Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Lopez Holdings Corp. reported a 7.7 percent rise in its first half income to P1.95 billion, boosted by the positive performance of subsidiary ABS-CBN Corp. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Lopez Holdings said revenues inched up to P49.25 billion from P48.6 billion. “The favourable results were primarily due to the stellar performance of ABS-CBN, following its continued dominance in nationwide TV ratings in the first half of 2015, as well as the commercial launch of its digital terrestrial television initiative, ABS-CBN TV Plus, in February 2015,” Lopez Holdings said. ABS-CBN has claimed dominance in nationwide ratings while its closest rival, GMA, claimed leadership in the Luzon and Mega Manila. Citing data from Kantar Media, ABS-CBN said average national audience share was 47 percent, significantly higher than GMA’s 31 percent due to viewers’ strong support for its primetime offerings. ABS-CBN held its dominance in the primetime block, which is from 6 p.m. to 12 midnight, gaining an average audience share of 53 percent during the period or double GMA’s 26 percent. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Advertisers put a large chunk of their budget in the primetime block to reach more consumers because most Filipinos watch TV during this time. Meanwhile, Lopez Holdings said the effect of Globe Telecom’s purchase of Bayan Telecommunications, would be reflected in the holding firm’s third quarter financial report. Last month, Globe Telecom agreed to purchase Bayan Telecommunications Inc. for P1.83 billion. As of end-June,  Lopez Read More …

People cross a street in front of an electronic stock indicator of a securities firm, showing Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225, center, which gained 84.13 points or 0.4 percent and closed at 20,808.69, in Tokyo, Monday, Aug. 10, 2015. Asian stock markets were lackluster Monday as weak data added to jitters about China’s economy and the monthly U.S. jobs report reinforced expectations for a Fed interest rate hike. AP/Ken Aragaki TOKYO — Japan’s economy contracted at a 1.6 percent annual pace in the April-June quarter, as bad weather and slowing demand in China posed further setbacks for the “Abenomics” growth strategy. The gloomy preliminary growth data reported Monday was in line with expectations, and raises the likelihood the central bank may opt for fresh stimulus measures in coming months, Masamichi Adachi of JPMorgan said in a research note. Slower-than-expected consumer demand, exports and corporate investment have stunted growth after the economy expanded at a relatively robust annual pace of 3.9 percent in January-March. The contraction in April-June represented a 0.4 percent decrease from the previous quarter. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has championed a strategy of massive monetary easing that is pumping trillions of yen (hundreds of billions of dollars) into the economy. But stagnant wage growth and corporate investment have so far slowed progress toward a strong, sustained cycle of growth.

DAVAO CITY — The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is assuming a rebound in economic growth despite the lack of a clear resolution on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), officials told BusinessWorld.

MANILA, Philippines – Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., the retail arm of the Gokongwei family, plans to spend another P6 billion next year to ramp up expansion of its network across all store formats and fully utilize the increasing spending power of Filipino consumers. In an interview, Robinsons Retail president Robina Gokongwei-Pe told The STAR the company is earmarking for 2016 the same amount it did this year to put up between 250 to 300 stores. Next year’s store expansion is likely the biggest in the company’s history as it is expected to top 2014’s record of 263 new stores opened in a single year. Robinsons Retail offers a diverse array of retail offering which includes supermarkets, department stores, convenience stores, drug stores, and specialty stores. For next year’s expansion, bulk will be composed of convenience store chain Ministop. Gokongwei-Pe said the company remains undeterred despite the growing number of competition in the country’s convenience store segment as it eyes 100 new stores next year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Ministop at present has nearly 500 operational stores in the Philippines. “It has become quite competitive so we’re focusing on our strength which is ready-to-eat. There’s still room to grow for our convenience store business,” Gokongwei-Pe said. Gokongwei-Pe said there are still a plenty of areas in the country where Ministop is not yet present but she noted the company intends to grow over the near term on its existing markets. “We have presence in Cebu, Iloilo, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV called the attention of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for failure to fulfill its commitment to issue a circular on the quality of Internet standards. Aquino recalled the NTC committed to come out with the memorandum circular in March during a hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship with respect to the speed of Internet in the country. “Six months have passed since the NTC committed to come out with the memorandum circular but until now the agency has yet to deliver on its promise,” Aquino said. Aquino said  he intends to raise the issue before the NTC when it appears before the Senate to defend its proposed budget for 2016. “The NTC must provide a detailed and acceptable report on its recent moves to improve the country’s Internet connection service as the approval of their 2016 budget heavily depends on that,” said Aquino, who is one of the vice chairmen of the Committee on Finance. The said memorandum circular would set the Internet quality service in the country, including the minimum speed for broadband and DSL connections. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Aquino, who heads the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, has led the hearings on the quality of Internet service in the country, which he said was not only expensive but also very slow. While the two main issues remain, Aquino noted that the committee hearings have produced small victories that Read More …