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: Huge downpayment, regulatory approvals scuttle GMA-PLDT deal

GMA Network reportedly demanded billions of pesos paid once a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is signed with the group of Manuel V. Pangilinan, whether or not the latter’s bid to acquire the private stake in the broadcasting company pushes through.

This, as well as other non-monetary demands, led Pangilinan’s group to no longer pursue its quest to purchase the over 70 percent stake held by the Gozon, Jimenez, and Duavit families in GMA, The STAR learned.

Sources revealed that the billions of pesos in fees, which is on top of the reportedly over P50 billion purchase price, was to paid after the MOA is signed and before the closure of the deal. Other requirements prior to closure include securing all the necessary government and regulatory licenses and approvals, all to be secured by the PLDT Group.

Without GMA help, securing the necessary licenses and approvals will not be easy, a source said.

It was not immediately known why the owners of GMA wanted the inclusion of the provision on the “fee” in the discussions when during the Pangilinan’s group’s first attempt to takeover GMA, there was no such demand.

Sources privy to the recently failed negotiations revealed that Pangilinan’s group felt that the owners of GMA were just not interested to sell. “This was not something an interested seller would ask for,” a highly placed source said.

When the two parties jointly announced early last month that the discussions are no longer pushing through, they said that it was not about the purchase price.

The acquisition of GMA by PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund unit Mediaquest was supposed to be part of Pangilinan’s aim for the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) to transform into a multi-media company. The group owns minority stakes in The Philippine STAR, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Business World, and controlling interests in TV5 and Cignal, a direct-to-home (DTH) satellite company.

The acquisition of GMA, STAR sources revealed, augurs well with plans of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co., which controls PLDT, to have a regional presence in the broadcasting field.

Pangilinan earlier said he is in talks with Anthoni Salim, chairman and controlling shareholder of First Pacific, to acquire Salim’s Indonesia-based TV station.

It was also learned that First Pacific is also eyeing a TV network in Vietnam.

In 2001, PLDT engaged in talks with the owners of GMA, but negotiations bogged down over issues encountered by the prospective buyer.

“2001, if I recall correctly was P14 billion (amount being offered for GMA). It’s just that Home Cable came ahead of GMA by a few months. In 2001 and 2002, PLDT was not in good shape. If GMA came in first, I think we would have chosen GMA. But that’s fate,” Pangilinan earlier said.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=866791&publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2010: ERC orders NPC to refund customers P0.04/kWh

Image via Wikipedia
MANILA, Philippines – Luzon electricity consumers can only expect a minimal reduction of P0.04 per kilowatt hour (kWh) from the foreign exchange refund ordered on National Power Corporation (NPC), the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has clarified.

While the forex gain reduction approved was at P0.34 per kilowatt hour (kWh), this has to be offset from the last adjustment of P0.31 per kWh which has lapsed in November billing cycle.

“The overall reduction in the forex component on NPC charges will just be P0.04 per kWh because that has to be reckoned with its time-of-use (TOU) which was set to even out from the last currency exchange rate adjustment,” ERC executive director Francis Saturnino Juan has noted.

The foreign exchange gains logged by state-run NPC has merited an order from the regulatory body for it to refund P6.6 billion worth of over-collections to Luzon customers. This could have translated to P0.34 per kWh if without the offsetting mechanism.

Visayas and Mindanao consumers will similarly benefit from the rate decline.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/290794/erc-order