Stock News 2013: Del Monte eyes dual listing in Philippines, Singapore markets

Del Monte Fresh Produce Pineapple (Photo credit: Del Monte Fresh Produce)

Del Monte Pacific Ltd., controlled by condiments king Joselito D. Campos Jr., is planning a dual listing in the Singapore and Philippine stock markets.

This will make Del Monte the first local firm to be listed in both the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX-ST) and Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

In a disclosure to SGX-ST, Del Monte said it submitted to the PSE and Securities and Exchange Commission an application for a listing by way of introduction.

“The proposed dual listing will provide the company with a platform to widen its investor base,” Del Monte said.

“In particular, it will enhance the company’s attractiveness to investors in the Philippines and to foreign investors interested in the Philippine stock market,” it added.

Listing by introduction allows a firm to join the PSE without having to sell shares to the public immediately.

Del Monte said being listed on both the SGX-ST and PSE will “enhance the profile and market visibility” that will result in greater liquidity.

Being a public company attracts coverage from brokerage firms, which provide valuations and recommendations to the investing public.

“The proposed dual listing will also allow the company to establish financing platforms in two different equity markets simultaneously,” Del Monte said, adding that extra channels and ready access to a wide pool of capital will fund future business growth.

Given its plan to list by way of introduction, Del Monte said it will not immediately issue new shares but there might be an offer of vendor shares depending on the market’s condition.

Vendor shares are stocks issued by a company in payment or in part payment for assets acquired from the vendor.

Aside from Del Monte, PSE-listed tuna and salmon processor Alliance Select Foods International Inc. is planning to conduct a dual listing in the Singapore and Philippine bourses.

Del Monte produces, markets and distributes food, beverages, and related products in the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian subcontinent, and has supply deals with Del Monte trademark owners and licensees around the world.

The NutriAsia Group of Campos owns a majority stake in Del Monte. NutriAsia leads the Philippine market for condiments, specialty sauces and cooking oil.

In 2012, sales of Del Monte climbed eight percent to a record $459.7 million while net profit jumped to $32.1 million.

http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/04/26/934907/del-monte-eyes-dual-listing-phl-spore-markets

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Stock News 2013: Pepsi Cola profit jumps 20% to P270M in Q1

Deutsch: Logo Altes Pepsi Cola-Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Listed beverage maker Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. posted a hefty improvement in its first quarter performance due to strong sales.

In its financial report, Pepsi-Cola said its net income jumped 20 percent to P270 million in the first three months of the year. Gross revenues hit P6 billion, up 14 percent from a year ago.

“This significant achievement was driven by increasing distribution coverage with the intent of reaching more consumers from various consumer segments,” said Pepsi-Cola president Partho Chakrabarti.

“We also focused on product expansion and aggressive marketing programs, with equally supported investments in containers, coolers, vehicles and manufacturing,” he added.

The 18-percent growth in sales volume offset the 13-percent increase in cost of sales, which consists primarily of raw and packaging materials, direct labor and manufacturing overhead.

This allowed Pepsi-Cola to post a 14-percent gain in gross profit to P1.4 billion.

Operating expenses, which is composed of selling and distribution, general and administrative, and marketing expenses, jumped 12 percent in the first quarter.

Jika Dalupan, Pepsi-Cola’s vice-president for corporate affairs, said the top line growth helped fund strategic investments personnel, marketing campaigns, and sales and distribution infrastructure.

Pepsi- Cola is the exclusive bottler of PepsiCo beverages in the Philippines which include Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Seven Up, Mirinda, Gatorade, Tropicana, Mug, Lipton, Sting, and Premier.

Pepsi-Cola has joined the fray in the powdered drinks category through Mirinda Powder Fun Mix as it aims to strengthen its non-carbonated business.

In September, it launched Tropicana Coco Quench, which is 100 percent made from real coconut water. It will be available initially in the Philippines and later on to the rest of Asia as it seeks to expand its non-carbonated beverage segment.

Pepsi-Cola is partly owned by Lotte Chilsung, one of the biggest beverage companies in South Korea. The listed company has established manufacturing facilities across the country, serving at least 440,000 outlets and providing employment through its extensive distribution network.

http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/04/26/934909/pepsi-cola-profit-jumps-20-p270m-q1

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Stock News 2013: SM profit jumps 22% in Q1

SM Prime Holdings (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the investment holding vehicle of the country’s richest man Henry Sy Sr., will outpace its targeted profit growth this year on the back of a 22-percent jump in first quarter earnings, top company executives said.

