Maniolas

MPIC 2016 annual stockholders’ meeting: Metro Pacific Investments Corp. president  Jose Ma. Lim speaks before investors during the infrastructure conglomerate’s annual stockholders meeting in May. Also in photo is MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan. File photo Reported net income up 25% MANILA, Philippines – Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) reported a 25 percent jump in its net income in the first half to nearly P7 billion, driven by the strong performance of its tollroad and hospital businesses. Core net income went up 13 percent to P6.6 billion largely due to robust traffic growth in the group’s tollroads here and in Vietnam. Given increased contributions from its tollroad business, the group plans to further beef up its portfolio of road projects in the ASEAN region. In a briefing yesterday, MPIC president and CEO Jose Ma. Lim said the company is eyeing several toll road projects in Malaysia and Indonesia through joint venture arrangements with local partners.  “The one in Indonesia is being discussed…That’s a road project that is part of the Trans Java tollways,” Lim said. MPIC is engaged in the toll road sector in Thailand through its 29.45 percent stake in toll road operator Don Muang Tollway Public Co. Ltd. In Vietnam, MPIC holds a 45 percent interest in CII Bridges and Roads Investment Joint Stock Co. which has various road and bridge projects in and around Ho Chi Minh City. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The company is currently the largest toll road operator in Read More …

Blue chip companies led by index heavy weight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) – which reported a 33 percent decline in first half income to P12.5 billion – contributed to the market slump. File photo MANILA, Philippines – For the second straight day, the market ended in negative territory yesterday, the official start of the ghost month. Blue chip companies led by index heavy weight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) – which reported a 33 percent decline in first half income to P12.5 billion – contributed to the market slump. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index plunged 149.34 points, or 1.85 percent, to finish at 7,888.44, while the broader All Shares index declined 70.04 points or 1.47 percent to end at 4,691.13. Likewise, all counters closed in negative territory with the services, holding firms and the mining and oil sectors among the biggest decliners. Total volume turnover reached P13.55 billion as decliners edged out advancers 163 to 37 while 41 stocks were left unchanged. Foreign buying was at P6.73 billion, while foreign selling hit P4.20 billion. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Analysts said that part of the reason for the market slump was the PLDT selloff and the generally pessimistic mood in the region on disappointment over the much-hyped Japanese stimulus plan. The plan will comprise of just low interest loans from the government and not much new or direct spending that could significantly lift the Japanese economy. PLDT booked losses for its investment Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is seeing a reversal of roles in the global contact center space as foreign investors and clients are now the ones calling for opportunities, the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) said. “These companies that we are talking to now, they are the ones who are setting a meeting with us. Before, we had to look for these meetings, knock on their doors and beg for 10 minutes of their time just to listen to our story. Now it’s the reverse as they are the ones telling us I need one hour of your time,” CCAP industry affairs director Raymond Lacdao said. He said several UK, US, and Australian firms which are not yet present in the country are currently exploring opportunities to do business in the Philippines. “It’s very encouraging. But the interesting part is that we have actually attracted other countries outside of those main countries that we are targeting. We have companies from South Africa, Indonesia, Bangladesh. These are not our normal targets but they are interested now,” Lacdao said. The Philippines has held the distinction of being the world’s contact center capital since 2010. “There’s a lot of interest with the Philippines that we’ve seen. There’s a lot of interest in our industry because we’ve actually been known as a top provider for professional services,” CCAP president Benedict Hernandez said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “What’s interesting is there are client coming from the region, like Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Akbayan Party-list Rep. Tomasito Villarin has filed a resolution seeking an inquiry on the review currently being undertaken by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) involving a P70-billion telecommunications deal. House Resolution 93 hopes to direct the Committee on Trade and Industry to conduct an inquiry on the PCC’s review of PLDT and Globe Telecom’s joint purchase of the telecommunications business of San Miguel Corp. (SMC). “There is a need for Congress to determine whether the PCC is sufficiently empowered by current statutes to withstand harassment suits in fulfilling their mandate or if there is a need for remedial legislation so that it carry-out its functions more effectively,” the resolution said. “Any duopolistic tendencies must not be allowed so that the consumers will be protected and new market players capable of providing better service to end-users will not be dissuaded from doing business in the Philippines. There is also a need for the public, how ordinary consumers and users will be affected by this transaction in the years to come,” it added. The PCC earlier said Globe and PLDT refused to comply when the anti-trust body requested for additional information on the key terms of the telco transaction, thereby preventing the PCC from granting it a deemed-approved status. The P70-billion transaction covered the purchase of the entire equity interest in SMC’s Vega Telecom Inc., New Century Telecoms Inc. and eTelco Inc., with PLDT and Globe getting 50 percent each. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), the banking arm of taipan George Ty,  continued to make strides in its core business expansion with net earnings hitting P9.1 billion in the first half of the year.  “Overall, we are pleased with our earnings results.  Despite the volatility in the global financial markets, local elections and heightened competition, we managed to accelerate our performance in our core business, particularly lending, low cost deposit generation and fee income,” said Metrobank president Fabian Dee. “More importantly, our margins held steady in the face of the challenging environment.  We are also confident that given our strong capital, we are best positioned to take advantage of the country’s growth opportunities,” Dee added. Leveraging on the strength of its balance sheet, Metrobank expanded net loans and receivables by 24 percent year-on-year to P920.5 billion.  The commercial segment accelerated by 27 percent as the bank continued to support the business expansion plans and infrastructure spending of local conglomerates, while the consumer segment sustained strong volume growth of 17 percent. Low cost deposits grew 21 percent, faster than industry’s 13 percent growth rate in overall deposits as of May 2016.  This improved the bank’s CASA ratio to 61 percent of the total P1.3 trillion deposit base.    Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Despite the market volatility and competitive pressures, net interest margin held steady at 3.5 percent as a result of the robust growth in low cost deposits as well as loan expansion Read More …