philstar.com – Business – Page 202

philstar.com - Business

BPI sees BSP tweaking 2015 inflation target

Economy

Aug 182013

BPI sees BSP tweaking 2015 inflation target

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) may tweak its 2015 inflation target of two to four percent in order to keep up with a foreseen volatile interest rate environment, the Bank of the Philippine Islands said. “In keeping with its desire to fulfill its dual mandate of price stability and financial stability, the BSP may consider widening its 2015 inflation target, a move that will be widely accepted by the market,” BPI Economics and Financial Markets Research said in a commentary. “BSP may resort to invoking flexibility and widen its inflation target to avoid a volatile interest rate environment, a scenario which could emerge with its pre-set 2015 inflation target of two to four percent,” it said. The bank explained the 2015 inflation target may be “incompatible” with the central bank’s preferred “middle-of-the-pack” stance for the peso. This “middle-of-the-pack” stance, which means the BSP is keeping the peso from veering away from the movement of other regional currencies, is seen to have a pass-through impact on inflation, the bank noted. “BSP’s more flexible exchange rate policy, embodied in their efforts to keep USD/PHP in the middle of the regional pack will likely lead to an upward adjustment in the BSP’s 2015 inflation target, which will in turn, enable monetary policy authority to keep interest rates stable in the next 18 months,” BPI said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The BSP sees inflation to fall within the three to five percent target this year Read More …

ATI to expand Manila, Batangas ports

Economy

Aug 182013

MANILA, Philippines – Listed Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) is jointly expanding the ports of Manila and Batangas backed by its P4.2-billion capital investments over the next three years to boost the competitiveness of Philippine industries. ATI vice president Sean Perez said the company is supporting the government’s bid to boost the competitiveness of industries by sustaining efficient gateway ports especially at this time of rapid economic growth. “Manila is the center of the country’s consumer-driven economy and where majority of economic activities transpire. This is what the ports of Manila serve,” he said. Aligned with this, Perez said that ATI is taking a balanced approach in its port development initiatives to ensure that Manila and its surrounding environs are adequately served by Manila South Harbor while at the same time opening up a viable option for industries based in southern Luzon via its modern Batangas Port. Perez said that developments at Manila South Harbor are on schedule and are primarily anchored on expanding pier- and land-side infrastructure, improving current facilities and acquiring new equipment to sustain the port’s reliability, efficiency and high productivity. Backed by P4.2 billion in capital investments over the next three years, ATI expects to meet its expansion targets for Manila’s gateway port as part of its contractual commitments with the state-run Philippine Ports Authority (PPA). Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He added that Batangas Port container terminal would continue complementing Manila ports with a capacity of 300,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) Read More …

San Miguel to form new unit for Angat hydropower

Economy

Aug 122013

San Miguel to form new unit for Angat hydropower

MANILA, Philippines – Highly-diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will form a new unit to handle its investment in the Angat hydro powerplant, a company disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said. At the same time, SMC said its board also authorized the management of Angat “to discuss, negotiate, and to enter into a joint venture with K-Water Resources Corp., under the terms and conditions favorable to the company.” SMC said the new entity would undertake the administration, rehabilitation, operation and management of the hydropower facility. Last month , SMC announced plans to form a joint venture with K-Water for the Angat plant. K-Water is currently negotiating to bring down the $440.88-million price tag on the plant, citing the state of the facility as well as several changes the government put in the agreements signed by both parties. K-Water won the bidding in 2010 for the 218-megawatt plant, which sources its power from the Angat Dam in Bulacan. The Korean water firm said it wants to “achieve the same level of benefits expected” in its 2010 bid for the power plant and wants the plant’s Auxiliary Units 4 and 5 to be included in the takeover. The auxiliary units are owned by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

PAL to close Cambodia Air deal by Oct

Economy

Aug 122013

MANILA, Philippines – National flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), is set to complete the deal with Royal Group of Cambodia (RCG) to form Cambodia Airlines Co. Ltd. within the next two months. Ma. Cecilia Pesayco, assistant corporate secretary of PAL’s parent firm PAL Holdings Inc., said the closing date of the completion of a joint venture with RCG’s Inter Logistics (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. (ILC) has been moved to Oct. 15. The new closing date is three months longer than the original closing date target of July 15. “We received today the notice from PAL informing us that the closing date for the completion of PAL’s joint venture with ILC has been moved to Oct. 15,” Pesayco told the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). PAL is pumping in $10 million worth of equity for a 49 percent stake in Cambodia Airlines that is 100 percent owned by Inter Logistics (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. ILC is 100 percent owned by RGC chair Neak Oknha Kith Meng. PAL is supposed to make a downpayment of 10 percent or $1 million of the total acquisition cost on the completion of closing conditions targeted last July 15 while the balance of $9 million would be paid upon the call of the board of Cambodia Air. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The closing conditions include the registration of the investment of PAL in Cambodia Air as well as the procurement by Cambodia Air of all the necessary franchises, permits, and licenses to operate and Read More …

