THE DEPARTMENT of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) has reduced some financial requirements of bidders for the P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) rehabilitation public-private partnership project, a special bid bulletin showed.
THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management has released P1 billion to the Interior department for financial subsidies for qualified local government units (LGUs), the DBM said in a statement yesterday.
THE NATIONAL Tobacco Administration (NTA) has increased the floor prices of three types of tobacco by as much as P10 for the 2014-2015 crop year, as farmers expect a rise in production cost.
MANILA, Philippines – The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) expects the economy growing by only 5.3 percent this year amid weak demand from China. “Strong growth in consumption and government spending in the Philippines will drive output up by 5.3 percent in 2013,” ICAEW said in a report. “While this is down on 2012, when GDP grew by 6.8 percent, it is 0.6 percentage points higher than average annual growth over the previous five years,” ICAEW said. This sharp deceleration from year-ago levels means slower growth for the second half of the year as the Philippine economy already grew by 7.6 percent in the first half. Moreover, this is below the government’s full-year economic growth target of six to seven percent this year. This expectation came as ICAEW expects growth in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to slow down to 4.7 percent this year from 5.5 percent in 2012. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “This slowdown will be largely driven by easing demand from China while a squeeze on the availability of capital in 2014 and 2015 as US monetary policy is tightened will also hold back growth,” ICAEW said. ICAEW expects China’s growth to slow down to 7.2 percent this year, from an average of 10.5 percent in the last 10 years due to a drop in demand for Chinese exports. ICAEW also expects the economy to grow by 5.4 percent in 2014 before falling to 4.6 percent in 2015.
MANILA, Philippines – Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. further expanded its presence overseas by offering telecommunication services in Canada to cater to almost one million Filipino permanent resident and transients. Rizza Maniego-Eala, head for International Business Group of Globe, said the company has extended the reach of its international inbound calling offer DUO International to over 900,000 Filipinos living and working in Canada. “Almost 90 percent of Filipinos in Canada are permanent migrants who are unable to visit family and friends back home as frequent as those in other countries, and we are proud to be able to give them an innovative and affordable way to keep in touch with loved ones in the Philippines for less than CAD$1 a day,” Maniego-Eala stressed. Canada is one of the top countries worldwide that houses the most number of overseas Filipinos making it a viable market for the telco’s roster of international services. DUO International is also offered in the US, Korea, and the United Kingdom. DUO Canada is a subscription service that assigns a virtual Canadian landline number to a registered Globe number in the Philippines. This allows Filipinos in Canada to call their loved ones in the country through their virtual Canadian landline number. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Calls to the virtual Canadian landline number assigned to the Globe subscriber would be charged at domestic Canadian call rates, effectively lowering call costs. “This allows Filipinos in Canada to contact loved ones at a much affordable rate Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has tied up with Dana Telecom (Datelco) of the Durano family to provide telecommunication services in Danao City in Cebu. PLDT president and chief executive officer Napoleon Nazareno said in statement that the company entered into an agreement yesterday to provide services in Danao City in Cebu as Datelco is in the midst of winding down its local exchange carrier (LEC) business. “We welcome this opportunity to further expand our coverage in Cebu where we recently rolled out our fiber-to-the-home facilities,” Nazareno said. Under the agreement, PLDT would take over the existing customers of Datelco. Nazareno said PLDT and Datelco would also embark on joint marketing and promotions of PLDT’s products and services in fifth district of Cebu “Beyond the agreement that we signed today, we are genuinely interested in joining hands with Datelco in contributing to the development of areas north of Metro Cebu city that holds so much promise,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 After more than 20 years of operations, Datelco president Oscar Rodriguez said the company decided to wind down its LEC business as the cost of upgrading its own network became untenable. “We are pleased to turn over our customers to PLDT who we believe will be able to take care of them very well. Being the largest telecoms company in the Philippines today, PLDT will be able to provide Danao’s residents and business establishments quality voice, data, Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – BDO Unibank Inc. (BDO), the main banking arm of the SM Group, has improved its ranking in the world’s top 1,000 banks list, according to a report by UK-based banking and finance magazine The Banker. Based on the report, BDO now occupies the 251st spot from 396th place in 2012, or 145 notches higher. The Banker said the improvement in BDO’s ranking is on the back of an enhanced overall performance, particularly in terms of Tier 1 capital, assets and profit. For the Philippine country listing, BDO secured the number one spot, the publication said. The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking has been setting the industry benchmark since 1970, providing comprehensive intelligence about the health and wealth of the banking sector. The report enables investors and clients worldwide to assess the strength and weakness of the banks, identify banking partners for the future, and track the big movers and new arrivals in the sector. