Stock News 2012: Manulife premiums up 60%

Insurance (Photo credit: Christopher S. Penn)

Manulife Philippines has reported a 60-percent growth in total premiums and deposits in the first nine months of 2012.

Total funds under management ballooned to a record P58.5 billion, while wealth sales increased 169 percent.

Total premium income reached P4.98 billion in 2011 based on data coming from the Insurance Commission (IC). That implies that premium income, including deposits, is around P7 billion end September this year.

The Asia Pacific Bond Fund (APBF) contributed significantly to the insurer’s AUMs despite having been launched in October 2011.

As of end-September 2012, APBF turned out a 7.06-percent return year-to-date – an impressive feat relative to similar funds. This is also much better than time deposit rates offered by most banks at currently below one percent.

APBF is available through Manulife Philippines’ dollar-denominated single pay (Affluence Max/Affluence Max Gold) and regular pay (Affluence Builder series) variable life products.

As of end-September 2012, total subscriptions amounted to $26 million for the fund.

According to Manulife Philippines president and chief executive officer Indren Naidoo, insurance sales in the third quarter were stimulated by the availability of new endowment and whole life products.

Endowment and whole life products are protection products that usually result in recurring business as payments are generally paid over a long period of time, in contrast to onetime or single pay premium products.

“The enhanced anticipated endowment are the Freedom series for the agency channel and MoneyMax series for the bancassurance channel, and whole life or the Seasons 100 for the agency channel and Legacy Protect 100 for the bancassurance channel products with financial protection coverage and guaranteed benefits,” Naidoo explained.

Total policies-in-force stood at nearly 400,000.

The Manulife Philippines chief executive said that the insurer expanded close to 4,000 agents primarily due to its rapid and aggressive branch office expansion throughout the country.

http://philstar.com/banking/2012/12/11/884484/manulife-premiums-60

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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: BPI holds record P700-B assets under management

BPI Direct Savings Bank logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has reached a record P700 billion in assets under management (AUMs) as of end January this year.

BPI Asset Management and Trust Group (BPI-AMTG), a BPI subsidiary, is the overall fund manager for BPI assets that includes managing mutual funds, unit investment trust funds (UITFs), the Odyssey funds, and other traditional trust products such as those in escrow, reserves of pre-need companies, corporate and institutional funds, pension and provident funds.

BPI Investment Management Inc. (BIMI) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPI, is the fund manager and principal distributor of the six ALFM mutual funds, as well as the Bahay Pari Solidaritas Fund and Ekklesia Mutual Fund.

BPI serves as investment advisor to all mutual fund managed and distributed by BIMI.

The largest portfolio is the wealth management, accounting for roughly 40 percent of total followed by the institutional accounts taking approximately 24 percent. Then, traditional trust products accounting for 22 percent, and the Odyssey funds for 14 percent.

The Peso Fixed Income Funds group ballooned to about P67.3 billion in January 2012. It is a mixed of unit investment trust fund (UITF) and mutual funds and includes the BPI Short Term Fund, BPI Premium Fund and the BPI Institutional Fund, which combined amounts to over P13 billion.

The ALFM Peso Bond Fund remains the single largest mutual fund managed by the BPI fund managers. In fact, it is also the country’s largest mutual fund, and among the more popular investment instruments for individual investors.

Also part of the huge Peso Fixed Income Funds are the Odyssey Peso Cash Management Fund, the Odyssey Peso Income Fund, the Odyssey Bond Fund and the Odyssey Tax-Exempt Peso Fixed Income Fund.

The Odyssey funds as managed by fund managers that came from the acquisition by BPI of the ING asset management group. In fact, the Odyssey funds alone amount to P92.03 billion.

Meanwhile, the Global Fixed Income Funds amount to roughly P17.8 billion. Three of the largest funds are the ALFM Dollar Bond Fund (P7.5 billion), the Odyssey Philippine Dollar Bond (P4.2 billion), and the BPI Global Philippine Fund (P3.8 billion).

