Stock News 2010: Geo-Estate gains ground with The Beacon Makati

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 MANILA, Philippines – Geo-Estate Development Corp.’s maiden venture, The Beacon Makati, is now taking shape amidst more than 10,000 sqm of prime land on the corner of Chino Roces (formerly Pasong Tamo) and Arnaiz (formerly Pasay Road) Avenue. Recently, Geo-Estate president and COO Miriam O. Katigbak expressed confidence that the project will emerge as the only condo development of its kind in the area with a distinguishable and unparalleled “residential resort” theme.

This pronouncement is related to the impending turnover of the first building, Roces Tower, by the middle to the third quarter of 2011. Now in its finishing stages, construction is deemed right on track.

“We started construction of Roces Tower in the middle of 2008 and this 42-story structure is now set for completion soon. For the second phase which is Arnaiz Tower, we started construction in August this year and it is scheduled for turnover in 2013. Amorsolo or Tower 3 is presently in its planning stages and will be launched soon,” Katigbak said.

With sales averaging well across the market segments, Katigbak said that the industry has started to take notice of Geo-Estate as a formidable developer even if it is a young company.

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/290367/geoestate-gains-ground-with-the-beacon-makati

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Stock News 2010: DTI allows increase in sugar retail price

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MANILA, Philippines – The government Wednesday lifted the suggested retail price for sugar to ease supply as shortage in local supply reached 110,000 tons and a plan to import 310,000 metric tons early next year.

Trade and Industry Secretary and Chair of the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) Gregory L. Domingo told reporters after meeting with the manufacturers and retailers.

According to Domingo the lifting of the SRP on sugar was meant to bring in more sugar supply as retailers refused to sell because the SRP on refined sugar is still pegged at P52 per kilo when prices sugar is already selling at P63 to P65 per kilo as ex-mill prices is between P62 to P64 a kilo already.

While the lifting of the SRP on sugar could mean a free-for-all market, Domingo said that DTI would be closely monitoring to ensure there would be no unwarranted increases and unscrupulous traders could still face profiteering and overpricing charges. The idea of lifting the SRP is to ensure there is enough sugar for the Christmas season.

Domingo said the shortage in sugar supply is largely caused by the delayed in the milling season and the continuing higher prices of sugar globally.

He, however, said that some mills are already starting milling.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/290434/dti-allow

Stock News 2010: Sun Cellular now offers Facebook for free

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MANILA, Philippines – Sun Cellular subscribers can now enjoy connecting with their friends and family on Facebook for free with their handsets. The service provided by Sun Cellular is Facebook Zero, a light version of Facebook for mobile phones. The service allows users check their status, update their news feed, and comment without shelling out a single peso, thus the name “Zero.”

Sun Cellular is the only mobile operator in the Philippines to tie up with Facebook and offer this mobile service for free.

“Facebook offered the FB for free on mobile phones to all mobile operators worldwide. Knowing how popular Facebook is with its subscribers, Sun Cellular saw this as opportunity to extend value added services to its users and signed up,” explains Ricky Pena, Sun Cellular Vice-President for Postpaid and New Business.

Facebook Zero is a light service allowing users to check their status, read and update news feeds from friends, and post comments for free. Charges will only apply when users access external links and photos.

All Sun Cellular subscribers with GRPS capable handsets can start using Facebook Zero. Once your cellphone is activated, go to wap.suncellular.com.ph and click on ‘Free Facebook’.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/290287/

Stock News 2010: Gokongwei Group set to start construction

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Finally, the Gokongwei Group is going to start construction of its long-overdue $500-million naphtha cracker project in Batangas, Board of Investments managing head Cristino L. Panlilio said.

Panlilio told reporters that Lance Gokongwei, president of JG Summit Holdings Inc., who paid him a courtesy call last week and informed him of the project’s development.

“He said that project construction will start in January this year. It is rough half a billion dollar project,” Panlilio said.

The naphtha cracker plant was originally registered with the BoI in 2005 at a project cost of P25.6 billion under the JG Summit Petrochemical Corp. Based on that original registration, the plant was supposed was supposed to start commercial in 2008.

