Toyota to raise Phl production by 18%

 Economy
Jul 082013
 
Toyota to raise Phl production by 18%

SANTA ROSA, Laguna, Philippines — Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) is planning to hike its total production by 18 percent to 36,300 units this year from a year ago as it expects higher demand for vehicles. Speaking at the ceremonial roll-off of the all-new Vios yesterday, TMPC president Michinobu Sugata said the firm has made improvements in its production line to increase its capacity and be able to manufacture more vehicles. “The result of all these improvements is a faster production line giving us a 10 percent increase in capacity from 30,500 to 33,300 vehicles per year,” he said. “We expect to sell more than that number so we plan to actually build 36,300 units of Vios and Innova by the end of 2013, which is 18 percent more than last year, by rendering overtime and holiday work,” he said further. The improvements made at the company’s plant required the investment of more than P2 billion. The firm decided to raise the level of its production capability as it expects strong demand for vehicles  particularly for the all-new Vios sedan, which accounts for 60 percent of the company’s total sales of completely knocked down units. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “TMP is confident that the new Vios will recharge the market.  Anticipating higher demand due to this model’s improved features, we raised the level of our production capability to ensure that what the customers want, we can supply,” Sugata said. He noted that about 14,594 units Read More …

PLDT sees stronger Q2 revenues

 Economy
Jul 082013
 
PLDT sees stronger Q2 revenues

MANILA, Philippines – Smart Communications Inc. of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has tied up with recording giant MCA Music Inc. to provide over 70 million mobile subscribers with online music service and at the same time combat rampant piracy in the country that cost the industry over P2 billion in revenue losses per year. Smart executive vice president and head of wireless consumer business Charles Lim told reporters in a press conference that the three-year tie up with MCA Music is a vital part of the PLDT Group’s multimedia strategy.  “We will rapidly grow our multimedia content offerings in the next few months.  What better way to jumpstart this effort than by offering what’s close to the hearts of Filipinos – music,” Lim stressed. He pointed out that the partnership hopes to increase the share of digital music in the total P700-million industry in the Philippines to about 60 percent to 70 percent over the next two years from the current level of about 40 percent. He said the partnership with Universal Music Group (UMGI) and its local company MCA Music would enrich the lives of Smart subscribers by democratizing access to legitimate music and enabling them to keep creating the playlists of their lives in fast, easy and affordable way. UMGI president for Southeast Asia Sandy Montero said the “game-changing” partnership is a first in the world between Smart and MCA Music, making more than three million tracks in MCA Music’s  global catalog exclusively available Read More …

SEC suspends Ever Gotesco’s permit to sell securities

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
SEC suspends Ever Gotesco’s permit to sell securities

MANILA, Philippines – Shopping mall developer and operator Ever Gotesco Resources & Holdings Inc. has been barred from selling shares due to its failure to conduct a shareholders’ meeting. In a memorandum, the Philippine Stock Exchange said the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered the suspension of Ever Gotesco’s registration of and permit to sell shares. “The records on file with SEC show that Ever Gotesco violated for the fourth time the Securities Regulation Code…for its failure to hold its annual stockholders’ meeting in 2012,” PSE said. As the SEC issued its resolution on May 16, Ever Gotesco’s permit to sell shares is suspended for 60 days from the date of receipt of the SEC order. The PSE started a trading suspension on Ever Gotesco’s shares on Friday. Ever Gotesco, which is controlled by the Go family, was incorporated in 1994 focusing on the construction of shopping malls and leasing them out to commercial tenants. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Its malls are primarily leased out to Ever Department Store and Supermarket, cinemas, banks, amusement centers, food shops, specialty stores, boutiques, drug stores, service shops, gym and sporting facilities. The listed company operates two malls: Ever Gotesco Commonwealth Center and Ever Gotesco Manila Plaza. Subsidiary Gotesco Tyan Ming owns and operates Ever Gotesco Ortigas Complex. In 2009, Ever Gotesco and subsidiary Gotesco Tyan Ming Development Inc. entered into a compromise agreement with creditor banks of its foreclosed properties pending court cases. In the first quarter, Ever Gotesco Read More …

