THE VILLAR group, via AllHome Corp., has signed a deal with biopharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca to procure coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines for its employees and for donation to the public.
In a statement on Thursday, the company said it had signed an agreement, together with the Philippine government, local government units, private sector donors, and AstraZeneca to bring another 17 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the country.
AllHome Chairman Manuel B. Villar, Jr. said the vaccine aims to not only save lives, but also jobs and businesses.
“The vaccine will not only provide protection from the virus, but it will help boost consumer confidence to go out again. It is by helping each other during this time that we can start our journey to economic recovery,” Mr. Villar was quoted as saying.
AllHome said the donation has been made possible through Go Negosyo’s “A Dose of Hope Program”.
Meanwhile, AllHome Vice Chair Camille A. Villar said the company continues to find ways to help Filipinos amid the pandemic.
“We continue to find more ways of extending help to even more Filipinos through advocating for safe shopping in-store and providing contactless shopping options to consumers, donating learning tools to aid in distance-learning program, and most recently, the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines for AllHome employees and the public,” Ms. Villar was quoted as saying.
By the end of 2020, AllHome said it had a network of 50 stores across the country.
During the third quarter of 2020, the company posted an attributable net income of P312 million, higher than the P5 million it posted in the previous quarter. Its revenues during the period reached P3.47 billion, higher by 11% than in 2019.
Separately, Villar-led Golden Bria Holdings, Inc. said the Securities and Exchange Commission had approved its petition to change its corporate name to Golden MV Holdings, Inc.
It said the name change is meant to provide flexibility in the expansion of its business. The required written assent from its stockholders to approve the amendment was received on Dec. 12 last year, it added.
On Thursday, AllHome and Golden Bria shares at the stock exchange were both flat at P8.70 and P450 apiece, respectively. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
