Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – Inflation rose to its highest level in 30 months due to higher food, electricity and fuel prices,  the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported  yesterday. Inflation  accelerated to  4.5 percent in May, faster than the 4.1 percent in April and 2.6 percent in May last year. Last month’s uptick was the highest since the 4.7 percent in November 2011, and settled near the upper-end of the BSP’s 3.9- to 4.7- percent forecast for May. The May inflation reading brings the year-to-date average to 4.1 percent, still at the mid-point of the BSP’s full-year target range of  three to five percent. Without food or oil prices, core inflation rose to 3.1 percent in May from 2.9 percent in the previous month. BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the high inflation reading for May  means monetary authorities now have a smaller elbow room for keeping their policy rates at record lows. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “This confirms our earlier pronouncements that while inflation over the policy horizon remains manageable, the room to keep rates steady has narrowed,”  Tetangco said “We will carefully monitor if there are second round effects being triggered by the increases in prices of  food and other commodities. Also, we will monitor the actions of the advanced central banks and check the impact of such on global investor sentiments,” he said. Tetangco further said: “We will not hesitate to adjust policy settings should the inflation target be at risk.” The BSP, Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The hotel unit of property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is boosting its portfolio in Metro Manila through a new agreement with an Asian luxury hotel and residences company. Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group will close its current hotel in Makati this year but will start operations of a modern luxury facility in the next six years. The new Mandarin Oriental Manila, which will start operations in 2020, will offer 275 spacious rooms with an extensive range of modern amenities, including a premium selection of restaurants and a signature spa, ALI said. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ALI said its wholly-owned subsidiary AyalaLand Hotels and Resorts Corp. “signed a long-term management agreement with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group to develop and operate a luxury hotel in Makati City.” “This is in line with the company’s thrust of expanding its hotels and resorts business portfolio,” ALI said. The existing five-star Mandarin Oriental, which has 413 rooms and 29 luxurious suites located in Makati, will close its doors this year after 38 years of operations. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, an award-winning owner and operator of some of the world’s most luxurious hotels, resorts and residences, has 44 hotels with close to 11,000 rooms in 25 countries in its portfolio. For its part, Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts operates 2,151 rooms through Cebu Marriott, Hotel Intercontinental, Fairmont Hotels, Raffles Suites, and Residences, Holiday Inn and Suites and Seda Hotel. Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Economic growth, population growth and urbanization all contribute to a heightened demand for energy in the country.  While the ideal source of all our requirements is renewable energy such as hydro, geothermal, biomass, solar and wind, there are limits on what can be harnessed at this time given geography, weather patterns, availability and cost. As such, the country needs a mix of various sources of energy which will also include coal, natural gas and petroleum products. The Philippines currently has 14 coal plants, which comprise about 35 percent of total power generation capacity for the country (almost 50 percent of the power generation mix in Luzon, 36 percent in the Visayas and 10 percent in Mindanao). Currently, most of the new generation capacity that is planned or announced is coal because from a power generation cost point of view, coal is one of the cheapest.   Note that the country already has one of the highest cost of electricity in the region.  As such, industry analysts forecast that if left alone, coal could make up at least 70 percent of total generation capacity by 2030. However, when looking at the cost of energy specifically electricity, one should not only look at the cost of generating it but the social costs as well.  In 2011, researchers from the Harvard Medical School found that coal power generation results in economically quantifiable costs to society amounting to anywhere from P4/kwh to as high as P11/kwh due to health impacts and climate Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corp (PSPC)., a unit of a South Korean semiconductor giant, is spending $172 million to expand its production facility in Pampanga. Kim Dong Joo, PSPC vice president and chief finance officer told reporters yesterday the firm has allotted $170 million to construct two new buildings within its 15-hectare site in the Clark Freeport Zone. “We expect to complete (construction) and start production of memory chips (there) in the third quarter or fourth quarter of 2014,” Kim said. Upon completion of the buildings, the firm expects to produce 40 million units of memory chips for smartphones and other smart devices per month. Kim said the remaining $2 million will be used to increase the firm’s current monthly production output of 60 million units to 65 million units by August, as it starts to manufacture memory chips for smartphones and other smart devices. At present, the firm only produces memory chips and modules for personal computers, laptops and servers. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The firm has a six-year contract to provide products to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. until 2017. Kim said the firm is expanding its production facility to be able to cater to the strong demand for smartphones, as well as get new customers. “Everybody is recovering. Our biggest markets are the US and Europe and we can see that demand is rising,” he said. PSPC intends to fund the expansion plan by using the proceeds of its upcoming initial Read More …