“From the figure I saw from the first quarter, I feel that we can have the range of about 15-17 percent (income growth),” said SMIC chief finance officer Jose Sio.

In its 2013-2015 plan, SMIC targets its profits to grow 12-15 percent annually, supported by the company’s continuous expansion.

But in the first quarter this year, its net income climbed 22 percent to P7.4 billion as revenues rose 15 percent to P56.8 billion from P49.6 billion a year ago.

“The growth was driven by the surge in earnings of SM’s banking business, coupled with strong earnings growth from SM’s mall and property businesses,” the company said.

“With the continuing rise in remittances from overseas Filipinos, the expansion of the country’s outsourcing sector and the recent credit upgrade of the Philippines to investment grade, we are confident of achieving even better results in the second quarter and beyond,” said SMIC president Harley T. Sy.

Of the first-quarter profits, SMIC derived 59.7 percent from banking (BDO Unibank Inc.), 15.8 percent from malls (SM Prime Holdings Inc.), 14.1 percent from retail operations (SM Retail Inc.) and 10.4 percent from property (SM Development Corp. and SM Land).

The trend regarding income contribution will continue given the strong financial sector in the Philippines, Sio said.

BDO’s earnings surged 257 percent to P10 billion in the first quarter as net interest income climbed 14 percent to P9.6 billion on the back of a 16-percent growth in customer loans and a nine-percent uptick in total deposits.

The country’s largest bank in terms of assets expects its full-year income to reach P20.4 billion.

Mall developer and operator SM Prime recorded a 15-percent gain in consolidated net income to P2.8 billion in the first three months of the year. Its revenues grew 11 percent to P7.8 billion.

SM Prime said its five malls in China contributed P700 million in revenues, up nine percent from last year.

SM Prime has 46 malls in the Philippines with a total gross floor area of 5.6 million square meters (sqm). In China, it has five malls with a total gross floor area of 0.8 million sqm.

For its part, SM Retail reported an income of P1.2 billion, up four percent from last year as sales rose 5.8 percent to P36.4 billion.

As of end-March, SM Retail had 201 stores consisting of 46 SM Department stores, 37 SM Supermarkets, 37 SM Hypermarkets and 81 SaveMore stores, up from just 176 stores in the same period last year.

SM’s property group recorded a net income of P1.8 billion, up 19 percent from last year. SMDC accounted for 76 percent of earnings.

In the first quarter, SMDC’s consolidated net income rose 12 percent to P1.4 billion.

The developer will launch four new projects this year that will introduce 13,000 condominium units to the market.

http://www.philstar.com/business/2013/04/26/934905/smic-profit-jumps-22-q1

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Stock News 2013: PSBank posts record net profit of P2B in Q1

Loans (Photo credit: zingbot)

Philippine Savings Bank, the thrift bank arm of the Metrobank group, generated a record-high net profit of P2 billion in the first quarter as hefty trading gains complemented core interest earnings.

The first quarter net profit was 273-percent higher than the level in the same period last year, the bank disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday.

PSBank grew its net interest income by 8.7 percent to P1.5 billion. Interest earnings from loans went up by 16 percent to P1.9 billion as the bank expanded its loan book by 23 percent to P77 billion. Strong consumer confidence and sustained economic growth continued to buoy demand for loans, the bank reported.

Auto lending rose by 28 percent compared to the previous year while mortgage lending expanded by 21 percent. The bank’s combined small and medium enterprise as well as large corporate loans likewise went up by 25 percent.

Meanwhile, the low-interest rate environment allowed PSbank to post large trading gains from its investments in government securities. Trading gains amounted to P3 billion from only P1.7 billion in the same period last year.

The bank also grew income from service charges and commissions by 13 percent year-on-year.

On the other hand, improvements in operating efficiency brought by automation kept operating expenses flat at P1.8 billion, the bank said.

“We are seeing traction in our strategy of improving sales coverage and operating efficiency as evidenced by the continued increase in market share for our key loan products, auto and mortgage. Given this loan increase, we are confident to exceed the original income target of the bank for the year,” said PSBank executive vice president Jose Vicente Alde.

While the bank boosted its earning assets, it kept good quality of earnings assets in its books. The ratio of net non-performing loans stood at only 0.4 percent. PSBank has also set aside P609 million as provisions for the first quarter, thus increasing loan coverage to 102 percent.

