu Ning-ning earlier said Chinese firms are raring to invest in the Read More …