BEST sees higher profits

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
BEST sees higher profits

MANILA, Philippines – Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies (BEST), the solid waste management arm of listed mining firm Minerales Industrias Corp. (MIC), expects to double its profits this year. BEST said it would continue to expand its core business while increasing its exposure in the trash-to-energy conversion business. MIC sees BEST to breach the P100-million income mark this year compared to  P51 million in 2012 while revenues are seen to hit P380 million, up 80 percent from P212 million last year. Growth would be driven by new contracts; increased efficiency and integration of existing solid waste management projects; and expansion into energy recovery, said BEST chairperson and CEO Isabelita Paredes Mercado. “This is by far our biggest year in terms of growth with new contracts and improvements in our operations,” Mercado said, adding that solid waste management industry has good potentials in energy conversion. “Waste is now seen as a resource not only for recycling but also for generating alternative fuel and renewable energy,” Mercado said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Last year, BEST partnered with La Farge and Pennies and Pounds to put up a highly mechanized materials recovery and composting plant in Payatas. It collects and sorts trash for conversion into alternative fuel for cement and other industrial factories. To date, BEST runs two engineered sanitary landfills in Payatas, Quezon City and Morong, Rizal, serving the waste output of Metro Manila and nearby provinces. BEST is also a shareholder in Metro Clark Waste Management Read More …

DOE signs contract with A. Brown unit to develop hydro project

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
DOE signs contract with A. Brown unit to develop hydro project

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Energy (DOE) has signed a contract with Hydrolink, a wholly owned subsidiary of A. Brown Company Inc. (ABCI) for the development of a 25-megawatt hydropower project in Surigao del Sur. The project would utilize water from the Carac-an River in Cantillan for the hydropower plant. The project is part of ABCI’s plans to provide much-needed additional power capacities for the green-rated electric cooperatives in Mindanao. ABCI chairman Walter Brown said that given the reduced power supply contract of Surigao del Sur II Electric Cooperative (Surseco II) with state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor), the cooperative would have to seek alternative sources of fuel to meet the increase in demand in the coming years. Surseco supplies power to 12 municipalities and to one city in the province. “We would like to help them in this undertaking, and as a sign of our full and sincere intentions, we immediately commissioned a hydropower technical team to study the power potentials of the rivers in Surigao,” Brown said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Hydrolink president and ABCI vice-president for business development Roel Castro for his part said that the company has conducted a pre-feasibility study of the river and the results of the study show the project’s potential. “We have already identified the most viable strategies for its development. We will now proceed to processing the necessary permits and coordinate with Surigao’s local officials for their support of the project,” Castro said.

PSBank accredits over 100 developers for home loan

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
PSBank accredits over 100 developers for home loan

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Savings Bank, the thrift bank of the Metrobank Group, has accredited over 100 property developers for its home loan program. PSBank vice president and head of indirect mortgage channels Avi Melicor said they have partnered with top developers that provide quality homes and communities “to give our clients more choices at rates that are within their budget.” “To those who are still hesitating, now is the best time to get that house or condo unit because the market has provided a very favorable environment for aspiring homeowners,” the bank official said. “Clients will get to choose from over 500 projects of more than 100 accredited developers such as Ayala Land, Century Properties, DMCI, Empire East, Federal Land, Megaworld, Robinsons Land, Rockwell Land, San Miguel Properties, SMDC, Suntrust Properties and Vista Land,” she said. With PSBank Home Loan, clients can pay as low as P6,140.87 for monthly amortization, plus enjoy a flexible payment scheme. This means choosing from a lock-in period of one to 25 years to take advantage of steady and affordable interest rates during the preferred period. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Melicor said loan approval would also be fast and convenient. “Clients will be informed of the bank’s credit decision in five days or less through a text message. This eliminates the unnecessary process of waiting, making follow-ups and going through needless anxiety and frustration” . She said they would also be extending discounts to their clients. “Best of all, Read More …

Local firms seen to retain financial strength

 Economy
Jul 072013
 
Local firms seen to retain financial strength

MANILA, Philippines – The financial strength of Philippine corporates is seen to remain strong in the next few years, according to a Standard Chartered Bank report. The report noted that the government’s investment push has helped and contributed to the strength of corporations in the country. “As a result, corporates have maintained a prudent financial profile in the past few years. Their leverage has remained around 4.6x, while EBITDA margin is around 16 percent. We expect their credit metrics and liquidity position to remain strong, despite rising capital expenditures in some cases,” it said. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is an indicator of the company’s financial performance particularly its current operational profitability. The strong economic performance of the country is also providing a lift to local companies’ performance. “The Philippines has been resilient to the global economic slowdown, posting strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth since 2010. Domestic consumption has been a key growth driver. This has helped consumer-oriented corporates such as Alliance Global, Metro Pacific, SM Investments and Megaworld,” it said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The bank has introduced the so-called Standard Chartered Asia Leverage Evaluator (SCALE) methodology, which is made up of five equally weighted metrics covering factors such as profitability, coverage, leverage and capital structure. With this, the bank assigned a SCALE of 4.7 for Philippines corporates, which is better than other sub-sectors such as Chinese property (4.4) and Chinese industrials (4.5), and is in line with Indonesian  corporates Read More …

 Older Entries  Newer Entries