Huge forex losses drag SMC to P2.4-B loss

Economy

Aug 122013

Huge forex losses drag SMC to P2.4-B loss

MANILA, Philippines – Huge foreign exchange losses dragged diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) into the red in the first semester. “Including unrealized forex losses, net loss attributable to the equity holders of the parent company amounted to P2.4 billion,” the food-to-power conglomerate said in a regulatory filing. In contrast, SMC posted a net income of P14.12 in the first semester of 2012. SMC said the strengthening of the dollar against the peso “resulted in foreign exchange losses of P10.2 billion in June dragging the company’s overall performance for the (first half).” However, excluding unrealized forex losses, SMC’s recurring net income hit P7.8 billion in the January to June period. “Forex losses mask the solid performance we had in our businesses. But we remain bullish about our underlying performance, which we attribute to a series of competitive advantages that should help us moving forward,” said SMC chairman and CEO Eduardo M. Cojuangco Jr. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In the first half, the diversified conglomerate’s revenues reached P357.5 billion, up nine percent from last year due to strong performances from food subsidiary San Miguel Pure Foods and Petron Malaysia, which was consolidated into the the SMC Group in April 2012. SMC said its operating income picked up 19 percent to P28.9 billion “brought about by lower generation costs from SMC Global Power Corp. and growth in volumes in the food group’s operations.” Specifically, it benefited from favorable prices of raw materials on the back of higher Read More …

D&L Industries posts 16% profit hike

Economy

Aug 122013

MANILA, Philippines – D&L Industries Inc., a leading manufacturer of customized food ingredients, posted a strong double-digit profit growth in the first half, driven by increased turnover for high margin specialty products. The firm’s net income jumped 16 percent to P655 million in the first semester, keeping D&L on track to hitting a record net income of nearly P1.4 billion for the entire year, a top company executive said. But revenues dropped 17 percent to P4.9 billion due to lower prices of commodities like palm oil that was passed on to customers. However, D&L said it benefited from high margin specialty products like customized specialty food ingredients, plastics and aerosols. High margin products accounted for 66 percent of the group’s overall sales, while low margin commodities like refined vegetable oils accounted for 34 percent of total turnover. “We are progressing further towards expanding our high-margin specialty businesses,” D&L said. The company expects to trim low margin products’ contribution to around 20 percent in the next five years. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “We are capable of doing a lot more products. One reason why our margins increase is because of we are developing more ingredients for food, plastics and aerosols,” Alvin Lao, executive vice president and chief finance officer of D&L, said in a briefing. Hence, D&L said its gross profit margin picked up to 18.7 percent from 15 percent last year while net income margin hit 13.3 percent from 9.5 percent a year ago. “Overall, Read More …

First Gen earnings drop 17% to $77.7 M in H1

Economy

Aug 122013

First Gen earnings drop 17% to $77.7 M in H1

MANILA, Philippines – First Gen Corp. posted a net income of $77.7 million in the first half of 2013, down 17.4 percent from $94 million in the same period last year. First Gen president Francis Giles Puno attributed the drop in earnings to the lower income booked by subsidiary First Gen Hydro Power Corp. (FG Hydro) owing to reduced sales from ancillary services. However, Puno said they had anticipated the decline in earnings for the period. “The dip in earnings was expected given the reduced revenues from ancillary services and further delays in the rehabilitation of BacMan,” the First Gen executive said. “The incident at San Lorenzo’s Unit 60 was unfortunate, but we have already ordered a new transformer to get the unit back in operation as soon as possible,” he added. “While EDC actually generated higher revenues and achieved savings in its operating expenses, the foreign exchange losses could not be avoided with the depreciation of the peso,” he noted. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The company is extremely busy in executing its growth projects, including the 87-megawatt wind farm in Burgos, the 40-MW Negros transfer project, and the 500-MW San Gabriel natural gas projects,” he added. Puno said the 1,500-MW First Gas plants also incurred higher interest expenses and provision for deferred income tax due to the depreciation of the peso, though partially offset by the contribution of the purchase of the BG Group’s 40 percent stake in the plants in May 2012. Its Read More …

