Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Businessman Roberto Ongpin has appointed KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co. (KPMG RGM & Co.) as investment advisor to supervise the sale of his entire holdings in PhilWeb Corp. In a letter to PhilWeb directors and employees, Ongpin said he has chosen KPMG RGM & Co. as the firm can readily provide information to potential buyers of his shares, being the current auditor of PhilWeb. “I would appreciate it if PhilWeb would cooperate with KPMG in providing whatever information is required for this mandate. The fees payable to KPMG for this transaction will of course be for my personal account,” Ongpin added. Ongpin earlier decided to divest his 771.6 million shares (about 53.76 percent) in PhilWeb in another attempt to save the gaming technology company from permanent closure. The company’s license as a service provider of the e-games network or internet cafes regulated by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), expired on Aug. 10 and has not been renewed despite several attempts. “After having resigned as chairman of PhilWeb, and after having made several offers to Pagcor, all of which have been either rejected or ignored, it has become obvious to me that, while I remain a shareholder of PhilWeb, there is no chance that PhilWeb will be allowed any favorable reception on any proposal to Pagcor,” Ongpin said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1  “In an effort to save the company, its employees and the some 5,000 employees of the e-games operators, I have Read More …

SMIC’s board of directors approved yesterday the P50 billion package under the three-year shelf registration facility of the Securities and Exchange Commission. File photo MANILA, Philippines – SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) has launched a new round of fixed rate bond offer worth P50 billion, with an initial tranche of up to P20 billion targeted to be issued this year. SMIC’s board of directors approved yesterday the P50 billion package under the three-year shelf registration facility of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Initial issuance under this program is expected later this year in the amount of P15 billion with an oversubscription option of up to P5 billion,” SMIC said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday. SMIC’s management has yet to negotiate and finalize the terms and conditions including pricing, tenor and any increase in issuance amount. SMIC chief finance officer Jose Sio said proceeds would be used to support the expansion of its subsidiaries. The tenor may be seven to 10 years given the ample liquidity in the market, Sio added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In the first half of the year, SMIC reported a consolidated net income of P13.5 billion, an increase of 10 percent over the same period last year, with growth led by the property business. Excluding extraordinary items, recurring income grew 13 percent. Similarly, consolidated revenues grew six percent to P138.9 billion in the first half from the P130.9 billion generated in the same period last year. By Read More …

In its Philippine economic update for September, the World Bank said with an average capacity utilization rate of 84 percent as of July, Philippine factories are already operating near full capacity. However, the capacity utilization rate barely moved since 2012. Wikimedia Commons MANILA, Philippines – The manufacturing sector remains on a strong growth trajectory but has barely increased capacity limits, the World Bank said in a report. In its Philippine economic update for September, the multilateral lending institution said with an average capacity utilization rate of 84 percent as of July, Philippine factories are already operating near full capacity. However, the capacity utilization rate barely moved since 2012. In July, 11 out of 20 major industries operated at capacity rates of 80 percent and above. These were basic metals, petroleum products, non-metallic mineral products, machinery except electrical, food manufacturing, electrical machinery, chemical products, paper and paper products, rubber and plastic products, wood and wood products and printing. “Unless businesses actively invest in expanding production capacities, capacity constraints may limit growth prospects in the near future,” World Bank said. The manufacturing sector grew 10 percent in July mainly due to the expansion in the production of basic metals, transport equipment, rubber and plastic products, machinery, wood and wood products and tobacco products. Factory output, as measured by the Volume of Production Index (VoPi), rose 10.1 percent in July 2016, significantly faster than the growth rate of 0.1 percent in the same month last year. Production value, as measured by the Value of Read More …

It would seem President Duterte has finally realized the importance of our relationship with the United States, judging from his most recent statement reiterating that he does not want American troops to get out of Mindanao. The President admitted, we need the United States as an important ally especially with regard to our problem with China over the disputed maritime territories in the South China Sea especially since “we do not have armaments” and “not enough firepower” – knowing fully well that war with China is definitely not an option either way. Many “practical” and “patriotic” Filipinos heaved a sigh of relief with the development, saying we have to be pragmatic and set aside our so-called emotional, nationalistic feelings about our alliance with the United States. While it may be a good move to explore new ties with other countries like China or Russia and follow an independent foreign policy, we should not do so at the expense of old friends like the US. Our ties have been too deep that even our country’s educational system is patterned after the American model. We have a democratic style of government very similar to the United States, and foremost of which is that we have a very deep people-to-people connection as seen in the more than four million Filipinos living in the United States. Our sources within the military expressed shock at the earlier pronouncements of the President when he said he wanted the Americans to leave Mindanao. In fact, Defense Secretary Read More …

President Rodrigo Duterte vowed record infrastructure outlays to around P860 billion next year. File photo MANILA, Philippines — Infrastructure spending grew the slowest in at least 16 months in July as a transition in government also pulled down expenditures in other areas, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported on Wednesday. Capital outlays amounted to P45.9 billion during the first month of the Duterte administration, up just 0.8 percent year-on-year, much slower than the previous month’s 31.4-percent growth. The figure also marked the slowest growth since the 5.9-percent drop by the first quarter of 2015. Monthly data for January to March 2015 were unavailable. Broken down, actual infrastructure spending posted a “minimal” one-percent expansion to P38.7 billion. The balance was allotted for equity and support to local governments. “Although disbursements of the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) increased by P5.9 billion… it was offset by lower disbursements in the DND (Department of National Defense) and the ARMM ( Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao),” DBM said in a statement on its website. Specifically, the DPWH had tie-up “convergence programs” for the building of health and school facilities with the Health and Education portfolios. While details of such projects were unavailable, declines in the DND and ARMM could however by timing and procurement issues. For the DND, DBM said programs for military modernization had already been bid out in the first half and that the rest are still “in various stages of procurement.” ARMM, meanwhile, still experienced “delays in procurement” due to the election ban which prohibited bidding of projects Read More …