Stock News 2013: PH gets P23-B loan from Japan for LRT, airport

Edmonton LRT (Photo credit: Pommie)

The Japanese government has provided the Philippines with a fresh P23.19 billion in loans for critical transport infrastructure, including the upgrading of two metro railways and the construction of a higher-capacity airport in Bohol.

Japanese Ambassador Toshinao Urabe and Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on Monday signed loan agreements on the P18.56-billion extension of Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines 1 and 2 and the construction of a P4.63-billion airport in Panglao.

The signing formalized an announcement of the loans by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida during his visit to Manila in January. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Department of Transportation and Communication will implement the projects.

“As you know, Japanese development aid emphasizes the importance of infrastructure. Better infrastructure creates business opportunities for private investment and more jobs. More income means more consumption and more tax input,” said Urabe on Monday afternoon.

“Improved government finance will lead to more public investment in better welfare programs. In short, economic growth becomes sustainable,” he said at the signing rites at DFA headquarters in Pasay City.

Details of the projects have yet to be released, but the DFA said the Panglao airport project would upgrade the existing Bohol airport to international standards.

Urabe said he himself experienced less than ideal conditions at the Bohol airport during a trip in November, when his flights coming in and out of the province were each delayed an hour. He noted that a delay had a ripple effect on other flights.

Apart from the loans, the Philippine and Japanese sides announced the awarding of a grant in aid totaling P443.33 million for the construction of hydropower projects in Ifugao and Isabela.

The DFA said the two “mini hydropower projects” were part of the Department of Energy’s program “to develop renewable energy resources for energy sustainability, stability and security.”

Urabe said the projects would apply Japanese technology that “use small amounts of water to generate cheap and clean electricity.” The hydropower system will also have minimal negative effect on agriculture, he said.

Japan is the Philippines’ largest donor of loans and grants with $593.3 million (P24 billion) in aid disbursements in 2011, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This accounts for 40 percent of the total official development aid disbursements that year, ahead of aid from the United States at $541.3 million (P22 billion).

http://business.inquirer.net/114361/ph-gets-p23-b-loan-from-japan-for-lrt-airport

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Stock News 2013: PH to reel in $20B in foreign investments from Japan

Prime Minister Shinzō Abe of Japan, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007, in Sydney. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Philippines is well poised to profit from Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s move to steer clear of China and move to Southeast Asia for capital expansion.

Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo told the Philippine Daily Inquirer: “I agree we will benefit, we are already seeing some of it now.”

Japan is the country’s biggest business partner with  total trade and investments of $13 billion and the third biggest source of tourists.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, an economist, said that Japan’s fear of China’s increasing military and financial might would likely  trigger the second massive outflow of Japanese direct investments.

Salceda noted a repeat of the effect of the 1987 Plaza Accord where the United States, France, West Germany, United Kingdom and Japan agreed to force the appreciation of the yen from 248 to 78 per US dollar to help the American economy recover.

“The Philippines was not able to optimize the benefits due to coup-driven political instability post-EDSA and aggressive competitive marketing by Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. We cannot afford to lose out again on this FDI (foreign direct investment) bonanza which I consider to be the single most important economic factor in the Philippine horizon,” said Salceda.

Salceda said that if the Philippines played its cards right, it could haul in at least $20 billion in Japanese investments in manufacturing over the next six years.

“I started to be an analyst during 1989, one year after the Plaza Accord. I remember quite distinctly that this was the number the analysts community were projecting,” said Salceda.

“This is the most benevolent economic and external discrete factor ever to happen in favor of the Philippines, only the Asian pivot of the US geopolitics comes second,” said Salceda.

Salceda suggested that given this massive opportunity, the Aquino administration should push for “more articulate ambition in infrastructure and more aggressive visioneering and faster execution.”

Another major concern of Japanese investors is the high cost of electricity in the country.

http://business.inquirer.net/103059/ph-to-reel-in-20b-in-foreign-investments-from-japan-says-economic-analyst

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Stock News 2012: Meralco says customers to see lower bills

Jollibee mascot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
fast food chains in the world” in its May 2012 issue.

The homegrown fastfood chain made it to the list alongside England’s Pret a Manger, Russia’s Teremok, Taiwan’s Din Tai Fung, Puerto Rico’s El Mason Sandwiches, Japan’s Ippudo, Australia’s Chocolateria San Churro, and Brazil’s Giraffas, among others.

“Fastfood gets a Filipino twist at this quick-serve chain, which is so beloved that its mascots star in their own children’s television show,” said author Jamie Feldmar in the article.

“There are more than 700 locations across the country, serving anything from fried chicken and hamburgers to local favorites like palabok, rice noodles with meat sauce, shrimp and hard-boiled egg.”

Feldmar also recommends the “Spicy Chickenjoy, fried chicken coated with chili powder” to first-time diners.

Apart from Chickenjoy, Jollibee also became a household name in the Philippines for its Jolly Spaghetti, Palabok Fiesta, Yumburger, and Peach Mango Pie, among other treats.

Starting as a two-branch ice cream parlor in 1975, it grew into what is now the largest and most popular fast food chain in the country.

Jollibee is the largest fast food chain in the Philippines, operating a nationwide network of more than 750 stores.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=807758&publicationSubCategoryId=63

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Stock News 2012: ABS-CBN income falls 69% to P306 million in Q1

Logo for ABS–CBN Corporation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Multi-media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corp. said its net profit declined 69 percent in the first quarter this year to P306 million, from P976 million a year ago when it booked gains from the sale unit of Sky Cable’s Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs).

Stripping the one-time gain of P674 million in 2011, however, ABS-CBN’s net income would have been up one percent on a recurring basis, the company said.

