Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The Peugeot 508 executive sedan is a modern vehicle perfectly attuned to the aspirations of customers who have moved with the times: being dynamic, responsible, and increasingly demanding. Quality, purity and efficiency are the watchwords that guided its creation and have filtered through the entire project, offering a multi-faceted appeal to its owners. Through its exterior design, elegant, balanced and timeless, revealing the evolution of the marque’s stylistic codes first unveiled on the SR1 Concept Car, through its streamlined hi-tech interior and its high quality finish. Rewarding for both its driver and its passengers, the 508 has exceptional interior space, a very generous boot, and a level of specification offering the promise of interior comfort and convenience of a very high level and last but not least, it is environmentally efficient, based on the optimization of its weight, its aerodynamics, and of course its engines. Under the bonnet, the 508 benefits from engines that are particularly well positioned in their categories in terms of performance and responsiveness, but also for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The range, equipped with all the latest technologies, includes the new e-HDi system (new-generation Stop & Start with improved drivability and economy). During last year’s Peugeot Eco Fun Run series, a Peugeot 508 1.6 eHDi matched the much lighter Peugeot 3008’s fuel economy record by averaging an astounding 28.5 km/l of diesel fuel through mixed city and highway driving – proof that Peugeot’s Micro-hybrid technology works well throughout the Peugeot range. With Read More …

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE in the Philippines improved in the last three months of 2014, research firm Nielsen said on Monday, with the survey’s results putting Filipinos among the world’s most confident consumers.

VISITORS to the Philippines come for the beautiful islands, tropical weather, and exotic cuisine. It therefore comes as no surprise to find foreigners all over the Philippines. But they’re not all lounging by hotel pools — many of them are prowling the central business districts wearing suits, supervising projects in the red-hot business process outsourcing sector, among other industries currently attracting investment. Only a few startling statistics are necessary to demonstrate that quite a number of them are here for business. One is the fact that the tiny British Virgin Islands — a favored address for registering investment vehicles — topped all sources of foreign investment in the 2013-2014 fiscal year. Another is that only 528, or 20%, of all companies registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) are wholly Filipino-owned, indicating that the remainder have at least some foreign ownership.

MANILA, Philippines – The shift to EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa) chip cards may happen earlier than 2017, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said, as more local banks move to protect their systems and consumers from fraud. EMV chip is the new global standard for chip-based credit and debit transactions that is considered more secure than magnetic stripe cards. “The migration to EMV may actually happen as a practical reality earlier than 2017 because of commercial reasons. Banks are motivated to have EMV chips because of all these skimming (incidents),” BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. told reporters. The central bank in November last year released the guidelines for the replacement of magnetic-stripe cards in favor of EMV-chip carrying ones in preparation for the required adoption of the new technology by 2017. “It’s because when there are problems with an ATM card, let’s say it has been skimmed, the banks shoulder the cost. So it’s costing them more money to maintain a weaker technology,” Espenilla said. “It makes more sense for them to adopt the EMV technology sooner than the regulatory timeline and that’s actually what we expect to happen,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 EMV-chip enabled cards carry unique codes for every transaction, making thieves unable to use stolen information for a separate business deal. Consumers will not necessarily be charged for new cards although Espenilla stressed that since this is a business decision for banks, it may vary from one lender to Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC), the exclusive local licensee of convenience store chain 7-Eleven, is hiking its spending this year by more than 50 percent to support its aggressive store expansion plans. PSC said it would be increasing its capital expenditures budget to P3 billion this year from about P2 billion in 2014. Last year’s capex was used for the opening of new 7-Eleven stores and remodeling of existing ones. For this year, the listed firm said the higher budget would support its accelerated store expansion strategy that entails the opening of 500 new stores. Jose Victor Paterno, PSC president and chief executive officer, said the long-term growth prospects for the convenience store industry in the country are favorable and the company could sustain its momentum to meet earnings and store expansion goals. “PSC has taken steps to protect and expand its leadership in light of increased competition, recognizing that rewards for market share are especially strong in the convenience store sector,” Paterno said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 PSC ended last year with 1,282 7-Eleven stores across the country, 273 stores or 27 percent more compared to its store count a year earlier. PSC said it opened 286 new stores and closed down 13 stores last year. This year, the company is eyeing to ramp up its presence in major cities of Mindanao and other major cities in the Visayas such as Dumaguete, Capiz and Aklan. In the Visayas, the company said it Read More …