Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), the investment firm of the Gotianun family, is pursuing synergies with its property unit through the launch of more hotels in mixed-use developments. The listed holding firm plans to put up as much as seven hotels through different brands in commercial centers and tourist spots nationwide in the next few years, its top executive said. “We have five to seven hotel projects in the works. Some already broke ground while some are in the planning stage,” said FDC president and CEO Josephine Gotianun-Yap. FDC has identified tourist spots Boracay and Tagaytay for its new hotels while mixed-use projects of property arm Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) in Binondo, Cubao and Ortigas Center would feature hotels, Gotianun-Yap said. Subsidiary FDC Hotels Corp. recently started the construction of the P3.49-billion, 192-room Crimson Resort and Spa in Boracay Island that would start operations in 2016. “Our hotel brand will be dependent on the location and the market segment,” Gotianun-Yap said. For instance, the company would put up an affordable hotel in the Cubao lot formerly owned by National Bookstore. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Hence, FDC would be able to offer a complete portfolio of hotels ranging from the affordable segment to the upscale brands. In Cebu, FDC operates the 400-room Quest Hotel and Conference Center in Cebu that caters to the middle income segment. FDC also owns Crimson Resort and Spa at Seascapes Resort Town in Cebu and Crimson Hotel Filinvest City Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The local distributor of South Korea’s Hyundai vehicles expects its sales to grow by as much as 25 percent next year as it plans the rollout of new models. Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) president and chief executive officer Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo told reporters on the sidelines of the turnover ceremony of the Grand Santa Fe and Grand Starex units as official transport for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Finance Ministers’ Investor Seminar and 23rd World Economic Forum on East Asia (WEF-EA) yesterday, the firm projects a 5-to-15 percent increase in total sales next year as supply of Hyundai vehicles become stable.  “This (5 to 15 percent) is growth after recovering from constraint insupply,” she said. “The (launch of) new models could further increase our sales by 10 percent,” she added. The firm plans to introduce the new Tucson next year as well as a new model to compete in the B segment which covers vehicles powered by 1.4 to 1.5 liter engine.  Agudo said the firm may launch the I25, which is currently available in the US and Europe, in the local market next year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For this year, she said the firm expects to post “flat growth” from last year’s total sales of 22,033 units. While HARI suffered from supply problems last year and in the earlier part of the year with vehicles imported from South Korea, she said availability of the units has improved. Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) is offering to investors 26 new areas for potential coal and petroleum exploration, which if found viable could reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuel. In a ceremony yesterday, Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla launched the so-called 5th Philippine Energy Contracting Round or PECR 5 as he assured investors that the areas are within Philippine territory and that the projects would not suffer the same fate as those in the disputed Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea.  “As we live within international laws, we seek all diplomatic recourse to assert our claims to the areas in the West Philippine Sea. Nevertheless, given the situation in the said area, we ensure that the country can affirm itself that the areas offered in the PECR5 are rightfully ours,” Petilla said in his opening message at the official launching ceremony held at the Intercontinental Hotel Manila, Makati City. Asked what the government would do if China protests any of the PECR5 areas, the Energy chief said it would refer the issue to the United Nations. He also said that originally, there were three potential areas for petroleum exploration under the Bangsamoro area, but the DOE decided to exclude these areas temporarily until the Bangsamoro government is duly formed.  “There were three areas actually that were under the Bangsamoro area and out of respect for the peace that we’re actually approaching right now, we’ve excluded it temporarily. But we promise to put it back in Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – East West Banking Corp., the banking arm of the Gotianun-led Filinvest Group, has reported a 38 percent drop in net income in the first three months of 2014 to P455.7 million due to substantial decline in trading gains during the period. In a report, EastWest said a P756-million drop in trading income was recorded in the first quarter. EastWest’s lower trading revenues, however, were offset by the strong gains in its core banking businesses. Its customer loans increased 37.1 percent to P102 billion, with both corporate and consumer lending businesses posting double-digit growth of 47.8 percent and 28.4 percent, respectively.  Total deposits stood at P122.9 billion, a growth of 41.8 percent as compared to the same period last year, with low-cost deposits (CA/SA) growing 50.5 percent on account of its expanded branch network. The bank also maintained its industry-leading net interest margin of eight percent for the first three months of the year, driven by its significant consumer portfolio and improvement in its funding costs.   Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 EastWest has the highest proportion of consumer loans among universal banks, with 52 percent of its loan portfolio. Its net interest income increased 23.7 percent to P2.3 billion, as interest income grew 14.5 percent while interest expense declined 23.9 percent, even as total deposits were 41.8 percent higher. Non-interest income, excluding trading, went up 22.9 percent to P800.1 million. These are largely recurring fee-income, driven by the growth in consumer loans business and Read More …

We give way to two of our readers today. The first, from Engr. Alex G. Serrano, are excerpts of a lengthy letter on one of my favorite topics: the Philippines’ poorly managed population growth. The second, from 2nd Lt. Earl Gerard Gamboa, is about the Maroon Berets. Oversupply of labor Serrano writes: “I sincerely believe in your statement that “The unemployment rate has been showing an alarming increase, and even in absolute numbers, should be enough cause for concern by our government economists ….” “I think the real problem is that many of our people especially the church and cold-hearted economists (cheap labor is good for business) refuse to accept the fact that through the years we have accumulated an oversupply of labor, more specifically from the ranks of the poor, which as you said “will continue to swell if the population growth is not subdued.” “I know that there are many other factors that cause poverty in our country, but I do hope that you and many others like you will be able to convince our government that at least for long term development we should accept the fact that an oversupply of labor from the poor exists and should be dealt with squarely. “From having almost the same population with Thailand and South Korea in the 1950’s, the Philippines by 2010 had 33.6 million more people than Thailand and 51.3 million more people than South Korea. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “For 60 years, Read More …