AEV secures top rating for P10-B bond

 Economy
Oct 212013
 
AEV secures top rating for P10-B bond

MANILA, Philippines – Cebu-based conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV), one of the top power producers in the Philippines, has secured the highest credit rating for its planned P10-billion bond issuance. In a disclosure, the listed holding firm said local credit rater Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings) assigned the PRS Aaa score on its long-term bonds. “Obligations rated PRS Aaa are of the highest quality with minimal credit risk. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong,” PhilRatings said. Late last month, AEV’s board of directors authorized the issuance of up to the P10 billion in retail bonds with tenors of seven and 10 years. AEV will offer P5 billion bonds maturing in 2020 and another P5 billion maturing in 2023. PhilRatings said the credit score reflects AEV’s strong financial performance with a high level of operating cash flow and sound capital structure with a conservative leverage position. Philratings said it also noted the “positive growth prospects for the company’s business portfolio and AEV’s highly-experienced and conservative management team.” Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 AEV is one of the largest conglomerates in the country. It has investments in power (Aboitiz Power Corp.), banking (Union Bank of the Philippines), food manufacturing (Pilmico Foods Corp.) and property development (Aboitiz Land Inc.). “The company’s main core business, Aboitiz Power, is a leading power generation and distribution company in the Philippines,” PhilRatings said. As of end-September, Aboitiz Power had a total attributable capacity of Read More …

Japan trade deficit at record in September

 Economy
Oct 202013
 
Japan trade deficit at record in September

TOKYO  — Japan’s trade deficit ballooned to a fresh record for September as costs for imports of food and other necessities outstripped growth in exports. Preliminary customs data Monday show September’s deficit was 932 billion yen ($9.5 billion), the 15th consecutive monthly shortfall. The deficit for April-September rose to nearly 5 trillion yen ($51 billion), also a record for the first half of the fiscal year. Imports rose 16.5 percent in September from a year earlier to 6.90 trillion yen ($70.3 billion), while exports, helped by recoveries in key overseas markets such as the U.S. and EU, climbed 11.5 percent to 5.97 trillion yen ($60.9 billion). The yen has weakened by almost 25 percent against the U.S. dollar in the past year, making Japan’s exports cheaper overseas but also raising costs for imports. Imports of oil and gas accounted for nearly a third of the total but fell 1 percent as oil prices moderated. Imports of soybeans and other food and machinery surged at double-digit rates. Exports were boosted by rising shipments of vehicles, iron and steel, rubber, chemicals and machinery. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The U.S. remained Japan’s largest export destination, at 1.11 trillion yen ($11.3 billion), while imports totaled 665 billion yen ($6.8 billion). The resulting 533 billion yen ($5.4 billion) surplus rose 25 percent from a year earlier. But Japan’s trade deficit with China jumped 87 percent to 620 billion yen ($6.3 billion) as imports of such items as cellphones and solar Read More …

A matter of record

 Economy
Oct 202013
 

RECORDS management programs are generally not an organization’s priority as these usually do not generate income. Policies and practices on how records are kept and handled also vary among companies. In a large enterprise, documents are usually stored separately according to division or section (e.g., finance, corporate planning, legal, marketing, and sales). In some multinational companies, there is an established centralized records management group that not only oversees the indexing, storage and retrieval of files, but safeguards vital information about the organization.

Smart introduces Bayadload

 Economy
Oct 202013
 
Smart introduces Bayadload

MANILA, Philippines – Wireless giant Smart Communications Inc., a unit of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), is set to launch a new type of electronic load to enable subscribers to pay monthly contributions to social security, health insurance, and housing funds. PLDT president and chief operating officer Napoleon Nazareno said the company is working closely with the government to launch Bayadload that could be used to pay monthly contributions to the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth), and Pag-Ibig Fund. “We call it BayadLoad. Bayad in our language means payment. This service will make it much easier for about 15 million self-employed individuals and household help to become active members of these social funds and to benefit from their services,” Nazareno said.  He pointed out that subscribers just need to go to a Smart retailer and purchase the special load and pay their monthly contributions  using their mobile phones. Nazareno, who is also president of Smart, said the company intends to extend the use of BayadLoad to the payment of other government fees and services. “Clearly, our retail distribution network has become a strategic tool for extending the ecosystem for mobile money transactions.  Through this network, which reaches every nook and cranny of the country, we can rapidly deploy new financial services to people living at the periphery of the economic mainstream,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In recent years, Nazareno said the PLDT Group Read More …

