Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine stocks tumbled yesterday following an extended profit taking in the local bourse. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) slid 0.48 percent or 34.54 points to close below the 7,200 support mark at 7,167.89, while the broader all shares index declined 0.49 percent or 20.93 points to 4,244.29. “The local market followed leads from the overseas markets. IMF’s cut on its growth forecast was still a factor as well as the slowdown in Europe,” said Joyce Ramos, analyst at AB Capital Securities Inc. Ramos said the local market had succumbed to profit-taking the previous days and Friday’s performance was an extension. The market saw its best performance last week on Thursday, the only time the bellwether index closed in the positive territory for the entire week. Thursday’s gain, however, was timid at 0.23 percent. Abroad, Asian and US stocks declined after soaring the previous day. All three indexes in Wall Street suffered huge losses, with the S&P 500 leading with a 2.07 percent or 40.68-point decline. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Locally, all counters finished in the red, led by mining and oil firms which lost 1.47 percent or 244.56 points. Value turnover dropped to P7.25 billion from Thursday’s P7.72 billion. Market breadth turned sour as decliners crushed advancers, 116 to 63, while 43 were unchanged.

MANILA, Philippines – Earnings from Philippine merchandise exports posted a 10.5 percent increase in August from a year ago on the back of the strong performance of electronic products. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the country’s merchandise exports were valued at $5.474 billion in August this year, higher than the $4.956 billion posted in August last year. The growth was seen as electronic products, which accounted for the bulk or 41.6 percent of total receipts, grew 10 percent to $2.277 billion in August this year from the previous year’s $2.070 billion. Aside from electronic products, other commodity groups that contributed to the positive performance of exports in August were coconut oil; articles of apparel and clothing accessories; machinery and transport equipment; ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircraft and ships; other mineral products; metal components, and chemicals. The PSA noted that Japan continued to be the country’s top destination of exports with its 19.1 percent share. Revenues from exports to Japan, however, declined 15.3 percent to $1.044 billion in August this year from the $1.234 billion posted in the same month last year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For the eight month period, the country’s merchandise exports registered a 9.2 percent increase to $40.748 billion this year from $37.330 billion recorded in the same period in 2013. National Economic and Development Authority deputy director general Emmanuel Esguerra said the double-digit growth of exports for the month is likely to be sustained. Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Finance supports a proposal seeking to create a megabank by merging state owned Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines. According to the DOF, the merger of Landbank and DBP is necessary as the functions of both banks duplicate and unnecessarily overlap with one another. The merged entity would be more effective, efficient and sustainable in carrying out the mandates of both banks, especially with the entry of more foreign banks into the country following the liberalization of the local banking sector, the DOF said. The consolidation of the two banks is also expected to complement the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), a unified structure of government bank accounts. Under the TSA, all government revenues deposited to accredited agent banks would be lodged in a single account with the central bank.  The TSA forms part of the government’s public financial management reform program, which seeks to simplify, improve and harmonize the financial management processes and information systems of the public sector. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 If the merger pushes through, the government expects the funding capability and branch network of the consolidated entity to expand.  As of end-June 2013,  Landbank had a total of 337 branches while DBP had 104.   The union of the two banks would give the merged entity at least 441 branches, enabling them to increase their presence. Redundant branches, however, may be closed,  which would result in savings that Read More …

THE COUNTRY has enough chicken and pork supply to last until the Christmas season, local producers yesterday said.

Shown in the photo are PSE president and CEO Hans B. Sicat  (left) and BAP president Lorenzo V. Tan. MANILA, Philippines – The merger of the country’s stock and bonds exchanges has gained more traction after the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) agreed to sell its shares to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). The PSE said yesterday it has reached an agreement with BAP on the indicative terms and conditions for the proposed buyout of BAP’s stake Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS), the holding firm for corporate bond bourse Philippine Dealing Exchange Corp. (PDEx). PSE, the operator of country’s only stock market, is looking to purchase BAP’s 28.9 percent share in PDS for an estimated amount of P650 million based on PDS’ total value of P2.25 billion. PSE said the purchase price, however, is still subject to terms and conditions to be finalized after the completion of a due diligence it will conduct on PDS. “The parties target the completion of the transaction on or before Dec. 29, 2014 at which time the parties shall execute definitive agreements,” the PSE said. The PSE and the PDEx have been eyeing a merger, which is seen to enhance liquidity in the financial markets, since last year. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “If it happens it will be great because we will consolidate one product in one exchange. Number two, as an operation, it will be more, you will get the synergies out of operating one exchange. Read More …