Bank of Commerce sale falls apart

 Economy
Jun 222013
 
Bank of Commerce sale falls apart

MANILA, Philippines – Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) plan to unload subsidiary Bank of Commerce fell through after CIMB Group Holdings walked away from the supposed P12.2 billion transaction. In a disclosure to the Malaysian Stock Exchange over the weekend, CIMB said the parties failed to reach an agreement after extending negotiations when the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) lapsed. “As such, the parties will not proceed with the proposed acquisition, CIMB said. Surces said land issues were one of the factors blamed for the failed deal.  Under the Philippine Constitution, foreigners are barred from owning land in the country.       CIMB said the SPAs with sellers San Miguel Properties Inc., SMC Retirement Plan and Q-Tech Alliance Holdings Inc. lapsed in December while the deal with minority shareholders expired in February. In 2012, CIMB agreed to buy SMC’s 60-percent stake in BoC for P12.2 billion. SMC currently owns 84 percent of the mid-sized lender. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  Regulators Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Bank Negara Malaysia had already approved the deal, which would have allowed CIMB to gain a foothold in the Philippines’ banking sector while giving SMC additional cash for its diversification projects. Early this month, SMC said the transaction would push through in July. CIMB is the second largest bank in Malaysia with presence in eight of 10 ASEAN nations (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam and Myanmar). It also has market presence in China, Hong Kong, Bahrain, India, Sri Lanka, Read More …

Galoc consortium eyes new oil well drillings

 Economy
Jun 222013
 
Galoc consortium eyes new oil well drillings

MANILA, Philippines – The consortium operating the Galoc oil field has put off plans to drill a new well in the oil field located in northwest Palawan but said it continues to be on the lookout for other possible wells within the field. In a disclosure to the Australian Stock Exchange, Otto Energy, one of the companies behind the venture, said the Ocean Patriot drilling rig, which has been contracted for the second phase of the Galoc drilling campaign, is incapable of drilling some of the optimal well locations for a Galoc exploration well. “Therefore, the joint venture has made the decision to defer exploration drilling from this current campaign and will incorporate the results from the Phase 2 drilling campaign into plans for further exploration drilling,” Otto Energy said in the disclosure. Nonetheless, Otto chief executive officer Gregor McNab said the consortium would continue to explore locations for another well. “The outcome of the Galoc exploration studies has been very positive and reinforces our view that this field continues to outperform expectations. We look forward to progressing drilling of a Galoc exploration well at the preferred drilling location as soon as a suitable rig can be secured,” McNab said. In the meantime, Otto Energy looks forward to safe execution of the Galoc Phase project, drilling of the Duhat-2 well and acquisition of seismic in equipment two Tanzanian blocks over the coming months,” he said.

Pag-IBIG mulls hike in members’ contribution

 Economy
Jun 222013
 
Pag-IBIG mulls hike in members’ contribution

MANILA, Philippines – The Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund is considering an increase in the minimum monthly contribution of its members to P200 as part of its goal to double its loan portfolio to P50 billion. Pag-IBIG chief executive officer Darlene Marie Berberabe said the increase in members’ contributions from the current P100 may be done via a flexible schedule. She said an enlarged capital will allow Pag-IBIG to provide more housing loans to its members as well as real estate developers. To date, the fund has a housing loan portfolio of around P21 billion.  It also has P40 billion in investible funds other than the housing and cash loans. Pag-IBIG is mandated to invest up to 70 percent of its portfolio in housing while the rest are for member loans. It is looking at a 15 percent increase in its net earnings this year to P15 billion. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Pag-IBIG is also planning to boost its membership base to about 20 million by yearend from the present 12.6 million, targeting the overseas Filipinos market, three million of which are already members. To better serve the needs of its members, Pag-Ibig has partnered with Globe Telecom to allow its 12.6 million members to pay their monthly contributions and housing loans using their mobile phones.

Peso drops to 2-year low then bounces; trades between P43-P44

 Economy
Jun 212013
 
Peso drops to 2-year low then bounces; trades between P43-P44

MANILA, Philippines – The peso touched its lowest level in more than two years on Friday before bouncing back to close on a stronger note versus the dollar as investors realized the drop has been a “bit too overdone.” The local unit appreciated by eight centavos to close the week at 43.72 from a 17-month low of 43.80 last Thursday. Dollars traded reached $1.084 billion, down from $1.407 billion the previous day. During the day, the peso traded within a range of 43.63-44.17, the upper end being the weakest since February 2011. “We actually saw the Indian rupee and the Thai baht also appreciate. I guess investors have realized (the drop) was already a bit too overdone,” Emilio Neri Jr., lead economist at the Bank of the Philippine Islands, said in a phone interview. “Investors who are not carried away by emotions and by a rather emotional environment are able to distinguish the countries that are fundamentally supported,” he added. Financial markets around the globe have been rattled since Thursday by pronouncements from US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke that stimulus measures will be scaled down “later this year.” Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Earlier on Friday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reiterated that the economy, which expanded by 7.8 percent in the first quarter, remains one of those countries with “positive story” that should keep the peso afloat. As of Friday, the peso, Asia’s second best performer last year, has already weakened by 6.5 percent Read More …