In May 2008, however, the company revised the project with a new commercial operation target of January 2012. At that time, the project cost already ballooned to P34.38 billion, P8.7 billion more than its original P25.6 billion because of the foreign exchange depreciation at that time. It was placed under an entirely new unit – JG Summit Olefins Corp.

This time, however, Panlilio said the project cost is roughly half a billion dollars or back to its original cost of P25 billion. The reduced cost could largely be attributed to the strong peso against the US greenback.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/290286/gokongwei-group-

Stock News 2010: Pancake converts P220-M worth of notes to 20% equity

MANILA, Philippines – Pancake House, Inc., has issued shares equivalent to 20.67 percent of its outstanding capital to two creditors through the conversion of five-year convertible notes amounting to P220.48 million.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Pancake House said this is in line with the terms of the investment agreement it signed with Aureos Southeast Asia Fund, L.L.C. and Plantersbank Venture Capital Corp. for SME's, Pancake House Holdings Inc. and Martin Lorenzo in October 21, 2005.

The firm said the remaining five-year convertible notes of the corporation issued on October 28, 2005 were mandatorily converted into 45.16 million common shares with par value of P1 per common share out of the corporation's authorized but unissued capital stock.

The shares were swapped at the conversion price of P4.485030 per common share and credited as fully paid and non assessable to Aureos (P151.9 million) and Grand Prime International Limited (P50.63 million).

The conversion of the notes to common shares resulted in Pancake House having a total issued and outstanding capital stock of P237.8 million divided into 237.8 common shares with P1 par value.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/290279/pancake-convert

Stock News 2010: PSE implements rule requiring listed firms to have 10% minimum public ownership

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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Tuesday started implementing a rule that listed companies should have a minimum public ownership of 10 percent to avoid being delisted, in an effort to improve liquidity in shares and enable the discovery of a fair price.

The move, which was approved last December following a 63 percent increase in the benchmark index in 2009, comes nearly five years after the stock market operator first scrapped a similar norm in 2005, retaining it only for initial and backdoor listings.

The weakness of the stock market in the first half of the decade forced many companies to resort to buying back shares to shore up stock prices. In the process, many companies ended up non-compliant of the minimum public ownership and faced the prospect of being delisted if the ownership limit for continuing listing wasn't dropped.

As of last November, only 71 of the 179 listed firms listed on the bourse were compliant with the minimum ownership level.

Under the PSE's amended rule, listed companies whose public ownership has fallen below 10% are given a 12-month grace period to comply with the ownership rule and are fined subsequently. If public ownership stays below the minimum level for 36 months, the firms will be delisted.

The bourse has sent out reminders to increase public stake to at least 10% of their outstanding stocks to avoid delisting.

Four companies--oil refiner Petron Corp., ship builder Keppel Philippines Marine Inc., pharmaceutical company Euro-Med Laboratories Philippines Inc. and investment holding company Manchester International Holdings Unlimited Inc.) – that had been asked to comply with the new rule have replied to the bourse's request.

In separate filings with the PSE, all four companies have pledged to take steps to meet the required public ownership.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/290274/p

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Stock News 2010: Insular Life energy-linked product generates P700 M

Insular Life’s latest investment-linked insurance product offer, the i-Dollar Energy 5 was a best-seller.

Launched last October 18 and available only until November 8, Insular’s i-Dollar Energy 5 was a principal-protected, 5 years to mature, single premium US dollar-denominated variable life insurance policy that provided investment opportunities in the international energy sector through key equity indexes.

Aside from the appeal of the underlying investment asset because of growing global demand for traditional and alternative energy, the product also had a novel “look-back” feature wherein the four lowest quarterly observation values would be dropped, thus further raising the upside potential return to the investor.

Insular Life’s latest special product offering was so well-received that it generated almost $16 million, or approximately P700 million in new premium revenues. This was more than five times the target volume initially set.

The response was unprecedented and eclipsed all previous sales records for the company’s limited product campaigns.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/290064/in

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