philstar.com – Business – Page 174

philstar.com - Business

Petilla’s real problems just starting

Economy

Dec 292013

I have no doubt Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla meant it when he said he will resign if he failed to reconnect the towns in Leyte and Eastern Samar to the power grid by Christmas Eve. But only three towns remain to be connected and that is definitely substantial compliance. ABS-CBN reports the three towns were connected by Friday last week. PNoy was right to reject his resignation. Indeed, P-Noy should hang on to Petilla. It is rare to have someone like him who is ready to put his job on the line towards the accomplishment of a goal. I have not personally met Petilla and initially dismissed him as just another politician. But he is showing himself to be a breed apart from many in P-Noy’s cabinet and key officials. How I wish this retired General Honrado would do a Petilla and put his job on the line on the issue of providing functioning air conditioners, working CCTVs and clean washrooms in all the NAIA terminals. Because he knows he is a bosom buddy of P-Noy (relative pa daw), all he has offered these past three years are excuses, a mountain of excuses. Kung hindi kaya ang trabaho, resign! But he seems to be kapalmuks to the core. Having worked at the Ministry of Energy, I understand the challenges that Petilla faces. We did well enough then because we had an exceptionally results oriented boss in Ronnie Velasco who took no excuses for failure. It was also martial law. Now, Petilla and the energy bosses after Read More …

From best to worst

General

Dec 292013

Last week, Bloomberg wrote an article about the Philippine stock market. In that article, Bloomberg mentioned how the PSE Index turned into one of the worst performing indices recently after being one of the best performers in early 2013. At its peak in May 2013, the PSE Index was up 27.4 percent vs. year-end 2012 and had gained 339 percent since its bottom in October 2008. At that point, our index was one of the world’s best performers, next to Japan’s Nikkei 225. Since that peak, the PSE Index has fallen 20.4 percent and is on its way to becoming one of the worst performers for the 2nd half of the year. Considering this, many are probably wondering why our index swung from best to worst in the span of one year. 1. Reasons for the downturn too fast, too soon. Though the run-up of the PSE Index in early 2013 was not without reason, it happened a bit too fast and too soon. The performance of our index from year-end 2012 to May 2013 almost eclipsed the impressive 33.0 percent return of our index in full-year 2012. 2. Valuations rise. The steep run-up also pushed the valuations of Philippine stocks significantly higher. At the peak, the PSE Index had a 2014 P/E (price-to-earnings ratio) of 21.5x. Note that this was reached even before the halfway mark of the year. 3. QE tapering. The talks about the tapering of the Fed’s quantitative easing (QE) program triggered large-scale unwinding, deleveraging and Read More …

PLDT unveils new cloud-based product

Economy

Dec 282013

MANILA, Philippines – PLDT Alpha Enterprise, a unit of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., has unveiled a new product giving companies faster and more efficient speed-to-market application deployment. Jovy Hernandez, first vice president and head of PLDT Alpha Enterprise, said the new PLDT Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) would further improve the competitiveness of companies. “As global business becomes even more fast-paced, it is imperative for enterprises to innovate instantly in order to stay ahead of their competition. With PLDT Cloud PaaS, companies can harness the infinite possibilities of the cloud, to quickly create solutions that make them more productive and more efficient,” Hernandez stressed. The PLDT Cloud PaaS gives enterprises the ability to develop and deliver various applications with unprecedented ease. Enterprise developers could begin creating their applications in a standard web browser using pre-built templates, significantly reducing development lead-time through an 80 percent drag-and-drop and 20 percent coding model. Pre-built templates on its starter package can be used instantly to develop applications for numerous organizational needs such as sales and marketing, human resources, IT, and other functional areas. They also have an option to purchase more advanced application templates that specifically benefit industries such as banking and finance, retail and manufacturing, and real estate. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 PLDT Cloud PaaS is initially offered for P2,500 per user per month to include the platform development tools, starter application templates, a PLDT Cloud IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) resource with up Read More …