PSBank’s equity rose by 27 percent to P18.7 billion. This translated to a higher capital adequacy ratio to risk assets of 18.6 percent, well above the 10-percent minimum required level for local banks.

http://business.inquirer.net/117987/psbank-posts-record-net-profit-of-p2b-in-q1

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Stock News 2013: Meralco income surges to P4B in Q1, up 19.3%

Photo of Manny (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Manila Electric Co.’s consolidated net income in the first quarter grew 19.3 percent to P4.02 billion, from P3.37 billion in the same period last year, mainly on higher energy sales.

Meralco chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a briefing Monday that the first quarter results were “slightly ahead” of expectations.

The country’s largest power distribution utility, which is controlled by Hong Kong-based First Pacific Group, also reported a 17.7 percent increase in core net income, which rose to P4.02 billion in the first three months of the year from P3.42 billion in the same period last year.

Meralco attributed the profit growth to the sustained increase in new customers, energization of new real estate developments such as the Pagcor Entertainment City and increased consumption driven by remittances of overseas Filipino workers and the business process outsourcing sector.

In terms of electricity sales volume, Meralco reported 1.2 percent increase to 7,777 gigawatt-hours from 7,687 gigawatt-hours during the period.

However, revenues slowed down by 1.5 percent to P64.16 billion from P65.12 billion due to lower power supply cost from the company’s new suppliers, which was slightly offset by the “moderate” increase in energy sales volume.

Meralco’s power supply costs are passed on to consumers.

Meralco’s average rates dropped by P0.03 to P9.32 per kilowatt-hour.

Customer numbers, meanwhile, reached 5.23 million as of end-March 2013, having grown 3.3 percent or by more than 165,000 new accounts since March 2012.

For the rest of the year, Pangilinan declined to give specific targets on sales and income targets until the second-quarter results have been reported, citing erratic demand for power.

April was a growth period, he said, with a 7.8 percent growth in sales but it remains to be seen whether sales volume will increase enough for the rest of the year to make up for cheaper rates.

SVP Alfredo Panlilio said April sales growth was attributed to residential customers’ increased use of appliances to cope with high temperatures, the resumption of operations of cement and steel plants that were down on maintenance in March, and the start of operations of Solaire hotel and casino in Pagcor City.

Meralco, which posted a 9-percent increase in core net income to P16.3 billion in 2012 from P14.9 billion in 2011 on the back of higher electricity sales, also seeks to acquire a Singaporean power firm in partnership with Hong Kong-based investment holding First Pacific Co. Ltd.

http://business.inquirer.net/118049/meralco-income-surges-to-p4b-in-q1-up-19-3

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Stock News 2013: Ayala BPO unit buys UK-based LBM

English: Ayala Avenue in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Ayala group’s business process outsourcing (BPO) unit has acquired UK-based LBM Holdings Ltd., allowing the group to make further inroads into the United Kingdom, the world’s second-largest English language market.

In a statement on Monday, Ayala Corp. announced that the acquisition was made by Stream Global Services Inc., an investee company of the conglomerate’s BPO investment arm, LiveIT Investments Ltd.

Stream pioneered the call center industry in the country when it took the first calls from the US market in mid-2000, the statement said.

LBM is a premier demand and lead generation solutions provider that employs about 2,500 people across six locations in the UK and generates approximately £60 million in annual revenues.

Its clients are in the telecommunications, financial services, utilities, automotive and retail industries.

“We are very pleased with Stream’s entry into the UK market, its strong financial results globally, its continued growth in the Philippines, and its recognition by the industry as an employer of choice,” said Fred Ayala, LiveIt’s CEO and Stream’s vice chairman.

The Ayala group sees LBM enabling Stream to better penetrate the UK as well as strengthen its ability to help customers grow their sales through LBM’s revenue generation service offerings.

“This transaction is about delivering greater value to our clients and long-term growth for our company,” said Stream chairperson and chief executive officer Kathy Marinello. “LBM has proven experience in creating highly precise target lists of people who will be more inclined to buy products and services, which will further enhance our StreamSELLER offering.”

“StreamSELLER focuses on everything involved with the sales process, from recruiting, hiring and training the right people to the consistent use of proven sales behaviors that close more sales with greater predictability. LBM’s people, expertise and capabilities, combined with Stream’s financial strength, global presence, and sales and service offerings, will establish a broader portfolio of high-value service offerings for our clients,” Marinello said.

Stream is a leading customer relationship management BPO company with over 39,000 employees supporting 35 languages across 56 service centers in 23 countries. The company booked revenues of $860 million in 2012 and grew its adjusted cash flow by 14 percent to $101 million.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, revenue was up by 7 percent year on year to $236 million. Adjusted cash flow as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) stood at $34 million, up by 10 percent and representing the 8th straight quarter of year over year growth in adjusted Ebitda. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2012 was $4 million.