Eastern Pet unit to build $70-M biomass plant

Economy

Aug 112013

Eastern Pet unit to build $70-M biomass plant

MANILA, Philippines – Caraga Renewable Power Corp. (CARE CORP), a subsidiary of Eastern Petroleum Corp. (EPC), is investing $70 million to put up a biomass power plant in Butuan City. EPC chairman and CEO Fernando Martinez said the plant would have a capacity of 20 megawatt (MW) and would use wood chips as its feedstock. Martinez said they would source the feedstock from their industrial tree plantations in Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur and other industrial tree plantations. He said they hope to start the project next month. “Plant site in Butuan City is on final validation which will be decided this September to pave the way for necessary permitting,” he said. According to Martinez, the plantation that raises raises (falcata, acacia magnum trees) would be placed under a different corporation owned with a tribal council. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Our joint venture is with the Manobo Council Wawa Tribal Community in Agusan del Sur covering 10,000 hectares,” he said. Early this year, Eastern Renewables Corp., also a unit of EPC, signed an agreement with the Manobo Wawa Sectoral Tribal Council in Agusan del Sur to develop a 10,000-hectare industrial tree plantation that will supply the feedstock for its planned 20-MW biomass power plant. Eastern Petroleum chairman Fernando Martinez told reporters the agreement entitled the Manobo council a 20-percent share of the net revenues from the $60-million biomass plant. Martinez said the company hopes to complete the biomass plant by 2015. Martinez earlier Read More …

US says Japan has long way to go to open markets

Economy

Aug 112013

US says Japan has long way to go to open markets

WASHINGTON — Japan still has a long way to go before it can say its markets are open, the top US trade official said on Friday. Trade Representative Michael Froman said he hopes Japan’s recent entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade negotiations will provide opportunities to tear down those barriers. “I think we all bear the scars of trying to open Japan’s market in the past,” Froman told reporters at a briefing, acknowledging the “historical difficulties” in the trade relationship. In their long history of trade disputes, the US has alleged Japanese markets are closed to imports because of restrictive practices that are tolerated or even encouraged by the government. At the same time, Japan has relied heavily on exports as an engine of growth for its sluggish economy. Froman mentioned autos specifically — one of the thorniest issues in trade relations. “Right now, all foreign penetration of the Japanese auto market is six percent, and so I think everyone believes there is a long way to go before we can really say the Japanese market is open,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Japan formally joined the US and 10 other Asia-Pacific nations in negotiations to create a major new trade bloc during the 18th round of talks in Malaysia last month. With the addition of Japan, the 12 countries would account for some 40 percent of world trade volume. The other 10 countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Read More …

BPO employees drive growth of convenience stores

Economy

Aug 112013

BPO employees drive growth of convenience stores

MANILA, Philippines – More convenience stores are expected to open in the country to take advantage of strong consumer spending, a top executive of a property consultancy firm said over the weekend. Colliers International research manager Karlo Pobre told reporters that even if there are many convenience stores in the country’s major business districts and information technology centers, more are still expected to open to serve middle class employees, particularly those in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. “The market is not saturated yet mainly because of the BPO sector. The closest retail store they (BPO employees) can get into is a convenience store,” Pobre said. The improvement in the income of these individuals is leading to increased spending which will encourage the expansion of convenience stores. “You can just imagine that all buildings will have their own convenience stores,” he said. Among the players in the country’s convenience store market are 7-Eleven, run by Philippine Seven Corp.; Ministop Philippines under the Robinsons Retail Group; and FamilyMart operated by a joint venture of Japanese firms FamilyMart Co., Ltd. and Itochu Corp. with SIAL CVS Retailers of the Rustan’s Group and Ayala Land Inc. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 7-Eleven, currently has 900 outlets nationwide, 323 of which are in Metro Manila. It plans to open 100 more stores nationwide this year. Ministop has over 330 stores in the country, 66 percent of which are located in Metro Manila. FamilyMart, which entered the Philippine market earlier this Read More …

Older Entries Newer Entries