Fear of failure

 Economy
Oct 202013
 
Fear of failure

I wonder if you have heard of Spanx. It is described in its website as a shapewear. What it really does, according to its inventor, is to better control how a woman’s behind looks without revealing a panty line when wearing tight jeans. It sounds frivolous to some of us but according to Sara Blakely who invented it and made millions making and marketing it, it responds to a very real need for a lot of women. Ms. Blakely was interviewed on CNBC’s Squawk Box last week as one of America’s entrepreneurs who make for a vibrant American economy. She wasn’t always the hotshot entrepreneur she now is. She recalled she was selling fax machines door to door. Her eureka moment arrived when she struggled with the problem of having an undergarment that did the job Spanx eventually did. Asked how she became a sucessful entrepreneur, she responded she didn’t have a business education and that helped. She just jumped into it without any fear because she didn’t know any better. She said she was not afraid to fail. Why was she so fearless? She recalled that her father subjected her and her brother to this drill at the dinner table. They were asked nightly: where did they fail today? The whole idea is to make them feel failure is nothing to fear… it is an opportunity to learn. The important thing is they tried to do something challenging, something different. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Read More …

Union Bank raises P3 B from LTNCD issuance

 Economy
Oct 192013
 
Union Bank raises P3 B from LTNCD issuance

MANILA, Philippines – Union Bank of the Philippines has raised P3 billion through the issuance of long-term negotiable certificates of time deposits (LTNCDs), a company disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange said. The LTNCDs carry a coupon rate of 3.5 percent per annum, payable quarterly beginning January 2014. The maturity date of the long-term deposits is on April 17, 2019. HSBC was the sole lead arranger and selling agent for the offering while the selling agents included Multinational Investment Bancorporation and UBP. The net proceeds of the issuance will be used to improve the bank’s deposit maturity profile and support business expansion plans. “UBP continues to show commitment to its customers by providing wider choices of investment assets such as these LTNCDs, which offer higher yields as compared to other types of instruments due to lesser intermediation costs, while lengthening the bank’s maturity profile,” said UBP president and chief executive officer Victor B. Valdepenas. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 LTNCDs are negotiable certificates of time deposits and are tax exempt for qualified individuals if held for at least five years. The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) insures up to a maximum coverage per depositor, currently at P500,000. These are bank products with long tenors, from five to 10 years, are offered to investors looking for a higher interest rates compared to regular savings accounts or shorter-term deposits. The Aboitiz-led bank earlier said it is confident it will post income growth of more than 10 percent this Read More …

Eastern Petroleum unveils explosion-proof LPG tank

 Economy
Oct 192013
 
Eastern Petroleum unveils explosion-proof LPG tank

MANILA, Philippines – Eastern Petroleum aims to capture a huge chunk of the 14 million-tank LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) market in the country as it made its entry into the business, its top official said in a recent interview. Eastern Petroleum chief executive officer Fernando Martinez said the company will tap 500 dealers for its Eastern Composite (EC) Gas cylinder by 2014. The oil company launched its LPG cylinder dubbed as EC Gas, an explosion-proof cylinder made from composite materials and which is up to 10 kilogram lighter compared to the average weight of LPG made from steel. The independent oil firm also launched its 500 New Millionaires program through its dealership network. “The 500 new millionaires will be made possible with the projected conversion of one million LPG steel tanks to EC Gas,” Martinez said. He said based on EC Gas’s business model presented during the recently concluded 12th Filipino Franchise Show at the World Trade Center, a dealership could translate to potential earnings of P1 million based on monthly sales of 2,500 cylinders of 11-kilogram LPG in its area. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Martinez said there are 14 million existing LPG tanks, half of which are either due for requalification, rehabilitation and repair or worse, for outright scrapping. He said franchise financing is also available in case the applicant is short on working capital and equity to finance the business. Martinez expressed confidence the company can deliver this goal starting 2014. This developed Read More …

PLDT unit extends services to government IP program

 Economy
Oct 192013
 
PLDT unit extends services to government IP program

MANILA, Philippines – IP Converge Data Services Inc. (IPC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of e-PLDT is working closely with government agencies to help serve the general public more efficiently. IPC president Reynaldo Huergas said the company has been tapped by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) to put in place within its organization a system by which its employees can communicate and collaborate more efficiently among themselves and with their stakeholders. Huergas said IPC has deployed Google Apps for Business, providing IPOPHL with a suite of web-based, user-friendly applications by which the government organization could collaborate internally and with its partners, businesses and the general public in a more responsive and efficient manner. Aside from deployment of Google Apps, IPC also provided change management activities to IPOPHL. “In terms of public service, IPOPHL will derive great benefits from the cloud service and Google Apps as these will definitely reduce IPOPHL’s capital expense for information and communications technology requirements and increase productivity through real-time collaboration,” he stressed. He explained that IPOPHL’s MIS personnel could now focus more on the mission-critical systems and services offered to stakeholders and the public as IPC would handle the maintenance of the computing facility. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Ricardo Blancaflor, director general of IPOPHL, said the agency would become a more efficient intellectual property organization as it would benefit from the Google Apps for Business provided by IPC.  “Communication within and outside of the IPOPHL circle will be more efficient, Read More …

 Older Entries  Newer Entries