Peso Equity Funds grew to approximately P24.7 billion, and the Global Equity Fund grew in the vicinity of P4.5 billion.

BPI defines mutual funds as a collective investment scheme, which pool money from a large number of shareholders and invest in a portfolio-which may include money market, bond/fixed income or equity securities.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=790300&publicationSubCategoryId=66

Stock News 2011: Grepalife-managed mutual funds surpass P3-B sales in Q3

Image via WikipediaImage via WikipediaImage via Wikipedia
Grepalife Asset Management Corporation (GAMC), the mutual fund management arm of Yuchengco Group of Companies, has marked its presence in the mutual fund market by surpassing P3.2 billion gross sales mark as of the end of the third quarter of 2011. Based on data from the Philippine Investment Fund Association (PIFA) as of the period ended August 2011, GAMC-managed mutual funds likewise dominated total net sales (difference between gross sales and redemptions) among bond mutual funds invested in foreign currency securities by increasing net assets by P1.3 billion representing 106% share in total net sales growth for all funds in the same category. Industry data likewise revealed some competitor funds have experienced negative net sales in the same period.

Butch L. Lustado, Assistant General Manager of GAMC claims that the stable returns have allowed their company to grow their assets under management to over P4.6 billion by the end of the third quarter of 2011. “Our investors are by and large very satisfied with the way we handle their hard-earned funds and keep them informed about it,” says Lustado. GAMC has an on-demand account inquiry service for investors via SMS and the Internet.

http://mb.com.ph/articles/337019/grepalifemanaged-mutual-funds-surpass-p3b-sales-q3

International News 2010: Burger King 4Q net income falls 17 pct; sales slip

Image via WikipediaBurger King earns $49M in 4Q, down 17 pct; lower sales, higher ingredient costs take toll
MIAMI (AP) -- Burger King Holdings Inc.'s fourth-quarter net income fell nearly 17 percent as sales slipped and costs for ingredients and packaging climbed.
The fast-food restaurant said Tuesday that it earned $49 million, or 36 cents per share during the period that ended in late June. That compares to last year's net income of $58.9 million, or 43 cents per share.
The company also got a smaller tax benefit than last year.
Revenue slipped 1 percent to $623 million.
The earnings beat Wall Street forecasts, but revenue fell short. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn 34 cents per share with revenue of $635 million.
Sales at restaurants open at least a year slid for the fifth consecutive quarter. That key indicator of a restaurant chain's performance excludes growth at stores that open or close during the year. The measure fell 0.7 percent around the globe and 1.5 percent in the U.S. and Canada.
While the declines weren't as steep as those recorded in previous quarters, Burger King continued to lag its bigger competitor, McDonald's Corp.
Burger King has been particularly vexed by the economic downturn as layoffs and a high unemployment rate hurt its core demographic of young men. Its tried to compensate by expanding its menu with items that appeal to both budget-conscious customers and those willing to spend more.
And Tuesday, the company said that effort is showing some success as customers in North America bought its $1 menu items like a breakfast muffin and a double cheeseburger. But customers also gravitated toward some more expensive dishes too, like the company's breakfast bowl, Whiplash Whopper and ribs.
For the full year, Burger King earned $186.8 million, or $1.36 per share. That's down 7 percent from last year's net income of $ 200.1 million, or $1.46 per share.
Full-year revenue slipped 1 percent to $2.50 billion, down from $2.54 billion.
"In fiscal year 2010, we faced sustained levels of high unemployment and a fragile global economy that combined made this one of the toughest operating environments in recent history," Chairman and CEO John Chidsey said in a statement.
Burger King is based in Miami and has more than 12,000 restaurants around the globe.
Its shares climbed 38 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $17 in pre-market trading Tuesday.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Burger-King-4Q-net-income-apf-3616881703.html?x=0

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