Maniolas

Listed technology firm MANILA, Philippines – Xurpas Inc. grew its first half net income 15 percent to P132.51 million, driven by the continued growth of its digital products and services. The company registered revenues of P736.09 million, up 136 percent year on year. Excluding non-recurring expenses related to its ongoing expansion, the firm’s core net income grew 18 percent to P136.08 million. Xurpas president and COO Raymond Racaza said the company would continue to expand its games and products. “To say we are excited about what lies ahead is a huge understatement. We continue to aggressively expand our enterprise business, but also remain extremely bullish about the prospects for our mobile consumer segment. We are looking forward to bring our next family of games and products to the market,” Racaza said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Enterprise services surged 1,113 percent to P308.87 million due to the full effect of the acquisition of Yondu Inc. The amount accounted for 42 percent of the company’s first half revenues. This reflects management’s commitment to develop multiple sustainable revenue streams, while continuing to build on it’s core business, Xurpas said. On the other hand, mobile consumer services demonstrated continued its upside potential, delivering P397.04 million in revenue, or a 63 percent increase from the same period last year. Racaza said the company has not yet fully utilized the P1.2 billion proceeds from an overnight top-up placement made in April.  “We are not yet done optimizing our avenues for growth, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Analysts expect weak exports to have tamed a still fast economic growth in the second quarter. In separate research notes, Moody’s Analytics and Singapore-based DBS Ltd. said growth, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), could fall below the 6.9 percent recorded in the first three months of the year. Moody’s expect the Philippine economy to have grown 6.8 percent year on year while DBS sees Philippine GDP expanding by 6.1 percent for April to June this year.  Both Moody’s and DBS said the government remains on track to meet its six- to seven-percent target for the year, which was downscaled from the original projection after the Duterte administration took over. While still a “slight” slowdown, the unit of debt rater Moody’s Investors Service said the local economy effectively “shook off” global uncertainties as well as that brought about by the change in government last May. Private consumption and investment remained economic growth drivers during the period, Moody’s said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 On the external front, Moody’s said the picture is likely to be “mixed” with exports continuing its contracting trend overall due to weak demand, despite better numbers on service outbound shipments. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the value of merchandise exports dropped 7.5 percent to $26.83 billion in the first semester. “Service exports have been increasing well as a result of foreign firms outsourcing business services to the Philippines,” Moody’s said. DBS agreed on exports’ “poor” performance, but Read More …

“Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque to you, saves lives. … I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.” These are strong lines from a film (A Few Good Men) that summarize the fiction. These might as well have been the lines today by the most familiar figure in the land that summarize a policy in real life. I am not suggesting the hero-or-saint dilemma. It is rather comforting and disturbing. The benefits are real, but the pain is absolute. If we cheer, do we encourage it? Or if we clam up, do we encourage it by silence? It is inspiring, too refreshing to see clean-up drives in different localities, the marketplaces and towns, following the tone from the top. Finally, a leader that makes Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – LT Group Inc. grew its net earnings in the first semester to P4.56 billion, 28 percent higher than the previous year. The banking business contributed 38 percent of LTG’s income or P1.73 billion while the tobacco business comprised 32 percent or P1.45 billion. PNB reported a net income of P4.42 billion, up eight percent year on year. Equity in net earnings from the 49.6 percent stake in PMFTC Inc., the partnership between Fortune Tobacco and Philip Morris, reached P1.4 billion, significantly higher than the P420 million recorded a year earlier. The conglomerate attributed this to the change in mix of PMFTC’s sales, with premium Marlboro accounting for a higher share of total volume. LTG said that while there is some improvement, illicit trade continues to affect the overall profitability of the tobacco business. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Asia Brewery Inc. (ABI) was also a significant contributor to total earnings, making up P720 million or 16 percent. Tanduay Distillers Inc. (TDI) added P444 million or 10 percent. ABI’s Cobra energy drink, Absolute and Summit bottled water, Tanduay Ice alcopop and Vitamilk soymilk continue to be market leaders, LTG said. “The exceptionally hot summer and some impact from election-related spending resulted in the growth in volumes of ABI’s products. In late May, the company signed a joint venture agreement with Heineken for the beer business,” LTG said. TDI reported a 148 percent jump in net profit to P444 million as revenues grew with the Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Achieve that mastery of spoken English – be it British English or American English. When you enroll at the Center for Global Best Practices pioneering seminar-workshop, “Master Class on English Pronunciation and Effective Presentation,” they will teach you how to speak using the global English standard: with correct phonology, accurate diction, proper enunciation, and precise articulation. The superiority and your confidence in speaking in English comes with your awareness and practice that you are saying it the right way. You will also learn presentation best practices that can transform you to become a more effective speaker. This new program is scheduled on Sept. 1 and 2, 2016 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, Mandaluyong City. This unique program will feature professor Louie Agnir-Paraan Ph.D.,the course director and lecturer of best practices communication programs of CGBP. She took her doctorate degree at the University of the Philippines in Diliman majoring in English Studies where she garnered the highest grade of 1.04 and was awarded the outstanding dissertation. She earned her Masters in Language and Literature at the University of the Philippines in Baguio where she graduated with a 1.01 GPA. She also has a master’s degree in Educational Psychology from UP Diliman. Her AB in Philosophy was also earned at UP Diliman. She graduated high school at the International School of Kuala Lumpur where she was the first Asian and first woman editor-in-chief of the school paper. For more details about this program and other upcoming best practices seminars Read More …