Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – A slowdown in its liquor and fastfood businesses pulled down the six-month profit of Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) of tycoon Andrew L. Tan by nearly a 10th. In a statement, AGI said its net profit in the first half of the year tumbled nine percent to P7.49 billion from P8.24 billion a year ago. Property giant Megaworld Corp. remained the group’s top income contributor, accounting for 44 percent of AGI’s net income and 34 percent of total revenues. Megaworld posted a record net profit of P16.44 billion in the first semester, which included P11.69-billion non-recurring gains from acquisition and sale of shares in subsidiaries and in an associate. Minus these one-time gains, Megaworld’s net profit still grew 12.24 percent to P4.75 billion in the first six months of the year from P4.23 billion a year ago. Liquor firm Emperador Inc. was AGI’s second biggest income contributor for the first six months, but the unit’s net profit dropped to P3.06 billion from P3.17  billion during the same period last year on the back of lower revenues. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Emperador’s revenues declined to P13.25 billion this year as compared to P13.99 billion a year ago. The liquor unit contributed 27 percent to AGI’s net profit and 22 percent to consolidated revenues in the first half. Meanwhile, cost management initiatives buoyed Travellers International Hotel Group Inc.’s first half earnings 24.73 percent to P2.88 billion from P2.31 billion last year. Travellers operates Resorts Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Iam at heart, nothing more than a coach. A teacher. A mentor. All I ever wanted to be was a coach. In business I can teach many things: how to deliver a great presentation; how to write a concise business recommendation; how to build a brand; how to develop advertising that builds the business; how to manage complex projects… the list goes on and on. In sports, I can teach an athlete how to eat properly; how to build muscle; how to high jump, or how to run a marathon. Again, it is a pretty long list! All of these skills are important in their context. And all are coachable. But the irony is, the most important attribute of all is not coachable. Desire. I can’t coach desire. This has to come from within. Lifestyle Feature ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: Either your want it, really want it, or you don’t. If you have desire, that burning desire to be better, to improve, to take feedback and coaching, to never, ever give up, well, you are already halfway to a very successful endeavor. If you don’t have it, well, no matter what kinds of “breaks” you have in life, how much wealth and opportunity you have had, you will lose out, to someone with more desire. Desire has to come from within. I was a 21-year-old fitness instructor majoring in Psychology and Physiology from the University of Cincinnati when I tried to join prestigious Procter Read More …

Quality control inspector Tina Person, left, and scanner operator Dewanna Murphy inspect tubes that are used in the production of the fuel bundle assembly at the GE Hitachi plant in Castle Hayne, North Carolina. AP WASHINGTON (AP) — US factory output rose for the sixth consecutive month in July, led by a jump in the production of motor vehicles, furniture, textiles and metals. Manufacturing production rose one percent in July compared with the prior month, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. Factory output in June was revised slightly higher to a 0.3 percent increase. Over the past 12 months, manufacturing has risen 4.9 percent. Demand for autos surged 10.1 percent last month, the largest increase since July 2009. The broader increase in manufacturing points to stronger growth across the economy, suggesting that manufacturers expect the pace of business investment and consumer spending to improve in the coming months. “Manufacturing will continue to add to the recovery throughout 2014 and into 2015,” said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services. Overall industrial production, which includes manufacturing, mining and utilities, rose 0.4 percent in July, dragged down by a 3.4-percent drop in production at utilities. Several other reports suggest that factory production improved this summer. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Manufacturers added 28,000 workers last month, according to the government’s jobs report. That builds on the 23,000 employees that factories added in June, a sign that companies expect demand to continue its upward swing. Separately, the Institute for Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Harbor Star Shipping Services, Inc. reported a 76 percent increase in its first semester net income toP90.828 million from the previous P51.513 million. The company also reported a 30-percent hike in service income to P555.7 million from P426.8 million due to a rise in service revenue. In the second quarter alone, service income went up 30 percent year-on-year to P285 million from P220 million, while net income surged 141 percent to P68.725 million from P28.547 million. Likewise contributing to the increase in net revenues is the company’s escort services and barge repair, which improved 521.1 percent with P23.6 million from P3.8 million. Furthermore, income from salvage and lighterage operations surged 89 percent and 23 percent, respectively. However, the increases were slightly offset by a three percent decline in harbor assistance revenue, which contracted to P406.8 million in the first half from P419.8 million last year. Adding more to the income growth, Harbor Star is also eyeing the expansion of its services to other Asian countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Myanmar. It is setting a capital expenditure of P180 million for 2014. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In July, the company used P74.607 million of proceeds from its initial public offering to acquire tugboats and barges for its domestic and international operations.

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the turnaround of foreign direct investments to a net inflow in May, the research arm of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. said attracting more remains a growth constraint for the Philippines. “Robust foreign investment has been supporting the growth in other Asian economies – generating much-needed employment, raising incomes, increasing economic activity, and deepening technologies,” Pauline Revillas, research analyst at Metrobank, said in a report. “The support from FDIs should not be underscored as the robust economic expansion last year was underpinned by the solid performance of investment spending,” she said.  “The lack of infrastructure and the failure to attract FDIs have long been seen as a critical growth constraint to the domestic economy, but the government has been firm in its commitment to improve and develop the country’s infrastructure system,” Revillas further said. The country’s FDIs reached $473 million in May, a turnaround from a net outflow of $62 million in the same month last year. This brought the five-month net FDI inflow total to $2.923 billion, up 34 percent from $2.182 billion in the same period in 2013. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas attributed the increase in FDI inflows to sustained confidence of foreign investors in the country’s sound macroeconomic fundamentals. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The sustained increase in FDIs would help ensure a sustainable and inclusive economic growth moving forward,” Revillas said. The Philippine economy grew by a lower-than-expected 5.7 percent in the first quarter of the year, Read More …