UNSKILLED work remained the most common job for Filipinos abroad, the government said in a report yesterday.
Jul 112013
Jul 112013
THE TOURISM department expects a rise in tourists from Europe following the European Union’s (EU) green light for Philippine Airlines (PAL) to fly to the group’s 28 member states.
Jul 112013
DEMAND for housing and office space in the Philippines is expected to remain high on the back of impressive economic growth. Despite an increase in new space, property developers expect vacancies in premium residential and office space across business districts to remain scarce.
Jul 112013
MANILA, Philippines – Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is far from over in its diversification process, its top executive said. SMC plans to unload shares in its banking and power generation businesses to pursue projects like cement manufacturing, oil and gas investments and airport development, among others. “We are still pursuing the diversification. Whenever there is a good opportunity to invest in something that will give a good return to SMC, we will pursue that,” said SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang to reporters. “We are 60 percent of where we want to be,” Ang said, adding that SMC expects to “accomplish something in the next couple of years.” In 2007, the conglomerate started selling parts of key businesses to fund diversification from the mature food and beverage businesses into high-growth and capital-intensive sectors like power generation, mining, infrastructure and telecommunications. To fund new ventures, the food-to-power conglomerate is set to sell shares in existing units. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For instance, Bank of Commerce has received offers from numerous local and foreign investors for an equity infusion. “We have authorized shares that are not yet issued,” Ang said, adding that SMC is still studying an option to sell up to 40 percent of Bank of Commerce. Late in June, SMC’s plan to sell subsidiary Bank of Commerce fell through as it failed to close the P12.2-billion transaction with buyer CIMB Group Holdings of Malaysia. Its stake in power generation business SMC Read More …
Jul 112013
MANILA, Philippines – A local tugboat operator has pushed back its P539-million initial public offering (IPO), making it the third company to defer its public share sale due to unfavorable market conditions. “In consultation with issue manager and lead underwriter Abacus Capital & Investment Corp., we request for a deferment of the company’s initial public offering to a later date,” Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc. said in a letter to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). “We believe that current market conditions are less than ideal to undertake and launch the offering,” it added. Late last month, Harbor Star secured the PSE board’s approval to list in the local bourse. Under the original timeline, final pricing was scheduled yesterday, followed by the start of a domestic roadshow on July 11. Offer period will start on July 22 and end on July 26 while Aug. 2 will mark the listing date. “Tentatively, we are looking at a new offer period within September 2013,” Harbor Star said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Since hitting its all-time high at 7,392.20 on May 15, the benchmark PSE index has slipped to 6,308.18 as of yesterday as foreign funds exit emerging markets in hopes of higher yields in advanced economies. Due to the market’s volatility, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. and Travellers Hotel Group Inc. deferred their P40-billion and P42-billion IPO, respectively. Three firms have so far debuted in the local bourse this year: Philippine Business Bank, Asia United Bank and Del Monte Read More …
Jul 112013
MANILA, Philippines – Lopez-led geothermal firm Energy Development Corp. (EDC) is spending roughly $66.3 million for its projects in Chile and Peru. EDC would spend $58.3 million for its projects in Mariposa in Chile and the remaining $8 million for its Peruvian projects, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday. EDC’s investments in the project form part its joint venture agreement with Alterra Power Corp., a Canada-based energy company for geothermal projects in Chile and Peru. The company announced in June that under a shareholders’ agreement for the Mariposa project in Chile, EDC would acquire 70 percent interest in Compañía De Energia (Enerco). Enerco is an Alterra subsidiary in Chile that owns the Mariposa project. Alterra will continue to hold a 30 percent interest in Enerco through its wholly owned subsidiary Magma Energy Chile Limitada, subject to the terms of the shareholders’ agreement for the Mariposa project, EDC added. “The terms of the project agreements call for EDC to fund the next $58.3 million in project expenditures in the Mariposa project and $8.0 million in project expenditures for all the Peruvian projects to top up Alterra’s past development costs,” EDC said in its disclosure. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 For the Mariposa project, the agreement contemplates implementing an agreed work plan that will further develop the Mariposa Project by building infrastructures over the next 18 months, EDC also said. For the Peruvian projects, proponents would conduct various exploration surveys over the next Read More …
Jul 092013
A JOINT resolution to amend the Constitution’s economic provisions was filed yesterday by Quezon City Fourth District Representative Feliciano “Sonny” R. Belmonte, Jr.
Jul 092013
THE NEW irrigation administrator assumed office yesterday, with plans to address the agency weaknesses that the President pointed out at the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) anniversary two weeks ago.
Jul 092013
A SPECIAL team from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) will be coming to the Philippines to monitor the implementation of the amended copyright law, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) told reporters yesterday.
Jul 092013
MANILA, Philippines – Tricky business, as one might put it, is what designing and developing a tire that embodies all the features crucial to the discerning motorist is like. Of course, at this day and age, we all know that it’s all about hard science, backed by factual data obtained the hard way- with absolutely no trickery involved. You see when one requires a tire to be comfortable, quiet, reliable, and able to provide exceptional performance on both dry and wet surfaces over a long service life, it’s almost like asking for the moon and the stars. At least one characteristic would have to be compromised for the others to be optimally applicable. Well, at least that used to be the case. Launched recently to the Asia Pacific Motoring Media is Michelin’s latest tire developed specifically for the region — the Primacy 3 ST. Aimed to cater to the executive and premium/luxury car owners, the members of the press were taken to the Bonanza Speedway, in Khao Yai Thailand, where cars like the Lexus GS250, Volvo S60, and Mercedes Benz E-Class were made available to test the tires with. Michelin prepared the racetrack quite well, to simulate various scenarios that would enable us journalists to properly test every aspect of the Primacy 3 ST. But as exciting as the track setup looked, we were thoroughly briefed beforehand about the extensive technology behind the tire. There was one obvious take-out from the press presentation, and that was a clear focus on Read More …