Maniolas

The PSEi gained 95.88 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 7,671.72, while the broader All Shares index gained 21.58 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 4,563.55. MANILA, Philippines – The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) continued to firm up yesterday, ahead of the scheduled meeting today of the US Federal Reserve. The PSEi gained 95.88 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 7,671.72, while the broader All Shares index gained 21.58 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 4,563.55. Except for the industrial index all sub-indices gained led by the services and mining index. Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at Banco de Oro said all eyes are on the US Fed meting. Analysts said investors’ concerns on rate hike have ease as the latest US macroeconomic figures indicate a postponement of a September rate hike to possibly in December. A consolidation above the 7,500 level could lead to continued bounce following five weeks of decline. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Thus, the market may recover to 7,700 after today’s consolidation. The mining and oil index gained 256.39 points or 2.46 percent after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) cleared some mining companies after a technical audit. Semirara Mining and Power Corp. gained 4.77 percent to close at P114.20 per share after the DENR found its expansion project to be “technically sound,” and “complaint” with regulations. The company underwent an audit last July after the DENR sought to put an end to Read More …

(Conclusion) MANILA, Philippines – In fact, just last May, a watershed event in the energy world happened quite inauspiciously in Dubai when, at an open tender of DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) for 800 MW of solar capacity, the winning bid came in at $0.03/kwh. The bidding results were so close the next best bidders came in at $0.0369, $0.0396, $0.0444, and $0.0448. These results surpassed a previous 200 MW solar PV award of DEWA just 18 months earlier of $0.0565, and even that of their coal-fired plant bidding in Oct 2015 of $0.0451. Solar PV, with the right conditions, is already beating coal-fired power in some parts of the world. In other Middle East countries like Oman, solar energy is already used to pump up oil from their fields, replacing natural gas. A new energy paradigm is unfolding fast because consumers are responding to the needs of the planet and technology is riding huge cost and experience curves that are rapidly improving their economics. The Philippines has a golden opportunity to leapfrog into this new paradigm and build an energy infrastructure that’s future-ready. To do this it’s critical we craft a credible glide path that keeps power reliable, available, and affordable. How do we do this? Let’s first take stock of where we are. The EPIRA and the privatization of our power industry effectively ended the era of subsidized power in the Philippines. What this means is that our power costs look high relative to other countries that Read More …

Despite what they say about the Duterte administration, there is one thing the present government was able to do that the previous leaderships failed to do – fast track approval for important and critical infrastructure projects. Metro Pacific Investment Corp. subsidiary Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC) has just received the notice of award from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) connector road project. According to news reports, the contract for the project was awarded to MPTDC, the original proponent, as no comparative proposals were submitted to the DPWH during the Swiss challenge held last July. Being an unsolicited proposal by MPTDC submitted sometime April 2010, the law requires that a Swiss challenge be conducted wherein the government accepts comparative proposals from interested parties, after which the original proponent is given the right to match the best offer given. The connector road project started out as an unsolicited project by MPTDC in 2010. It was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) board in 2013 under the public-private partnership (PPP) program. However, it suffered several delays because the government at the start said the proposal should undergo a Swiss challenge, and then it changed its mind and the DOTC proposed that the private proponent should instead enter into a joint venture with the state’s Philippine National Construction Corp. Sometime middle of 2014, the Department of Justice opined the JV is illegal, so government went back to the Swiss Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The local equities market needs stronger support from domestic investors, particularly in retail and institutional, to help cushion the impact of sharp swings during volatile times, according to BPI Capital Corp. During the Annual Private Equity & Venture Forum recently,  BPI Capital co-head for investment banking Reginaldo Cariaso said the  Philippine equity market was still dominated by foreign institutions, making it vulnerable when foreign funds come and go. “The market dries up when foreign funds go,” he said. At present, more than 50 percent of the liquidity in the market comes from foreign investors. “Majority of the liquidity is really foreign driven. It’s more than 50 percent so when foreign fund flows out, it has a big impact on the overall liquidity of the market,” Cariaso said. Cariaso said that while foreign funds were necessary to keep the market healthy, the ideal situation would be for domestic investors to account for a bigger share. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “What we should strive for is to really have a market that is strongly supported by the domestic market, both retail and institutional. It’s not to say we don’t want the foreign markets to be there in fact we need them but I want the domestic market to grow much bigger and faster than the foreign markets,” he explained. A situation like this would pave the way for a market that is more conducive to investment deals. “It allows deals to be done even Read More …

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has issued the notice of award for the North Luzon Expressway — South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) connector road project to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) unit Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC). STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has issued the notice of award for the North Luzon Expressway — South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) connector road project to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) unit Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp. (MPTDC). In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, MPIC said MPTDC through subsidiary Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) has received the notice of award for the project from the DPWH. The contract for the project was awarded to MPTDC, the original proponent, as no comparative proposals were submitted to the DPWH during a Swiss challenge held in July. A Swiss challenge was conducted for the project as it is an unsolicited proposal received by the government from MPTDC in April 2010. The project involves the design, financing, construction, as well as operation and maintenance of a four-lane, eight-km elevated toll expressway over the right of way of the Philippine National Railways starting at the junction of the NLEX Segment 10 at C-3 Road/5th Avenue in Caloocan City, and connecting to the SLEX through the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Project in the City of Manila. It is expected to help ease congestion in Metro Manila as well as reduce the travel time between NLEX Read More …