The Ayala statement noted that Stream had also achieved “strong momentum” in the Philippines where over the last three years it has grown its headcount to more than 14,000. In recent months, Stream opened three new sites in Pasay, Makati and Cebu.

http://business.inquirer.net/117983/ayala-group-acquires-uk-based-bpo-firm

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Stock News 2013: Supreme Court affirms dismissal of civil case vs SM Prime Holdings

English: Skyline of Cebu City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court in dismissing the civil case filed against SM Prime Holdings Inc. for non-payment of P76.8 million amusement tax incentive reward from 2003 to 2008.

In a decision by the high court’s first division through Associate Justice Martin Villarama, the Pasig Court’s ruling is proper and does not indicate that it is abdicating its jurisdiction over the case.

The Film Development Council of the Philippines filed the case against SM to collect the P76,836,807.08 from SM Cebu.

The civil case in Cebu, meanwhile, was filed by the Cebu City Government seeking to declare as invalid a provision of Republic Act 9167 or the law creating the Film Development Council of the Philippines which requires cities and municipalities in Metropolitan Manila and highly urbanized cities nationwide to deduct from theaters and cinemas amusement tax that will be used as reward for film producers who can make high quality films.

Cebu City government argued that the provision violates the Local Government Code specifically the provision which gives LGUs taxing power.

SM sought to dismiss the case filed in Pasig saying it has been religiously remitting amusement tax to the Cebu City government and informed the court of a similar case in Cebu, adding that its motion for intervention with the Cebu Court has been granted.

The Pasig Court granted SM’s motion to dismiss on the ground that there is a pending case in a Cebu Court.

The high court in its ruling agreed with the Pasig Court’s ruling that the Cebu Court is in the best position to rule over the case.

“A party is not allowed to vex another more than once regarding the same subject matter and for the same cause of action. This theory is ‘founded on the public policy that the same subject matter should not be the subject controversy in courts more than once, in order that possible conflicting judgments may be avoided for the sake of the stability of the rights and status of persons and also to avoid the costs and expenses incident to numerous suits,” the high court said.

http://business.inquirer.net/118175/sc-affirms-dismissal-of-civil-case-vs-sm-prime-holdings

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Stock News 2013: SEC okays Asia United Bank listing on PSE

English: Phillippine stock market board (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a plan by the Rebisco group’s commercial banking arm Asia United Bank to debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange and sell as much as P9.68 billion in shares of stock.

AUB plans to sell up to 88 million primary common shares for as much as P110 per share. The base offer consists of 80 million shares while additional 8 million shares were set aside for overallotment.

This offering, which will take place on May 7 to 14, will bring to public hands around 30 percent of the bank’s post-IPO capitalization. IPO pricing will be finalized by May 3 while listing on the PSE is targeted on May 17.

UBS AG Kong Kong branch and Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd. have been mandated as the joint bookrunners and joint lead managers for this offering. Mandated as sole global coordinator is UBS AG.

AUB is owned by a diverse group of Asian investors engaged in property development, manufacturing, and other equity ventures. Rebisco, the Philippines’ leading manufacturer, distributor, and exporter of snack food products for the past 49 years, is the biggest shareholder of the bank.

In 2012, AUB posted a 20-percent growth in net profit to P1.36 billion attributed to robust trading and lending activities. The 15-year-old bank, which aspires to be a more significant player in the Philippine banking system, expanded its balance sheet last year by 27 percent to P63.35 billion while its capitalization went up by 25 percent to P11.5 billion. Capital adequacy ratio to risk assets stood at 15 percent versus the minimum requirement of 10 percent.

http://business.inquirer.net/118169/sec-okays-asia-united-bank-listing-on-local-bourse

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Stock News 2013: IMF sees 6% GDP growth in 2013

IMF Headquarters, Washington, DC. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expecting a six percent growth of the Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) this year and 5.5 percent in 2014.

In its latest report, the IMF has noted with satisfaction some improvement in the country’s business climate.

However, to sustain strong growth, increase domestic job creation, and reduce poverty, the IMF stressed the need for further reforms geared toward increasing investment, improving infrastructure, and enhancing governance.

The expanded coverage of public health care, conditional cash transfers, and longer compulsory schooling would help meet immediate basic needs and support a more productive workforce.