Phl still among preferred sites for BPOs – US firm

 Economy
Jun 202013
 
Phl still among preferred sites for BPOs – US firm

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines remains among the preferred sites for business process outsourcing (BPO), according to a leading US-based BPO and information technology (IT) company. Shore Solutions Inc., one of the bigger players in the BPO business, said revenues from the BPO industry in the Philippines is expected to hit $16 billion this year, or almost 20 percent higher than the $13.4 billion last year. It noted that with increasing demand from prospective investors and subscribers, the industry would need at least 1.3 million direct hires by 2016 from 720,000 last year. “That should require 516,000 additional seats, and some 2.5 million square meters of additional office space,” Darcey Lalonde, Asia chief executive officer of Shore Solutions said in a forum yesterday. The industry employed over 720,000 in 2012, with another 1.6 million indirectly. Expansion has already been noted in the key urban centers outside Metro Manila such as Cebu and Davao. In Metro Manila, the major BPO centers are in Makati, Quezon City, Manila, Taguig and Mandaluyong. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Lalonde said that the next or third wave of BPOs is targeting key cities in Laguna, Batangas and Bacolod. However, he said government should consider anew opening up to a limited extent or to select sectors, ownership of land to foreign entities.

Robinsons Retail Group firms up P40-B IPO plan

 Economy
Jun 202013
 
Robinsons Retail Group firms up P40-B IPO plan

MANILA, Philippines –  The Gokongwei family’s Robinsons Retail Group has firmed up its plan to raise as much as P40 billion through an initial public offering (IPO). The company behind Robinsons supermarkets and department stores plans to conduct potentially one of the largest public share sale by a Philippine firm, said International Financing Review (IFR), a publication of Thomson Reuters. IFR reported that Robinsons Retail Group targets to sell 461.9 million shares at a maximum price of P86.64 each to generate up to P40 billion in fresh capital. Robinsons Retail’s listing application was not immediately available at the Securities and Exchange Commission The retail group of property giant Robinsons Land Corp. claims to be the country’s second largest retailer, next only to SM Retail Inc. of the Philippines’ richest man Henry Sy. Robinsons Retail Group owns and operates 35 department stores and 73 supermarkets nationwide. The IPO is scheduled in the third quarter, IFR said, adding that Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and UBS were tapped to facilitate the offering. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The aggressive fundraising program, which comes at a time when the local stock market is being battered by massive foreign fund selling could be one of the largest share sale by a Filipino company. In April, LT Group Inc. of taipan Lucio Tan raised a record P37.72 billion in a follow-on offering while SM Investments Corp. secured P28.75 billion during its IPO in 2005. Since hitting its 31st record high for the Read More …

Isuzu introduces 2 new truck models

 Economy
Jun 202013
 
Isuzu introduces 2 new truck models

MANILA, Philippines –  Truck maker Isuzu Philippines Corp. introduced yesterday two new truck models which are expected to boost the company’s leadership in this particular segment. At yesterday’s launch, the company introduced the FVM and the FRR truck medium-duty trucks. The Forward FRR is powered by a 5.2-liter diesel engine with a six speed transmission. It has a gross vehicle weight of 10,600 kilograms (KG) and a payload capacity of 7,450 KG. The unit is priced at P1.9 million. A much larger unit, the Forward FVM, is powered by a 7.8-liter diesel engine with a  six speed transmission. The FVM has a gross vehicle weight of 25,000 KG and a payload capacity of 18, 380 KG. The unit is priced at P3.1 million. Isuzu Philippines Corp. president Nobuo Izumina said that because of the downtime experienced by customers in between buying and conditioning of second hand trucks, many buyers are prefering to purchase brand new units. “The customers are now considering the downtime as well as other problems, now the customers are changing their minds,” Izumina said. For this year, the company aims to sell 13,000 units which include heavy trucks, pick up trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Of this figure, the company expects to sell 2,500 trucks. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

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