Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – UCPB Savings Bank (USB), the thrift unit of United Coconut Planters Bank, posted a strong 36 percent growth in net income last year to P404 million from P297 million in 2012. USB president and CEO Joseph Justiniano attributed the earnings growth to the bank’s more aggressive stance towards marketing commercial and consumer loan products. Total loans climbed 26.42 percent  from P6.8 billion in 2012 to P8.6 billion in 2013. He said USB achieved these results in 2013 “amid noted trials and challenges in the banking industry.” USB’s non-performing loan ratio, the proportion of soured loans to total loans, stood at a low three percent.  Total capital adequacy ratio (CAR), a measure of a bank’s financial strength, was at 26.61 percent, way above Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 10 percent minimum requirement. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Deposits also grew 57.64 percent from the 2012 level of P5.6 billion to  P8.8 billion. The bank ended 2013 with total assets amounting to P11.9 billion, higher by 39.71 percent. USB attributed this positive gain on the back of sound financial fundamentals. Total capital stood at P2.6 billion, up 12.6 percent from 2012’s P2.309  billion. The bank currently has 37 branches nationwide. Six branches  have been relocated: Laguindigan to Lapasan, CDO; Sindangan to Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte; Sta. Rosa, Laguna; Morong, Rizal; Puerto Princesa; and Atimonan, Quezon. “In line with our goal of providing our customers with a pleasant banking experience, we renovated and relocated several of our Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on Turkish flour, having found positive cases of dumping by importers. “The Department of Agriculture found, after preliminary determination, an affirmative finding of dumping on the petition filed by PAFMIL for the imposition of anti-dumping duty against imported wheat flour originating from Turkey,” said the DA in an order published yesterday. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala signed the order last Monday, the order becomes and is effective 15 days from date of publication in two major newspapers. To be imposed in addition to the seven percent regular import duty on flour is a provisional duty of 35 percent on hard flour used for making bread, 39.26 percent on biscuit bread, and 35.21 percent on soft flour which is used for pastries and cookies. The provisional import duty would be imposed for four months while the Tariff Commission conducts a formal investigation to determine if a permanent anti-dumping duty should be imposed. The period of investigation for the determination of dumping activities covered import transactions from Jan. 1 to Dec. 21, 2012 Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “However, for the injury determination, the period covered were for the years 2010-2013,” the order said. The imposition of a provisional anti-dumping duty stemmed from a petition filed by the Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc. (PAFMIL) claiming that local flour could not compete with Turkish flour which are sold in the country at dumping prices. PAFMIL represents large Read More …