DBS BANK Ltd. has raised its growth forecast slightly for the Philippine economy this year amid expectations of accelerated state spending and still-robust domestic consumption.
Feb 022015
Feb 022015
THE JOINT venture (JV) between Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen) and New Growth B.V. has proposed to accelerate Quezon coal-fired power plant’s 460-megawatt (MW) expansion to make it available in time for the 2018 dry season.
Feb 022015
THE 2015 collection target of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is P1.72085 trillion. As part of its effort to achieve the goal, earlier this year the BIR issued Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 3-2015 (RMC No. 3-2015) outlining 27 Priority Programs for 2015.
Feb 012015
ELECTRONICS exports have beaten their 2014 growth target after a 7.9% rise in the first 11 months of 2014, amid strong performances by the semiconductor and electronic data processing subsectors, the president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Inc. (SEIPI) said.
Feb 012015
THE MOST expensive public-private partnership (PPP) deal in the government pipeline is set to be rolled out within the first half of the year, once it secures final approval from President Benigno S. C. Aquino III this month, a Transportation department official said.
Feb 012015
IN LAST WEEK’S column we talked about the OECD’s BEPS Action Plan on Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements. This week’s column focuses on the OECD’s Action Plan on Harmful Tax Practices (HTP).
Feb 012015
The government of the United States quickly sent relief for victims of super typhoon Yolanda in November 2013. USAID MANILA, Philippines – The government is looking to expand the coverage of a proposal seeking duty-free entry to the US for goods produced in areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda to include parts of Mindanao. Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr. told reporters that while the Philippine Recovery Investment Development Export (PRIDE) Bill was initially intended to cover only areas devastated by Yolanda, the government now wants to include parts of Mindanao to help spur economic activity in the area as well. “Initially, it was only going to be focused on areas affected by typhoon Haiyan but we decided to include Mindanao because our point is, it will also help speed up the development of Mindanao,” he said. Through the PRIDE, the government would want goods produced or those with some of the processing done in the typhoon-hit areas and in Mindanao to be allowed to enter the US at zero duty for five years. The proposal still needs fine-tuning to specify what areas will be covered in Mindanao as some parts of the island group such as Davao and Cagayan de Oro are already considered more developed. The government will also have to get major sponsors for the bill so the proposal can be filed and pushed in the US Congress. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Cuisia said he will be talking with some members Read More …
Feb 012015
MANILA, Philippines – A unit of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) of gaming and port mogul Enrique Razon has been affected by work stoppages and slowdowns in Portland, Oregon. A company statement said operations of ICTSI Oregon Inc. at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 6 has been hampered by work stoppages and slowdowns by members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). “The ILWU has escalated its efforts against ICTSI Oregon Inc. as of late, far beyond what other West Coast ports are experiencing,” the company said. ICTSI said ILWU engaged in approximately 36 work stoppages and slowdowns of various types and for varying durations during the Christmas holidays. It added that similar efforts, along with intentional labor shortages, have continued into the first month of 2015. Last week, ILWU ordered a 12-hour work stoppage commencing at 7 a.m. and some members worked during the morning but walked off the job without notice at 1:15 p.m. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Work stoppages like this cause serious hardship to truckers, shippers, and the general public,” ICTSI added. The port operator pointed out that productivity at Terminal 6 continued to fall well below acceptable historical levels. ILWU labor was producing approximately 24.8 moves per hour prior to the labor dispute that started in June 2012. However, ILWU labor productivity fell 47 percent to 13.2 moves per hour in the last quarter of 2014. “This level of production is far below industry as well as Terminal Read More …
Feb 012015
MANILA, Philippines – The Center for Global Best Practices is launching a two-day seminar titled, “Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Management for Banks” on Feb. 26 & 27 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, Mandaluyong City. This special learning event will feature Paulino Rodolfo E. Valenzuela, lead partner on banking programs of the Center for Global Best Practices. He also served as resource person to the BAIPHIL, Ateneo-BAP, BSP Institute, FINEX, CMAP, the RBAP and many other risk management training programs and symposia organized by professional organizations in the Philippines and the Asia Pacific region. For details and a complete list of bank-related best practices seminars including Corporate Governance for Banks and Quasi-Banks, Capital and Performance Management for Banks and Other Financial Institutions, ICAAP for Banks, INCOTERMS, International Standard Banking Practices, UCP 600, Uniform Rules on Bank Guarantees, Mastering Letters of Credit, and more, you may log on to www.cgbp.org or call (+63 2) 842-7148/ 59 and 556-8968/ 69, Cebu lines: (+63 32) 512-3106 or 07 or Baguio line: (+63 74) 423-5148.
Feb 012015
MANILA, Philippines – Consumer technology firm Xurpas Inc. has received the Best Small Cap Equity Deal citation from Hong Kong-based institutional investment magazine Alpha Southeast Asia after holding one of the most successful initial public offerings (IPO) in the Philippines last year. “We tried to strike a healthy balance between retail and institutional orders in the process of determining the price ceiling and final allocation. While we wanted to price our offering aggressively, we also wanted to ensure that investors would draw a good profit from our offer—the result was Xurpas becoming six times oversubscribed and arguably one of the most successful local listings for the year,” said Xurpas president Nix Nolledo. Xurpas, which raised P1.37 billion from its IPO in December last year, won the regional award during the recent Annual Best Deal and Solution Awards 2014. On its maiden trading day, the company’s shares surged nearly 50 percent to P5.95 from its listing price of P3.97. It closed at P12.30 last Friday. “We are glad to receive a citation as early as the first two months of our life as a traded firm. The capital raised from our IPO puts us in an enviable position to take advantage of the growing technology opportunities in the Philippines and the region,” Nolledo said. In less than a month after its IPO, the company acquired a 21 percent stake in a Singapore registered game development studio called Altitude Games to boost its casual games portfolio. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: Read More …