THE ENERGY Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved standards to govern the operation and maintenance of small power grids, or those that are not connected to the national grid in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Jul 182013
Jul 182013
MANILA, Philippine (Xinhua) – Investors repositioned themselves in the local equities today sending the local index rallying back to the 6,600 level. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index jumped by 1.12 percent or 73.63 points to 6,648.35. The broader all-share index rose by 1.11 percent or 44.47 points to 4,051.34.Trading volume reached 2.35 billion shares worth P7.43 billion ($170.96 million) with 109 stocks advancing, 35 declining, and 46 unchanged. All six counters were up. Online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said the lack of leads locally and overseas might have motivated some investors to seek guidance to the performance of the Dow Jones industrial average index on Wednesday. Dow Jones was up by 18.67 points ahead of US Federal Reserve Ben Bernake’s statement. The US Fed’s statement is among the most awaited development as it would give investors hint on the next move of the US “The spotlight might revert to institutional fund managers’ reaction to Fed chief Bernanke’s statement before the US Congress, specifically on indications as to when they would slow on their earlier planned $80 billion per month bond purchase plan,” 2TradeAsia.com said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment that since the local index hit the low of 5,789.06, it has drawn a “higher high, higher low pattern in the succeeding 15 sessions.” The narrowing gap between the resistance line and support line, he said, indicates that investors are quick to withdraw Read More …
Jul 182013
MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will consider how the dovish statements from the United States Federal Reserve will impact on local growth and inflation outlooks as it sets policy next week, its top official said on Thursday. “We will consider the impact of the Fed guidance, market sentiment and actual flow of funds on global and domestic growth and inflation dynamics,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. said in a text message to reporters. On Wednesday night, US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told American congressmen that the $85-billion bond buying program, initially thought to be coming to an end, is “not on a preset course,” suggesting it could keep policy accommodative. Over the past month, Asian financial markets, including those from the Philippines, suffered huge losses after the world’s superpower indicated it could taper off cheap money from its quantitative easing “later this year” on signs of recovery. With the latest statement, Tetangco said the US Fed is trying to help investors digest its next move and “hopefully markets will be more circumspect this time around” before making any bets. Thus, investors, he said, are expected “not to place or extend large one way bets” which “often create their own stages for panic by overshooting before and after the fact.” Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Last month, the Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped by as large as 6.5 percent, while the peso weakened toward the 44-peso mark versus the dollar. They have since Read More …
Jul 172013
THE GOVERNMENT’S outstanding debt rose year on year by 4.2% in May as the state continued to increase domestic borrowings, data from the Bureau of Treasury showed.
Jul 172013
YESTERDAY’S bidding for phase two of a classroom building public-private partnership (PPP) project was again rescheduled to give interested investors more time to prepare their offers.
Jul 172013
SUPERSTITIOUS PEOPLE may view the 13th of the month as an inauspicious date whenever it falls on a Friday. When it falls on a Saturday, it generally doesn’t attract the same sense of dread. Revenue regulations like the one issued last Saturday, however, may soon change that.
