Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s credit information system will go on live by the first quarter next year as banks are expected to complete the turnover of their data to the government. “Most of the big banks, we already have their current data. They are in various stages of compliance,” Credit Information Corp. (CIC) president Jaime Garchitorena told reporters. “I think they will be able to comply by the end of this year,” he added. Signed in 2008, RA 9510 mandated the creation of CIC to facilitate the collection of credit information from the public and corporations. The aim is to assist companies such as banks in surveillance of credit worthiness of their clients. So far, a total of 20 million personal records are already in the hands of CIC, ready to be shared to four existing credit bureaus now operating in the country. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 They are local-based CIBI Information Inc., South Africa’s Compuscan, US-based TransUnion Information Solutions Inc. and Crif Corp. Philippines.  The bureaus are supposed to source data from CIC to generate credit scores and sell the same to lending companies for credit investigation purposes. CIC and the credit bureaus have signed recently a memorandum of support with Microfinance Data Sharing System (MIDAS) to share microfinance data and be put under CIC system. That will provide an additional 4.6 million individual records to the CIC, which currently covers banks, cooperatives and recently with telecommunication companies. “The information will help build Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has called on the private sector to be its partner in improving the country’s investment climate. PCC chair Arsenio Balisacan is appealing to businessmen to treat the anti-trust body as their ally instead of a foe. “I hope the business community will see the PCC not as an additional burden or red tape, but as their partner in making our country more attractive to investments,” Balisacan said. The PCC is an independent quasi-judicial body tasked to regulate anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions, anti-competitive agreements, and abuses of market dominance. A former secretary of socioeconomic planning and director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, Balisacan said ensuring fair market competition is key to accelerating investments in the Philippines. “The PCC will continue to serve its mandate which we believe is a vital contribution not only for sustaining the Philippine economy’s robust growth, but also for making this growth more inclusive,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In performing its mandate under the law, Balisacan assured businesses could expect nothing less than an independent, credible and objective delegation of its duties. Since its official inception last February, the PCC said it has processed and decided over 60 mergers and acquisitions that covered a diverse range of industries, including healthcare, retail and telecommunications. The anti-trust authority is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of the P70-billion joint acquisition of PLDT and Globe Telecom of San Miguel Corp.’s telecommunication assets. Balisacan Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Universal Robina Corp. posted a net income of P12.2 billion in the nine months of fiscal year ending September 2016, reflecting a 26.4 percent growth on the back of foreign exchange gains. Net sales rose 4.2 percent to P5.37 billion, driven by the branded consumer foods business (CFB) in the Philippines and in Indonesia as well as Griffin’s. Sales of BCF excluding packaging increased 2.6 percent to P69.73 billion while BCF sales overseas were flat at P24.65 billion partly due to regulatory issues in Vietnam. “On a positive note, most countries managed to grow sales in local currency terms. Indonesia was up 24.9 percent driven by snacks and chocolates. Thailand increased 1.7 percent as consumer confidence has started to recover in the country,” URC said in a statement. Similarly, Malaysia grew 8.1 percent on double-digit growth in wafers and candies. Singapore was up 8.9 percent due to incremental sales from Griffin’s. New Zealand sales have also started to stabilize through improved pricing and margins, coupled with new product developments introduced into the market. Sales of the non-BCF Group, meanwhile, reached P14.8 billion, up 12.8 percent driven by renewables and feeds. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For the commodity foods group, sales expanded 23.4 percent to P7.97 billion. On the other hand, the agro-industrial group’s sales grew at a slow pace of 2.6 percent due to the dismal performance of the farms division.

MANILA, Philippines – Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), the banking arm of taipan George Ty,  continued to make strides in its core business expansion with net earnings hitting P9.1 billion in the first half of the year.  “Overall, we are pleased with our earnings results.  Despite the volatility in the global financial markets, local elections and heightened competition, we managed to accelerate our performance in our core business, particularly lending, low cost deposit generation and fee income,” said Metrobank president Fabian Dee. “More importantly, our margins held steady in the face of the challenging environment.  We are also confident that given our strong capital, we are best positioned to take advantage of the country’s growth opportunities,” Dee added. Leveraging on the strength of its balance sheet, Metrobank expanded net loans and receivables by 24 percent year-on-year to P920.5 billion.  The commercial segment accelerated by 27 percent as the bank continued to support the business expansion plans and infrastructure spending of local conglomerates, while the consumer segment sustained strong volume growth of 17 percent. Low cost deposits grew 21 percent, faster than industry’s 13 percent growth rate in overall deposits as of May 2016.  This improved the bank’s CASA ratio to 61 percent of the total P1.3 trillion deposit base.    Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Despite the market volatility and competitive pressures, net interest margin held steady at 3.5 percent as a result of the robust growth in low cost deposits as well as loan expansion Read More …

Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate ways and means committee, rejected calls to raise the value-added tax rate to compensate for the projected revenue loss from reducing income tax rates as pushed by the Duterte administration. File photo MANILA, Philippines – The Senate ways and means committee will review value-added tax exemptions to help raise revenues in lieu of hiking the 12 percent VAT rate, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara said yesterday. Angara, chairman of the panel, rejected calls to raise the value-added tax (VAT) rate to compensate for the projected revenue loss from reducing income tax rates as pushed by the Duterte administration. “I don’t agree with the move to increase VAT as it would only burden ordinary Filipino consumers. The VAT is a pass on tax – meaning businesses and corporations claim their input tax but they pass on the ultimate tax to the consumers,” Angara said. “So it kind of defeats the purpose of having inclusive growth because by raising VAT, we’re passing on the burden to ordinary Filipinos who are paying the taxes,” he said. Apart from working on the reduction of income tax, the committee review the list of exemptions from VAT coverage and identify the transactions that should no longer be exempted from the tax, he said. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno is reportedly pushing to increase the VAT rate from 12 percent to 14 percent while Finance Carlos Dominguez is working on more efficient in tax collections. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, Read More …