Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The Securities and Exchange Commission has given its go-signal for the P15-billion preferred shares offering of Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate. AC is now cleared to offer up to 30 million preferred Class B shares at P500 apiece. The conglomerate plans to use proceeds of the offering solely to refinance certain peso denominated obligations amounting to P12.95 billion. The debt obligations include bank loans to BDO (P10 billion), Metrobank (P1.46 billion), and corporate notes from various lenders that include The Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co., Philplans First Inc., Philam Bond Fund Inc., and Government Service Insurance System (P1.49 billion). AC said in its filing that the new series of Class B shares would be offered with a fixed quarterly dividend rate and are structured as perpetual equity securities that have preference in the payment of dividends. BPI Capital Corp has been tapped as the issue manager for the sale of Class B shares which shall be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

Many people are employed, but not engaged. There is a huge difference between employees who are merely present from those who are engaged and truly dedicated.  If you look back in business history, engagement was not necessary during the period of industrialized economy. It was optional during the time of knowledge economy. But today in our creative economy, it is the main game. The challenge with engagement is that it’s a gift, not an exercise of control. Nobody could be inspired to become more engaged in their jobs by memorandum. A leading poll firm in the United States of America claims that only 20 percent of local workers are fully engaged. This means tremendous losses in the work place. Many HR practitioners want more engagement in their work environment and would often turn to persons capable of motivating their employees. But then, this makes me think. What causes the low rate of engagement? Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Is it the amount of work? No, I don’t think so. Some people might say it is because of poor work environment. No, not necessarily. I have been to companies that showcase very beautiful, modern work facilities yet their attrition rate is still very high. Now, not many people are willing to admit this for fear of losing clients. But if a consultant’s motive is to help the clients improve, then the truth must be spoken no matter how politically incorrect it may sound. One of the top Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – London-based Fitch Ratings has affirmed the credit ratings of rivals dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. According to Fitch, it has affirmed PLDT’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and senior unsecured rating at BBB. Likewise, the agency affirmed the Long-Term Local-Currency IDR and National Long-Term Rating at A- and AAA(phl), respectively, while outlook remained stable on all the issuer ratings. Fitch cited PLDT’s solid market position of a 57 percent revenue market share in mobile and broadband, and a 70 percent subscriber market share in fixed-line. Fitch expects PLDT’s operating EBITDAR margin to be 47 percent next year from 48 percent in 2013, higher than most regional peers thanks to the duopoly market structure and relatively benign competition and regulatory risks in the industry.  “We expect operating EBITDAR margin to decline gradually by 100 basis points to 150 basis points each year over 2014-17 as lower-margin data services replace higher-margin traditional voice/text and long distance services,” the agency added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 According to Fitch, competition is intense in the data segment because PLDT and Globe continue to provide handset subsidies and are only gradually migrating to volume-based tariffs from unlimited tariffs.  “We forecast that PLDT will continue to lose 100bp of market share annually to Globe, which increased its mobile revenue market share to 43 percent from 34 percent during 2010-13,” it said. Fitch expects PLDT’s leverage to rise due to its Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Shareholders’ Association of the Philippines, which aims to deepen the country’s capital markets, will hold its general membership meeting next month. The annual gathering will be held at the Dusit Thani Manila on Nov. 5, with Bangko Sentral ng PIlipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. as guest speaker. “His topic is consistent with SharePhil’s mission of improving and protecting shareholders rights through education,” Ramoncito M. Fernandez, chair of the group’s programs committee, said in an e-mail message. “BSP in turn has embarked in a program to improve financial literacy of the general public so that a larger part of the population can participate in the financial and capital markets,” Fernandez, president of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., said. SharePhil will also be introducing its handbook, “Your Best Guide to Stock Investing,” during the event. This will be made available to the public starting Nov. 15 at local bookstores. The group was formally organized in 2011 to educate the investing public and promote the development of domestic capital markets. SharePhil hosts fora and workshops for the investing public, and also works together with regulators and stakeholders to improve corporate governance standards.              Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

I have travelled to many cities locally and even to cities outside our country. Wherever I go, I find that our customer service is always superb. The good nature, natural warmth and friendliness of our people make us excellent in the field of service. Maybe it’s because our customer training programs are better compared to others. And now that the world has become smaller and foreign companies can come freely and compete with us as next-door neighbors, we need to continuously upgrade our level of customer service. Is customer service important? You bet it is. Customer service is the lifeline of a business. But customer service goes beyond the typical “good morning” greeting, the eye contact and the smile. Let me tell you a story. One afternoon, a waiter served a bowl of chicken soup to an elderly gentleman.  When he turned away to return to the kitchen, the customer stopped him, “waiter!” WAITER: “Yes, sir, is there something wrong?” Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 CUSTOMER: “The soup.  Taste it.” WAITER: “I beg your pardon, Sir?” CUSTOMER: “Taste it.” WAITER: “But, Sir, I can assure you that this soup is excellent.” CUSTOMER: “Taste it.” WAITER: “Sir, the soup was made from the finest ingredients.” CUSTOMER: “Taste it!” WAITER: exasperated, “All right, Sir, I’ll taste it.” Then he asked, “Where is the spoon?” To which the customer replied triumphantly, “Ah ha!” The quality of products and services, the availability of stocks, and the moment the customer wants Read More …