Jul 172013
MANILA, Philippines – Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), the main banking arm of the Ty family, will exercise its call option on its P5.5-billion Lower Tier 2 notes. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Metrobank head of investor relations Juan Placido Mapa III said the bank’s board approved Tuesday the conduct of the call. He said Metrobank would undertake the call option on the notes with a rate of 7.75 percent on Oct. 4. The call option feature is in accordance with the terms and conditions of the notes. Mapa, however, said they would seek the approval of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) before carrying out the call option. “The bank is currently in the process of securing BSP approval,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The Metrobank official said the board has also approved the issuance of up to $500 million Basel 3-compliant Tier 2 capital securities to proactively manage its capital base for growth and for refinancing of maturing capital notes. The Basel 3 guidelines issued by the BSP in Jan. 15, 2003 requires that Tier-2 notes have a provision for the instrument to either be written off or converted to common equity upon occurrence of certain trigger events. The BSP circular further stipulates that banks must make the necessary amendments to their articles of incorporation to accommodate such a conversion. Metrobank said it has received BSP approval to amend its articles of incorporation on the increase in authorized Read More …
Jul 172013
MANILA, Philippines – The bellwether stock index slipped for the second straight session yesterday as investors took the lead from disappointing earnings in Wall St. while some stayed on the sidelines ahead of US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s policy speech before Congress. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEI) dropped 0.13 percent or 8.83 points to 6,574.72, paring earlier losses that pushed the main index to an intraday low at 6,514.10. “The battle between the bears and the bulls turned in favor of the former as another round of not-so-encouraging numbers from the US corporate front pulled on sentiments,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., an analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp. “Adding to the slight return to pessimism was another Fed official voicing the need to cut back on the stimulus program ahead of Bernanke’s semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress later this week,” he added. Wall St. which is in the thick of the earnings season, retreated Tuesday on the back of lower-than-expected second quarter income companies like Coca-Cola. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 0.2 percent or 32.41 points to close at 15,451.85 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 0.4 percent or 6.24 points to 1,676.26, snapping an eight-day climb. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Local stocks bucked the climb in Asian stocks. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.11 percent or 15.92 points to 14,615.04, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index inched up 0.28 percent or 59.49 points to 21,371.87.
Jul 172013
MANILA, Philippines – Public infrastructure spending is seen to more than double to P834.5 billion by 2016 as the Aquino government allocates more funds to build more roads, railways, airports and bridges to support its goal of inclusive and sustainable growth. In a briefing yesterday, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said the government would continue to bolster infrastructure spending to further spur economic growth to as much as seven percent this year. For this year, the Aquino administration expects to spend P299.4 billion for infra-related projects, equivalent to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product or GDP. The amount excludes projects under the government’s Public-Private-Partnership program. For next year, infrastructure spending is forecast to rise by 28.4 percent to P418.2 billion or three percent of GDP. The budget is expected to increase further to P601.5 billion and P834.5 billion by 2015 and 2016, respectively, corresponding to 4.1 percent and 5 percent of GDP. The Philippines trails behind its Asian neighbors in terms of government infrastructure spending. According to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines needs to jack up infrastructure investments to keep pace with its Asian peers in attracting foreign direct investments. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Across Southeast Asia, public works are being given priority by governments seeking to maintain growth amid the global economic downturn. Improved infrastructure would contribute to reduced costs of doing business, increased market accessibility and enhanced competitiveness, the ADB said. Higher tax collections and improved public Read More …
Jul 172013
Photo shows (from left) Lou de Guzman, board director and auditor of PRSP; Hans Roxas Chua, co-director of the CDM program by the IIDM; Yoly Crisanto, APR, president of PRSP; Gerald Corteza, strategic business development manager, ELearning EDGE and Claire Papa, board director and chair of PRSP’s professional development committee. MANILA, Philippines – The Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP), the largest and most recognized organization of PR practitioners and business communicators in the Philippines, is offering a certificate program in Digital Public Relations (Digital PR) through a partnership with the Certified Digital Marketer (CDM) program by the International Institute of Digital Marketing (IIDM). The program is targeted at PR and marketing communications practitioners who would like to hone their communication skills and at the same time learn how they can use digital and social media platforms in carrying out their campaigns. The course runs for a period of three months, after which the graduate will be given the title: Certified in Digital Public Relations (CDPR) Under a memorandum of agreement with IIDM, PRSP will lend its expertise in the field of public relations and communications in designing the modules which will be used throughout the course while the IIDM will provide digital marketing training modules and facilitate its administration. Also, PRSP’s high standards of gauging communication excellence will also serve as the program’s benchmark in certifying the graduates. “We are happy to renew our partnership with the IIDM as this will help us achieve the vision of the Read More …