MANILA, Philippines – The peso moved sideways against the dollar midday Monday, settling at 43.537 from the previous day’s 43.56. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $196.8 million in the morning, lower than the $575.3 million posted the same period on Friday. The peso opened the week at 43.5.
MANILA, Philippines – American furniture brand La-Z-Boy through its exclusive partner BLIMS Lifestyle Group, Inc. (BLG) will seek prospective provincial dealers in major cities in the country at the three-day Franchise Asia Philippines 2014 international franchise expo on July 18 to 20 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. The world’s number 1 producer of residential furniture and the lar-gest furniture manufacturer and marketer in the United States, La-Z-Boy would take the opportunity to meet prospective dealers and distributors in the country that are looking for a once in a lifetime business opportunity at the biggest franchising event in Asia. prospective partners from different regions are invited to visit the La-Z-Boy gallery at booth C80 where they can view La-Z-Boy’s state-of-the-art recliner units in a variety of designs and features. Visit them during the expo and find out why La-Z-Boy brand is synonymous to comfort and luxury. Photo shows BLG vice president Sam Gregory Lim (left) and BLG president Sam Frederick Lim (right) with La-Z-Boy Asia managing director Dhanakorn Kasetrsuwan at the La-Z-boy showroom in SM Megamall. For inquiries, please call 470-9170, 09178816999, or e-mail info@blimsfurniture.com.
MANILA, Philippines – The peso moved sideways against the dollar midday Monday, settling at 43.464 from the previous day’s 43.465. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $268.9 million in the morning, lower than the $368.5 million posted the same period on Friday. The peso opened the week at 43.5.
MANILA, Philippines – First Metro Investments Corp. (FMIC) said it sees interest rates on longer-dated government securities slowing down a bit in the third quarter with the softening of US Treasuries yields. During its mid-year investors briefing Thursday, FMIC senior vice president Reynaldo B. Montalbo Jr. said the movement of interest rates would be marginal especially with a possible slowing of US economic growth. The yield on the three-month debt paper will stay modest at 0.9 to 1.1 percent while the interest rate on five-year Treasury bills will range from 3.35 percent to 3.65 percent. The 10-year bills are seen to fetch a rate of 4.05 percent to 4.25 percent while the interest rate on 20-and 25-year bills are seen to range at 5 to 5.5 percent to 5.7 to 5.9 percent. Policy rates, liquidity, inflation and foreign exchange are the factors that continue to affect the short-end yield of the curve. The long-end of the curve, on the other hand is affected by US and EU recovery, liquidity and the government’s borrowing program. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Despite the lower-than-expected GDP growth for the first quarter of 5.7 percent, yields fell across all tenors. GDP growth slowed due to the delayed effects of Super Typhoon Yolanda to agriculture and weakness in manufacturing output. Government spending also slid from 10 percent to two percent. Montalbo said the government is expected to resume issuing longer tenor bonds as yields have stabilized. With more issues, secondary trading Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Counterfeit goods confiscated by the government jumped 215 percent in terms of value in the January to May period compared to a year ago, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) said. IPOPHL director general Ricardo Blancaflor said the value of fake items seized reached P6.845 billion as of end-May, way above the P2.173 billion in the comparable period a year ago. He said the the increase was due to “concerted and joint operations of the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and BOC (Bureau of Customs).” He noted that the joint operations of the two agencies involved the confiscation of P4.145 billion worth of goods for the five-month period. The IPOPHL is upbeat that the value of seized counterfeit items will continue to increase in the coming months. “The operations will continue at present levels,” Blancaflor said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He also said more joint operations are expected to be undertaken. Apart from the NBI and BOC, other agencies of the National Committee on IP Rights which can visit business establishments with IP violations and seize counterfeit items are the Philippine National Police, Optical Media Board and Food and Drug Administration. Last year, the IPOPHL’s haul of counterfeit goods were valued at P7.76 billion. Blancaflor said earlier the IPOPHL is hopeful this year’s total can match 2011’s all-time high which reached P8.3 billion. He also said the IPOPHL plans to implement programs aimed at increasing the public’s awareness as well Read More …