PEDC lights up Iloilo

Economy

Dec 282013

MANILA, Philippines – The province of Iloilo was spared from power outages during the Christmas season, even as some areas in Leyte and Samar are experiencing rotating power outages as full restoration of electricity continues, according to power distributor Panay Energy Development Corp. (PEDC). City centers of some 320 municipalities in the two provinces are already connected to the grid as Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla imposed a Dec. 24 deadline for the restoration of electricity in the said areas. Although there were three municipalities that were not energized on Dec. 24, they have now been energized. These are the municipalities of Salcedo, Mercedes and Guian in Eastern Samar. Cebu has reportedly been experiencing daily rotational brownouts ranging from one to two hours, PEDC said. PEDC is a subsidiary of Global Business Power Corp., the power generation arm of the Metrobank Group led by taipan George Ty. Global Business is a member of the GT Capital Group of Companies, a member of the GT Capital Group. In an advisory, PEDC said the Panay Electric Company, Inc. (PECO), which is connected to PEDC, continues to provide stable power supply to residents of Iloilo despite the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The franchise area of Panay Electric Company, Inc. (PECO) is located around Iloilo City. PECO customers are those who are enjoying uninterrupted power supply this Christmas season, PEDC said. “Apart from stable supply, Iloilo City also enjoys reasonably priced electricity,” PEDC said.

Robinsons Land earns P4.48 B

Economy

Dec 282013

MANILA, Philippines – Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property arm of the Gokongwei family’s JG Summit Holdings Inc., posted an unaudited net income of P4.48 billion in its fiscal year ending September 2013, up by only 5.5 percent from the previous year as residential construction remained sluggish. Sources said RLC’s revenues rose 18 percent to P15.98 billion from October 2012 to September this year, mainly on the strength of its shopping mall operations. Operating profit amounted to P5.98 billion, 14 percent higher than the P5.24 billion recorded in the same period last year. In the fourth quarter alone, RLC’s net earnings fell 2.8 percent to P832 million, while revenues went up 3.3 percent to P3.58 billion. The shopping centers division chipped in P1.98 billion in revenues or 16 percent more than the P1.71 billion contributed a year ago. The income drop was due to lower residential revenues as a result of low project completion rate and increased loss from the reversal of derivative assets. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Revenues from residential projects fell 13 percent in July to September this year to P868 million, while hotel revenues were flat at P361 million. The office buildings segment pumped in P367 million in revenues, down two percent due to lack of new inventory. Pre-sales, however, remained positive with reservation sales growing nearly 50 percent to P8.62 billion. Construction of new malls and office buildings has been delayed until next year. RLC’s gross leasable area for shopping malls Read More …

DA pushes expansion of corn planting areas

Economy

Dec 282013

DA pushes expansion of corn planting areas

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) is pushing for the expansion of corn cultivation areas to keep up with the growing feed requirement of the livestock sector. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that while the Philippines is already self- sufficient in corn, production targets would be reviewed to meet the rising feed demand from livestock raisers. “We need to expand corn cultivation areas because the livestock sector is growing. We should be able to surpass our sufficiency by next year,” he said. In the first nine months of the year, domestic corn production, rose to 5.92 million metric tons, up by 0.40 percent year-on-year on improved harvets in Northern Mindanao, SOCCSKSARGEN and Western Visayas. Production this year is expected to reach 8.2 million MT, up 10 percent from 7.408 million MT in 2012. Full- year production results are expected to be announced within the first quarter of 2014. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Despite the good production, the government is hesitant to allow corn producers to export to keep domestic supply stable. Corn growers, however, have been allowed to ship out silage to South Korea. The agriculture department wants the corn sector to be fully compliant with international export standards before its allowed to export. Alcala wants the local corn sector to be competitive in time for the economic integration of Southeast Asian economies by 2015 so it can get a piece of the export market dominated by the United States. “We would like Read More …

Business Highlights: Hollywood struggles against new film meccas

Economy

Dec 272013

Business Highlights: Hollywood struggles against new film meccas

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the old days, filmmakers flocked to Hollywood for its abundant sunshine, beautiful people and sandy beaches. But today a new filmmaking diaspora is spreading across the globe to places like Vancouver, London and Wellington, New Zealand. Fueled by politicians doling out generous tax breaks, filmmaking talent is migrating to where the money is. The result is an incentives arms race that pits California against governments around the world and allows powerful studios —with hundreds of millions of dollars at their disposal— to cherry-pick the best deals. The most recent iteration of the phenomenon came earlier this month when James Cameron announced plans to shoot and produce the next three “Avatar” sequels largely in New Zealand. What Cameron gets out of the deal is a 25 percent rebate on production costs, as long as his company spends at least $413 million on the three films. ___ Hollywood poised for best-ever box-office year LOS ANGELES (AP) — Despite a string of summertime flops, Hollywood is expected to have a banner year at the domestic box office, coming in just shy of $11 billion, the largest annual take ever. But because of higher ticket prices, actual attendance at North American theaters remained flat after a decade of decline. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 With the current domestic box-office tally nearly 1 percent ahead of last year at this time, 2013 could surpass 2012’s overall haul of $10.8 billion by more than $100 million, according Read More …