To catalyze private investment, The IMF has encouraged the government to relax limits on foreign ownership, execute public-private partnerships in a transparent manner, and strengthen the medium-term fiscal framework.

The IMF has commended the authorities’ prudent policies which have delivered strong macroeconomic outcomes and set the stage for favorable economic prospects for the near term.
However, the IMF noted some risks associated with global uncertainties, volatile capital inflows, banks’ increasing exposure to some sectors, and the possibility of stretched asset prices.

The IMF stressed the importance of continued prudent policy implementation and stepped up reforms to bolster resilience, sustain high growth, and reduce poverty.

It has welcomed the broadening of the policy toolkit to strengthen monetary control and preserve macrofinancial stability.

The IMF also noted that the government’s participation in the foreign exchange market continues to be limited to smoothing excessive volatility, and urged that the exchange rate continue to move broadly in line with fundamentals.

“Careful deployment of macroprudential measures will be key to managing inflows and risks of asset price bubbles,” as the IMF highlighted that arrangements to ensure adequate central bank capital will be essential to support operational independence of monetary policy.

The IMF also commended the generally proactive financial sector oversight. Further steps to close supervisory gaps, including by broadening the central bank’s authority to allow supervision of conglomerate parents of banks and strengthening legal protections for supervisors would help mitigate systemic risks from real estate, shadow banking, and concentrated credit exposures.

http://www.mb.com.ph/article.php?aid=8372&sid=2&subid=80#.UXFNBqKqnEo

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Stock News 2013: Ayala Land sets P15-B borrowings in H2

Land Title (Philippines) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is tapping the debt market in the second half to borrow P15 billion as it takes advantage of the prevailing low interest rate environment.

The fundraising program will complete the P65.5-billion capital requirements of the country’s most valuable property firm for 2013, an executive said.

“We still have some borrowings that we plan for the rest of the year,” Jaime E. Ysmael, ALI senior vice-president chief finance officer told The STAR.

“ALI itself will probably need around P15 billion and the subsidiaries will have their own borrowing program,” Ysmael said.

The property firm allotted P65.5 billion in capital expenditures this year as it plans to launch 69 new projects worth P129 billion to ensure continuous growth in the coming years.

Ysmael said ALI’s return to the debt market will be in the second half “because we have enough resources right now coming off from the equity placement,” Ysmael said.

“We are looking at seven and 10 years of maturity or maybe longer to match the development cycle,” Ysmael said.

In an overnight equity placement in March, ALI generated P12.2 billion in fresh funding as it sold 399.528 million shares at P30.50 a piece, way above the initial target of 320 million shares amid high demand.

In its capital spending, ALI planned to secure P12 billion from equity, P20 to P25 billion from debts and the remaining requirement from internally-generated cash, Ysmael said.

Philippine companies have been tapping funds from different channels like bonds and banks amid low interest rates and high liquidity. Last week, conglomerate SM Investments Corp. announced its plan to raise P25 billion through loans and bonds.

“We intend to lock in on good rates. We believe the rates will still remain low, supportive of the more aggressive investments,” Ysmael said.

However, ALI is careful not to let its annual maturing debts reach more than P10 billion as part of its debt refinancing and payment management, Ysmael said.

In March, the policymaking Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas kept interest rates at a record low of 3.5 percent for overnight borrowing and 5.5 percent for overnight lending.

It also cut the interest it pays on funds parked at its special deposit accounts (SDA) in a bid to push out idle funds to help fund economic activity and boost growth amid a benign inflation environment.

The real estate arm of the Ayala conglomerate is set to continue this year the trend of double-digit growth in revenues and profits.

Earnings of ALI surged 27 percent to P9.04 billion last year from P7.14 billion in the previous year as revenues from its residential, hotel, office and commercial projects jumped 23 percent to P54.52 billion.

http://philstar.com/business/2013/04/22/933295/ali-sets-p15-b-borrowings-h2

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Stock News 2013: Ayala to bid for more PPP projects

Ayala Mall (Photo credit: cebuparadiseisland_com)

Ayala Corp. is keen on participating in the bidding for a number of upcoming infrastructure projects to be auctioned by the government under the public-private partnership (PPP) framework.

Eric Francia, managing director at Ayala, said the conglomerate and its partners were preparing to bid for the Cavite-Laguna (Cala) Expressway project, the Light Railway Transit 1 (Baclaran to Cavite) extension and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport project. “We will be interested to participate in LRT-2 (extension from Santolan to Antipolo) as and when it gets bid out,” Francia said in an interview on Friday.

