Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Integrated property firm SM Prime Holdings Inc. has expanded its retail portfolio to complement residential projects in the metropolis. The mall operator and condominium developer said it started the commercial operations of its newest retail podium, Sun Mall, located at the Sun Residences tower in Quezon City. “This is the third retail podium attached to an SM Development Corp. (SMDC) residential tower after Jazz Mall in Bel-Air, Makati and Mezza Strip in Quezon City,” SM Prime said. Sun Mall spans a gross floor area of 15,000 square meters. It offers a variety of commercial and retail stores that can accommodate the basic household needs of its residents. “The retail podium is designed to provide every patron with a worthwhile lifestyle experience,” SM Prime said. “Through these retail podiums within our residential towers, we aim to provide our residents with access to everything that they will need,” said SM Prime executive vice-president and SMDC president Jeffrey Lim. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The opening of Sun Mall reflects the synergies at work in SM Prime, Lim said. Anchor tenants include SM Hypermarket, Watsons and Banco De Oro, as well as food stores. Sun Mall also has specialty shops, giving residents a variety of options to choose from to satisfy their needs and provide convenience. Food concepts in Sun Mall include The Happy Bakery, the first inline store of Happy Dizon of the Dizon family behind Dizon Farms; fastfood restaurant Chef Lau’s Pugon Roasters of Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Smart Communications Inc., the main mobile unit of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), is extending cheaper roaming services for its subscribers travelling  to Asia, the US and Europe. Michele Curran, group head for data and international services of Smart, said the company has unveiled new rates for its roaming services aimed at giving postpaid subscribers a much easier way of controlling their phone usage and expenses while travelling abroad. Smart’s roaming rates for voice, text and data services are categorized based on two zones – Asia and America on one hand, and the rest of the world on the other – starting last Friday.  Smart postpaid subscribers travelling to countries in Asia and America have to pay a flat rate of P18 per text message, P50 per minute for incoming calls, P115 per minute for outgoing calls, and P3 per 10 kilobytes of data.  On the other hand, subscribers bound for countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Oceania would be charged a flat rate of P23 per text message, P65 per minute for incoming calls, P145 per minute for outgoing calls and P5 per 10 kilobytes of data.  “Many phone users have a hard time determining whether or not to avail of roaming services out of confusion with the rates or fear of racking up a huge amount in their phone bill when they come back home,” Curran said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  “With these simplified rates, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., the investment holding company of the Alcantara Group, is preparing to start the construction of its planned coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga. Joseph Nocos, the company’s vice president for business development, said they are currently working on the approval of the plant’s contracts. “We are waiting for approval of plant contracts. Once we receive that, which we expect sometime in May, we will be proceeding with the construction of the plant,” Nocos told reporters. Alsons is planning to put up the 105-megawatt San Ramon coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga. Company officials earlier said they have signed up South Korea’s Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor in Dec. of 2012.  The plant is targeted to commence operations by 2016. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The construction of the Zamboanga plant is part of Alsons’ efforts to help address the power shortage in Mindanao. It is resolved to do its share in ensuring Mindanao’s power stability for the long run, as it gears up to double the current generating capacity of Alsons subsidiaries to make it a supplier of one-fourth of Mindanao’s power demand by 2016. With two plants in Sarangani and Zamboanga, the company is looking forward to generate an aggregate of 463 megawatts – more than one-fourth of the Department of Energy’s projected 2016 Mindanao peak power demand of 1,829 MW. Engineering and construction of the first 105 MW phase of the 210-MW Sarangani Energy Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Listed International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) of gaming and port magnate Enrique Razon Jr. is set to issue $75 million worth of notes as part of its $1 billion medium term note program to raise funds for its capital expenditures. ICTSI treasury director Arthur Tabuena informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that the company’s board of directors ratified and approved the issuance of additional notes by ICTSI Treasury B.V. Tabuena said the new notes would be consolidated in the $207.5 million notes due 2025 issued by ICTSI Treasury BV last Sept. 17. “These new notes will be consolidated and form a single series with the $207.5 million 5.875 percent guaranteed notes due 2025 issued on Sept. 17,” he added. ICTSI vice president and treasurer Rafael Consing Jr. said the company has already issued $650 million of the note program launched early last year. According to him, proceeds of the fund raising activity would be used to bankroll the company’s capital expenditures. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  “The additional issuance would be used to partially fund our capex this year,” Consing said. Last January, ICTSI raised $400 million of the $750 million medium term note program. It initially raised $300 million in the first tranche and another $100 million in the second tranche. Last Aug. 15, ICTSI through ICTSI Treasury BV launched a $450 million note exchange program after jacking up the size of its medium-term note program to $1 billion instead of Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Low cost carrier AirAsia Zest plans to launch flights to Haneda in Japan. AirAsia Zest chief executive officer Alfredo Yao told reporters yesterday the airline plans to start flights to Haneda. “We’ve already applied. We applied this month for flights to Haneda,” he said. According to Yao, the airline intends to have daily flights to Tokyo’s second major gateway. Yao is hopeful the airline could start flights to Japan soon citing the Philippines’ good relations with that country. The airline hopes to mount flights to Japan after the Philippine commercial aviation industry was restored to Category I status by the Federal Aviation Administration earlier this month. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Philippines was downgraded to Category 2 status in 2008. Japan had earlier imposed restrictions on local carriers from the Philippines from mounting additional flights, citing safety and security concerns. Earlier, AirAsia Zest was looking at offering flights to Narita in Japan this year. The Philippines and Japan had concluded successful air talks just last year. The new services agreement covers an increase to 400 flights per week from 119 previously between the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and Narita International Airport. The new air services agreement likewise covers flights between NAIA and Haneda. AirAsia Zest’s planned flights to Japan comes on the heels also of Japan’s recent decision to remove visa requirements for Filipinos. Visa-free entry to Japan is expected to start by June this year.