Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Tax Appeals has partially granted Philippine Bank of Communications’ request for refund or issuance of a tax credit certificate for excess or unutilized creditable withholding taxes for 2009. In a decision, the CTA has directed the Bureau of Internal Revenue to return or issue a TCC in favor of PBCom amounting to P14.39 million or a third of the amount being sought by the bank. Based on its amended annual income tax return for 2009, PBCom reported a net loss of P592.04 million and an income tax overpayment of P85.37 million. PBCom also reported unutilized creditable withholding taxes for the same year amounting to P44.56 million. “This Court finds that only the income payments of P321.8 million related to the creditable withholding taxes of P14.39 million were clearly declared in petitioner’s general ledger and annual income tax return for 2009,” the CTA said.      “Petitioner was unable to utilize all the P85.37 million tax credits because it had no income tax liability due to losses incurred in its operations,” the CTA added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 A corporation entitled to a tax credit or refund of the excess estimated quarterly income taxes paid in a given taxable year has two options: to carry over the excess credit or to apply for the issuance of a tax credit certificate or to claim a cash refund. PBCom has exited from a 10-year government assistance program with the full settlement of a P7.6 Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Business Bank (PBB), the financial arm of the Yao Group of companies, posted a net income of P1 billion in 2013, up 53 percent from P654 million in 2012. PBB president & CEO Rolando Avante attributed the company’s strong performance to aggressive expansion program implemented last year. “With our well-diversified network and expanding regional presence, we are well-placed to connect our clients with opportunities be it in Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao,” he said. “Our 2013 performance underscores the sound fundamentals of our core banking. We achieved a resilient set of results, strengthened our balance sheet, and maintained a comfortable capital position. We built on the trust and confidence our clients and partners have in us through quality service and an expanding suite of financial products,” he added. Avante said the initial public offering (IPO) undertaken in  February 2013 fuelled the bank’s growth with total resources growing significantly by 42 percent to P47.16 billion in 2013 from P33.1 billion in 2012. The fresh capital from the IPO, he said, enabled the bank to further strengthen its foothold in the SME sector and grew its asset base aggressively – focusing on loan growth and use of the funds through the trading business. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Despite another challenging year marked by a low interest rate environment,  he said the bank’s total loan portfolio expanded by 51 percent to P31.6 billion from P20.869 billion in 2012. As of year-end 2013, 60 percent of Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. has secured the Philippine gaming regulator’s approval to substantially expand the gaming segment in its integrated casino project. In a regulatory filing, Travellers Group said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) allowed the new gaming capacity for Resorts World Manila. Given the approval, Resorts World Manila can now offer as much as 420 gaming tables and 4,148 gaming machines. Shares of Travellers Group rallied 3.9 percent or 37 centavos to close at P9.85 each yesterday. As of end-2013, the Travellers Group had 287 gaming tables, unchanged from a year ago. Slot machines rose to 1,822 last year from 1,684, while electronic table game machines more than doubled to 210 from 100. “PAGCOR likewise confirmed that the company has achieved 100-percent compliance with the 2011 PAGCOR Development Guidelines,” Travellers Group said. Foreign exchange losses and higher operating expenses of integrated casino Resorts World Manila dragged down the 2013 net income of Travellers Group. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Its profits sank nearly 60 percent to P2.73 billion from P6.73 billion in the previous year as it booked P2.03 billion in finance costs related to its $300-million bond. In November, Travellers Group debuted in the local bourse after raising P17.7 billion. Travellers Group, a joint venture of the world’s third-largest cruise line operator Genting Hong Kong and local conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc. of property tycoon Andrew L. Tan, is spending around $600 million as it pursues Phase 2 Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Mall and banking conglomerate SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) has finalized the pricing of its P15 billion debt papers, marking the company’s return to the bond market after almost two years. Proceeds from the fundraising program will be used to pay existing debts finance expansion projects like the construction of a new warehouse, the conglomerate said in a disclosure. SMIC said it set the interest rates for its peso-denominated Series E, seven-year retail bonds at 5.2958 percent per annum. The Series F, 10-year retail bonds were priced at 5.6125 percent per annum. The investment firm of Henry Sy Sr. will issue an aggregate principal amount of P10 billion of the Series E and Series F bonds, with an option to issue an additional amount of up to P5 billion to cater to strong demand. Offer period will run from April 30 to May 12 prior to listing in the fixed income trading platform Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. “Proceeds of the bonds shall be utilized by SMIC to refinance existing debt, including its Series A retail bonds due June 2014,” the company said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 It will also fund the “retention payments for the completed construction of a commercial building at the SM Arena-Mall of Asia Complex, and finance the construction of a warehouse building on its Asinan property in Parañaque City,” SMIC added. SMIC hired BDO Capital & Investment Corp. as the issue manager. It is also acting as joint Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The peso rose against the dollar midday Monday, settling at 44.562 from Friday’s 44.645. Total volume transacted at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $315.8 million in the morning, lower than the $410.5 million posted the same period on Friday. The peso opened the week at 44.61.