He better be kidding. Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya could not be serious when he announced that his department has chosen Sangley Point in Cavite City to host the new international airport and replace the existing one. We know that Abaya used to be congressman of the district that includes Cavite City. It’s too obvious that politics played in a huge role in choosing the site for the new airport. According to Abaya, the DOTC will adopt the recommendation of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to build Manila’s next international gateway in Cavite. The JICA guys must be up on their feet when they saw the announcement. After all, they did not recommend Sangley. According to JICA sources, the agency is actually more inclined to support whatever moves the San Miguel Corporation group will make as far as building a new airport is concerned. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 When it chose Sangley, DOTC in effect rejected a proposal from SMC to build a $10-billion airport on reclaimed land at Manila Bay. Abaya said that DOTC’s planning department requested SMC for a full and proper presentation of their proposal but their two requests were either turned down or ignored. Earlier, businessman Ramon Ang personally presented SMC’s plan to construct a modern airport along Manila Bay in a meeting with President Aquino last May. SMC’s proposed four-runway hub was designed to either complement or replace the aging Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Ang’s intention Read More …
These words caught me by surprise and brought me sudden burst of laughter. My face in the mirror isn’t wrinkled or drawn. My house isn’t dirty. The cobwebs are gone. My garden looks lovely, and so does my lawn. I think I might never, put my glasses back on. There are people who have lost their focus, not because they have not put on their glasses, but because they do not know how important focus is. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 They are easily bored; they feel like they want to try out new things immediately yet tire just as easily. Many of them work for a company for about two and a half years, and then they get bored and think they are wasting an entire lifetime because things are moving so slow. They jump from one job to another and they think that this is the best way to rise in their careers and get better pay. But in doing so, they did not focus on a particular skill, knowledge or an area of specialty and a few years later, just as when age caught up with them, they have not created a name for themselves in the industry, they have no skills that are marketable, all they have are regrets because they let their careers slip away. I have also met adults who could not focus. They could not hold their attention long, their eyes drift while I speak to them and their Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The corporate regulator has warned the public against conducting business with companies trading gold and silver coins. “The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hereby advises the public against activities of corporations involving the circulation and selling of gold and silver coins that may not be sanctioned by the proper government authorities,” the agency said in a public notice. SEC has received reports of gold and silver coins trading in Cagayan de Oro and other parts of the country. Under the law, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has the sole power to issue currency in the Philippines. “No other person may put into circulation as currency any notes, documents or coins, gold or not, without its prior authority,” SEC said. In dealing with gold as commodity, the SEC reminded the public that gold produced by small-scale miners should only be sold to the BSP under the People’s Small Scale Mining Act. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Furthermore, treasure hunting activities that might involve gold and other precious metals can only be conducted with written authority from the National Museum, SEC said. “To avoid possible penalties and prosecution, it is best to abstain from dealing in gold and silver of spurious origin or those that are being traded through illicit channels,” SEC said. The corporate regulator said SEC-registered entities engaged in illegal dealings with gold and silver should be reported to the agency’s Enforcement and Investor Protection Department. To date, there are roughly 800,000 Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – The peso moved flat against the dollar on Thursday, shedding 1.5 centavos to close at 43.6. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $563.5 million, lower than the $781.3 million posted on Wednesday. The peso opened Thursday at 43.63.
MANILA, Philippines – Traders may have manipulated the prices of garlic in the market that resulted in the sudden increase of garlic at P280 per kilo in the market in the past few weeks. The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food chaired by Sen. Cynthia Villar is looking into manipulation as the reason behind the soaring of garlic prices. “There is really manipulation because the cost of garlic at production cost is P 40 per kilo while imported garlic is pegged at 17 pesos per kilo with duty. How can P 17 and 40 pesos per kilo can go up to P 280 per kilo?,” Villar said. The Philippines produces only eight percent of the garlic supply in the market while the rest is being imported. “The prices are too high. If you sell it at P 100 per kilo, that’s understandable but P 280 per kilo is too much,” said Villar, who is unable to hide her disappointments with heads of government agencies who do not want to take responsibility for the garlic price increase. Villar slammed the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Agriculture for failure to provide consumer protection in the case of garlic.Production cost is too low relative to price. The concerned agencies also failed to fully implement the Price Control Act, she said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “There is no shortage in supply. They (traders) are just controlling the supply which is in the hands of Read More …