Consolidated revenues rose eight percent to P7.1 billion, 59 percent of which or P4.2 billion came from advertising.

Advertising revenues across all platforms and subsidiaries went up four percent to P4.2 billion.

But earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell 35 percent to P1.4 billion.

Consumer sales climbed 15 percent to almost P3 billion, largely driven by the 12 percent growth in Sky Cable’s revenues owing to the nine percent rise in postpaid service and 31 percent hike in broadband service revenues.

Revenues from its international unit, ABS-CBN Global, improved three percent on the back of a three percent rise in overall viewer count to around 2.5 million as of end-March this year. Double-digit growth in subscribers continued to be experienced in Canada, and singledigit growth in all other territories except Japan and Europe where subscribers declined.

ABS-CBN maintained its national audience share and ratings leadership with prime-time audience share averaging 42 percent during the period under review, with a 12 percentage point lead over main rival GMA’s, according to Kantar national TV ratings data.

Total operating and other expenses jumped by 27 percent to P6.1 billion. Production costs increased 10 percent to P2.5 billion

The company has earmarked around P5 billion for its capital expenditure program this year, majority of which or P2 billion will go to the continued expansion of the broadband business. Around P1.2 billion will be channeled to flagship station Channel 2.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=807032

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Stock News 2012: SMB mulls options on public float

Tender Juicy Giants logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
San Miguel Brewery Inc. (SMB), the flagship unit of diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp., said may issue preferred shares to comply with the exchange’s minimum public ownership rule or apply for voluntary delisting should it fail to convince its Japanese partner to dilute its shareholdings.

In a briefing with reporters yesterday, San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang said they are meeting with Japan’s largest beer company, Kirin Brewery Co., which owns 48 percent of SMB, to discuss ways on how to meet the minimum public float of 10 percent for listed companies.

“We’ll meet in June, hopefully we can sell together because we don’t want to get diluted,” Ang said.

Should everything else fail, SMB may opt to voluntarily delist its shares from the stock exchange.

SMB, the country’s most valuable listed firm, has a free float of 0.6 percent, according to stock exchange data.

Ang pointed out that SMB has a strong cashflow and does not need to go to the equity market to support its expansion.

As for its food manufacturing arm, Ang said Purefoods is considering selling 10 or 15 percent of the company through a secondary offering or issuance of new shares to increase its public float to at least 10 percent.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=805695&publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2011: Cebu Pacific buys 37 Airbus jets

Image via Wikipedia
Budget carrier Cebu Pacific announced Thursday it had ordered 37 new Airbus jets worth $3.8 billion as part of its ambitious plans to expand operations across the Asia Pacific.

Cebu Pacific chief executive Lance Gokongwei told a news conference his company had ordered 30 Airbus A321neo jets and seven A320 aircraft, to be delivered between 2015 and 2021.

He said the airline also had another option for 10 more A321neo jets, which can carry more people and fly longer distances than the A320s that currently dominate Cebu Pacific’s fleet.

“These 220-seater aircraft will be a game changer for Cebu Pacific,” Gokongwei said.

“We will be able to serve cities in Australia, India and northern Japan, places the A320 cannot reach.”

Cebu Pacific is already the number one airline in the Philippines in terms of passenger numbers, having expanded rapidly in recent years to overtake national carrier Philippine Airlines.

http://business.inquirer.net/4368/cebu-pacific-buys-37-airbus-jets-worth-3-8b

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Stock News 2011: Philippines has most expensive electricity in Asia

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The Philippines has gained a new record, that of having the most expensive electricity in the whole of Asia.

The new record was reported by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to the power and energy committee of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) chaired by Jose Alejandro during a recent meeting.

The committee quoted a study made last October by the International Energy Consultants, an independent think-tank which allowed the power distributor to borrow the result of said study.

The study had shown that with average retail rate of electricity of 18.1 US cents per kilowatt-hour in the Philippines, it has eased out Japan at the top of having the most expensive electricity in Asia. As of the same month last year, electric rates in Japan were at 17.9 US centers per kilowatt-hour.

Besides Japan, subjected to the study were the utility companies in Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia.

A similar study made by Meralco using the figures in the last quarter of 2008 indicated that until that year, the Philippines was still slightly behind Japan in electric rates.

The disparity in rates between the Philippines and most countries in the rest of Asia was so big that with the exception of Japan and Singapore, what consumers pay elsewhere is just the equivalent of the generation charges that consumers in the Philippines pay. This averages P5 a kilowatt-hour.

The high cost of electricity in the Philippines was traced by the group to the fact that all costs - from producing power to distribution and taxes – are passed on to consumers.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/305841/philippine

Stock News 2010: Eastern Petroleum logs 500% rise in sales with closed pipeline

Image by alles-schlumpf via Flickr
MANILA, Philippines – Trailing the feat of most oil companies unaffected by the Batangas-Manila pipeline closure, Eastern Petroleum Corporation reported that its sales have grown 500-percent month-on-month because of volume shift to other industry players.

In an interview with reporters, Eastern Petroleum chairman Fernando L. Martinez likewise noted the company’s sales revenues reached a record P3.2 billion to-date, which he described to have risen exponentially from last year.

The build-up in the oil firm’s inventory, he stressed, has been part of their “response to government call” following the supply delivery constraints experienced by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation and Chevron Philippines Inc.

“Eastern will continue to import huge quantities enough to fill up the gap to avoid any supply disruption for Luzon,” he said.

For the month of December alone, Martinez said they already cornered 37 million liters of diesel from a Japan shipment; and two gasoline product shipments from Singapore.

“The combined cargoes of more than 50 million liters are for distribution to Eastern Petroleum network of gasoline stations and to supply other oil retailers and distributors experiencing tight supply,” he added.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/292165/ea