DOTC sets May 15 deadline for bus terminal

Economy

Dec 272013

DOTC sets May 15 deadline for bus terminal

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is giving interested companies until May 15 next year to submit their bids for the proposed P2.5 billion Integrated Transport System (ITS) project – Southwest Terminal. In an invitation to bid, the DOTC said the Southwest terminal would be situated in a 2.9-hectare property located at the Coastal Road Terminal along the Manila-Cavite Expressway. The terminal would connect passengers coming from Cavite to other urban transport systems such as the future Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT) South Extension to Bacoor in Cavite, city bus, taxi, and other public utility vehicles plying Metro Manila. The DOTC said the project would include a passenger terminal building, arrival and departure bays, public information system, ticketing and baggage handling facilities and park-ride facilities. The proposed terminal is the fourth public private partnership (PPP) project of the DOTC and would be under a Build-Transfer-Operate arrangement. The DOTC pointed out that the proponent would finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain the ITS project for a period of 35 years. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 To qualify to bid for the project, the DOTC stated in the invitation that a bidder must have local or international experience within the last 10 years and have completed one or more eligible projects with a cumulative cost of at least P2 billion and with capacity of at least 300 parking bays for vehicles. Furthermore, the agency added that a bidder should have local or international Read More …

The year that was

Economy

Dec 272013

In two days’ time, we shall be welcoming 2014. If only to banish a year full of unprecedented calamities, shocking revelations of unmitigated greed in government, a spike in fatal traffic accidents involving mostly buses and trucks and other reasons that vindicate Murphy’s Law, everyone is ready to shut the door on 2013 and welcome 2014 as a new beginning. This is mostly true for the people of Bohol, Cebu and Leyte, the general citizenry shocked beyond belief at how our legislators have raped the nation’s coffers. Our economy has done very well this year, and at seven percent growth rate, we have edged out most if not all of our neighbors in the region. But the question still begs to be asked: has this trickled down to the grass roots? Many of our business leaders do not think so. As we always do at B&L (Business & Leisure), the TV show and likewise here in this column, we always end the year with assessments from some of our top business leaders as well as their forecasts for the coming year and we picked eight sectors for this: export, handicrafts, plastic, meat importation and trading, wood production, semi-conductors and electronics, manufacturing, and the furniture industry. For the export sector, Philexport president Sergio Ortiz-Luis said that, versus 2012, their industry will end up positive this year. Last year and even early this year, Philexport was hopeful and targeted a 10 percent growth for exports, but the market forces have not cooperated—export Read More …

DOTC to tap private firms for motor vehicle inspection

Economy

Dec 272013

DOTC to tap private firms for motor vehicle inspection

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is looking at the possibility of privatizing the motor vehicle inspection function of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) after a series of accidents claiming the lives of passengers. Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the government is studying the possibility of adopting the public private partnership (PPP) scheme for the Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS) of LTO. Abaya said the agency would seek the opinion of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) whether the government could procure the services of the private sector for the LTO function. “We are going to NEDA because apparently the government is not in a position to procure and operate all of these (MVIS). Do we allow private sector to come in?” he asked. The MVIS was put in place several years ago with an end view of providing a systematic, reliable and effective testing of motor vehicles through computerization and automation for compliance to safety and emission requirements. The program is aimed at helping comply with existing motor vehicle standards, provision of national laws and international agreements; ensuring compliance to safety and emission standards; and integrating all motor vehicle inspection reports into a central motor vehicle database. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The program is supposed to prevent or minimize air pollution; eliminate not roadworthy motor vehicles; reduce traffic accidents due to improper maintenance; eliminate illegally modified vehicles; and improve fuel consumption by appropriate check or maintenance. Under the Read More …

Older Entries Newer Entries