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 BDO has been one of the most profitable banks in the country, more than doubling its net income in the first half of 2013 to P14.1 billion from P5.8 billion in the same period in 2012. As of end-June 2013, BDO remained well capitalized with a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and Tier 1 capital ratio of 18.3 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively, well above the regulatory minimum. With record earnings for the period already representing more than two-thirds of its P20.4-billion guidance for Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – Singapore-based Wego, the leading travel search site in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, is expanding its operations into the Philippines. As a participant in the first Philippine Tourism Forum and the 24th Philippine Travel Mart, Wego said it sees huge growth potential in the country’s tourism industry. Wego said it has appointed a dedicated market manager to the Philippines to extend its localization strategy to further incorporate and serve travelers, hotels, airlines and other travel industry businesses. Currently, Wego has local offices in Indonesia, India and Dubai. Wego chief marketing officer Joachim Holte said the Asia Pacific market is a strategic region for Wego. “We’ve established a successful localization program with more than 50 country sites in 30 languages worldwide in 42 currencies,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “In the Philippines, we are one of only a few travel comparison sites to display rates in Philippine peso,” he added. “Following an investment of $17 million in growth capital through the completion of a Series C preferred share offering, part of our strategy is to appoint dedicated market managers in our growth regions to extend our activities going forward. The Philippines is undergoing a surge in tourism development and economic growth which is being reflected in the growing number of Wego users from the country,” Holte said.
MANILA, Philippines – The local unit of Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya Corp. has extended anew its P2-billion offer to take over a British luxury car distributor. The longer tender offer period will allow Berjaya Philippines Inc. to buy more stocks from shareholders, the company said. “The issuer extended the offer period for a further 14 days or until Sept. 16,” Berjaya Philippines said in a regulatory filing. As of Sept. 2, Berjaya Philippines received shareholders’ approval to buy 90,195 shares representing around 0.38 percent of the issued stocks of London-based car distributor H.R. Owen, or just 0.54 percent of shares subject to the tender offer. “The offer price remains unchanged in connection with the extension,” Berjaya Philippines said. Under the terms of the tender offer, Berjaya Philippines wants to buy out other stakeholders for 130 pence per share for a total transaction value of 32.5 million pounds (around P2.25 billion). Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The first takeover offer attempt took place on July 29 to Aug. 19 but H.R. Owen management rejected the buyout, claiming Berjaya Philippines undervalued the company’s shares. Berjaya Philippines then extended the tender offer to Sept. 2. In June, Berjaya Philippines expanded its car dealership business by acquiring 29.81 percent of H.R. Owen for P540.36 million as a long-term investment in line with its diversification strategy. H.R. Owen is involved both sales and after-sales of brands like Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Mini, Pagani and Rolls-Royce, predominantly Read More …
MANILA, Philippines – TV rivals ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. and GMA Network Inc. claimed to have fortified their respective rating leadership for the month of August. ABS-CBN said in a statement that it managed to sustained its nationwide leadership by having the most number of households watching its shows whole day. ABS-CBN enjoyed its biggest lead on primetime from 6pm to 12 midnight with an average audience share of 47 percent or 15 points higher than GMA’s 32 percent. ABS-CBN also ruled primetime in other key territories like in areas in Luzon outside Mega Manila with 49-percent audience share compared to GMA’s 33 percent as well as the Visayas where it registered 57 percent versus GMA’s 24 percent. It also dominated Mindanao with 62 percent or three times GMA’s 21-percent share. Primetime is the most important time block when most Filipinos watch TV and advertisers put a larger chunk of their investment to reach more consumers efficiently. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 ABS-CBN’s primetime supremacy also drove its dominance in terms of total day audience share, hitting an average audience share of 41 percent as compared to GMA’s 34 percent. ABS-CBN has tapped Kantar Media that uses a nationwide panel size of 2,609 urban and rural homes that represent 100 percent of the total Philippine TV viewing population. Not to be outdone, GMA said in a separate statement that it grabbed the nationwide TV ratings leadership in August on the back of its strong performance in the Read More …