Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Splash Corp. is seeking an extension of its tender offer period to give shareholders more time to consider their options. The company launched a tender offer for the remaining shares held by minority investors at P3.10 per share. The move is in preparation for its plan to voluntary delist from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). Splash asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to extend the tender offer period to Oct. 5 from the original deadline of Sept. 20. “The request for extension is being made pursuant to Securities Regulation Code Rule 19.9.9 and in order to give the stockholders more time to consider their options and to decide whether they wish to tender their shares given that the tender offer is being conducted pursuant to the company’s intention to voluntarily delist from the exchange,” Splash said. The company is targeting to delist from the PSE on Oct. 7. Splash applied for delisting because of the low trading volume of its shares over the last 24 months, the response of the investing public to the ongoing share buy-back program, and the company’s desire to avoid telegraphing its business plans to its competitors. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 As of July 5 this year, the company’s public ownership stood at 26.66 percent. “After the termination of the tender offer…the company’s public ownership is expected to fall below the prescribed 10 percent minimum public ownership,” Splash said. The company reported a net income of P98.84 million Read More …

Gentlemen, This refers to the article entitled “Unholy Alliance” written by Mary Ann Reyes published in the Sept. 14 issue of The Philippine STAR – Business section regarding the alleged failure of the Insurance Commission to act on the complaints filed by Steel Corporation of the Philippines (“SCP” for brevity). We would like to take this opportunity to clarify matters in relation to the issues raised in the article. First, the insurance claims of SCP are pending before the regular courts, one in the Regional Trial Court of Batangas City and another in the Regional Trial Court of Makati City. The cases involve claims to recover insurance proceeds for material damage due to fire and business interruption losses provided under the insurance policies. At present, the cases are being heard and decisions are yet to be issued by the respective courts. There is no way for the Insurance Commission to assume jurisdiction and hear the cases because the claims exceed the jurisdiction amount of P5 million provided under Section 439 of the Insurance Code, as amended by RA 10607 which took effect on Sept. 20, 2013. Second, what is pending before the Insurance Commission are administrative cases seeking the suspension and revocation of licenses of the insurance companies who issued the insurance policies involved in the incident. These cases do not seek to recover insurance proceeds for material damage due to fire and business interruption losses provided under the insurance policies. Thus, the decisions in these cases will not effect Read More …

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the country’s external debt stood at $77.72 billion in end-June, $2.72 billion higher than the $74.99 billion booked in end-June last year. STAR/File photo MANILA, Philippines – The country’s outstanding external debt rose 3.6 percent in the first half due largely to foreign exchange adjustments, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday. BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the country’s external debt stood at $77.72 billion in end-June, $2.72 billion higher than the $74.99 billion booked in end-June last year. The rise was traced to the $2.6 billion foreign exchange revaluation and other adjustments as well as $561 million from net availments. This was partly mitigated by the $424 million decline in non-resident investments in Philippine debt papers issued offshore. External debt refers to all types of borrowings by Philippine residents from non-residents. About 63 percent of the country’s external debt is denominated in US dollar while 12.5 percent is in Japanese yen. Furthermore, US dollar-denominated multi-currency loans from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank accounted for 12.5 percent while 7.1 percent was peso-denominated, 2.2 percent from the special drawing rights of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Euro with 1.2 percent. Despite the increase in the first half, Tetangco said the country’s key external debt indicators remained at comfortable levels. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Latest data released by the BSP showed the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) hit a new all-time high of $85.9 billion Read More …

From left: AVP and Head of Community Engagement and Marketing Communication Gabby Cui, PLDT VP and Head of SME Nation Mitch Locsin, Boss for Innovative Solutions Matthew Cua of Skyeye, Boss for E-Commerce Barni Rennebeck of The Sexy Chef, Bosses for Social Responsibility Melanie Go and Hindy Weber with PLDT Group Chair Manuel V. Pangilinan (center), Bosses for Social Media Jill Borja, Nadine Fanlo, and Jaime Fanlo joined by Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, and PLDT EVP and Head of Enterprise International and Carrier Business Eric R. Alberto PLDT/Released MANILA, Philippines – The 2016 search for the country’s next generation of digital business leaders has finally come to a close, and PLDT SME Nation, the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) arm of PLDT, Inc., concluded the competition with the announcement of the new batch of game-changing entrepreneurs at the #BeTheBoss Awards Night last September 9 at the Conrad Hotel Manila. The #BeTheBoss Awards, now on its second year, recognizes promising Filipino entrepreneurs leading through tech innovation and digital integration in their business. “It’s amazing to see the number of revolutionary MSMEs we have in the country. We received double the amount of nominations from last year’s competition,” enthused PLDT VP and Head of SME Nation Mitch Locsin. “And with over 24,000 votes that came in, we can very much observe how technology continues to play a key role in the growth and success of the Filipino MSME.” From over 600 nominations, this year’s #BeTheBoss Awards highlighted 12 finalists who exhibited Read More …

PLANTING tobacco is not a lucrative endeavor, with four out of 10 farmers not happy with the revenues they make from tobacco farming, according to a joint study by activist policy group Action for Economic Reforms (AER) and the research arm of the American Cancer Society.