On toll roads, the group did not participate in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) expressway project. However, Ayala plans to bid for the Cala, a four-lane, 47.02-kilometer at-grade tollroad that will connect the Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) through the Cavite and Laguna provinces.

“We are definitely interested in Cala,” Francia said. “I think it is obvious why Cala is strategic to the Ayala group—it traverses along landbanks of Ayala Land, the largest of which is Nuvali, which is where the road terminates in the Laguna side.”

The estimated project cost is $1.01 billion, of which $504.83 million is the private sector component, based on the PPP website.

For LRT-1, the Ayala group has teamed up with Metro Pacific Investments, Macquarie and foreign group RATF Development SA, which operates the Paris Metro.

The project involves the construction spanning 11.7 kilometers from the end of LRT Line 1 at the Baclaran Terminal to the Niyog Station in Bacoor, Cavite, of which 10.5 km will be elevated and 1.2 km will be at-grade. The whole stretch of the integrated LRT 1 with a total length of 32.4 km will be operated and maintained by the private proponent. Based on the PPP website, project cost is estimated at $1.25 billion.

Asked whether it will be same consortium to bid for LRT 2, he said: “For sure Metro Pacific (will be part) as we have a pan-Manila cooperation but other members have yet to be determined.”

The LRT 2 project seeks to engage the private sector to operate and maintain the existing 13.8 km line 2, which runs from the Recto Station in Manila to the Santolan Station in Pasig City, passing through Magsaysay Boulevard and Marcos Highway. The proposed 4-km extension will be from Santolan to Masinag, Antipolo.

The Ayala group has also teamed up with the Aboitiz group and American airport operator ADC&Has to vie for the P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) project.

http://business.inquirer.net/116797/mvp-smc-units-in-dead-heat-over-naia-project

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Stock News 2013: MVP, SMC units in dead heat over Naia project

The Skyway System. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The concessionaire for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) stage 2 expressway will be known this week once the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) opens the financial bids of the two firms vying for the deal.

Manuel V. Pangilinan’s Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) and San Miguel Corp. subsidiary Optimal Infrastructure Development Corp. were the only two bidders that submitted technical and financial bids for the P13.61-billion project last week.

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center Executive Director Cosette Canilao said both have passed the government’s post-qualification checks of their respective technical proposals.

Whether one technical proposal is better than the other will not be taken into account, Canilao said.

“In accordance with the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) law, it’s just pass or fail. Once a bidder passes, the opening of its financial bid will be allowed,” Canilao said over the weekend.

The DPWH’s technical working group (TWG) has gone through the technical proposals of both firms, she said. Both proposals contain details of where the road will pass through, where the off-ramps will be located, and other features.

The TWG has not found any deficiency in either of the two technical bids, Canilao said.

MNTC currently manages the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx). Meanwhile, the San Miguel group, through various units, operate and manage the Metro Manila Skyway, the South Luzon Expressway and the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (Star toll).

Both groups are also building similar “connector roads” that would link the NLEx with Skyway, easing traffic in different parts of Metro Manila.

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. and Indian-owned M/S IL and FS Transportation Network were prequalified to bid for the project but both later on withdrew their respective proposals.

The Naia Expressway is the second phase of an existing project that will link Metro Manila Skyway, Manila’s airport complex and the Entertainment City—the country’s answer to Asian gaming centers like those in Macau and Singapore.

http://business.inquirer.net/116797/mvp-smc-units-in-dead-heat-over-naia-project

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Stock News 2013: Business Bank reports 1st Q profit of P593 M

Philippine Business Bank Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The newly listed Philippine Business Bank grew its first quarter net profit by 34.1 percent year-on-year to P593 million on strong contribution from its treasury business.

The thrift banking arm of businessman Alfredo Yao’s Zest-O group, which targets mostly small and medium enterprises, also expanded its loan book during the quarter by 42.93 percent year-on-year to P22.09 billion.

PBB’s total resources stood at P36.2 billion at end-March, up from P27.9 billion in the previous year, the bank disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Liquid assets also rose to P11.1 billion from the previous year’s P9.68 billion.  Overall earning assets expanded by 32 percent to P33.2 billion.

The bank also grew its deposit base by 19.4 percent to P26.32 billion year-on-year.

In terms of asset quality, the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans improved to 2.51 percent at end-March from 3.09 percent in the same period last year.  Every peso of soured loan is aptly covered.

Capital adequacy ratio to risk assets remained high at 31.5 percent during the period.

http://business.inquirer.net/116567/business-bank-reports-1st-q-profit-of-p593-m

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