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Yields on term deposits decline on safe-haven demand amid concerns

YIELDS ON term deposits slipped on Wednesday on the back of higher bids as the central bank gave the market fresh signals it would ease monetary policy further this year and amid escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which may have caused investors to put their money in safer havens.

Bids for the term deposit facility (TDF) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) totaled P276.224 billion on Wednesday, well above the P120 billion on offer, according to data from the central bank.

This week’s total tenders also exceeded the P153.434 billion in bids the central received last week against the P90 billion on the auction block.

Banks’ tenders for the seven-day deposits amounted to P102.182 billion, surpassing the P40 billion auctioned off by the central bank and also higher than the P48.605-billion tenders seen last week for the P30 billion on offer.

Rates for the one-week papers ranged from 4.08% to 4.2%, a thinner margin compared to the 4.2%-4.25% seen a week ago. This resulted in an average rate of 4.1641%, slipping by 7.04 basis points (bps) from last week’s 4.2345%.

For two-week deposits, bids hit P88.906 billion, more than double the P40 billion offered by the central bank and also higher than the P49.172 billion worth of tenders seen last week against the P30 billion auctioned.

Banks sought returns ranging from 4.125% to 4.2544%, a wider band compared to the 4.28-4.325% range seen on Jan. 2. The average rate for the 14-day term deposits was at 4.2364%, down 6.81 bps from the 4.3045% logged last week.

Meanwhile, tenders for the 28-day papers totaled P85.136 billion, higher than the P40 billion offered by the central bank and also beating the P55.657 billion in bids seen last week for the P30 billion up for grabs.

The one-month papers fetched rates ranging from 4.125% to 4.3%, a wider range compared to the 4.295% to 4.35% margin seen Jan. 2. This caused its average rate to settle at 4.2704%, inching down by 5.98 bps from the previous auction’s 4.3302%.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort noted that the lower yields came after the BSP chief’s latest signals about the central bank’s policy stance.

“The latest decline in auction yields may be attributed to the latest signals by BSP Governor [Benjamin E.] Diokno about a possible 0.25-[bp] cut in local policy rates within the first quarter of 2020, as the moves in the BSP TDF auction yields are very much correlated and pegged with the BSP’s key overnight borrowing rate/policy rates,” Mr. Ricafort said.

On Tuesday, Mr. Diokno told reporters that the central bank may implement another round of monetary easing as soon as this quarter.

“I promised first quarter of this year, maybe 25 basis points, and we’ll continue to look at other numbers,” he told reporters at the first meeting of the Tuesday Club held in Pasig City.

The BSP Monetary Board last year cut policy rates by 75 bps, partially dialing back the 175 bps worth of hikes implemented in 2018.

The rate on the BSP’s overnight reverse repurchase facility currently stands at 4%, while the overnight deposit and lending rates are at 3.5% and 4.5%, respectively.

The higher bids could also be sign that investors are opting for safe havens, including bonds, amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, according to UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion.

“We know that the US-Iran conflict has intensified with Iran just recently retaliated with rockets to targets within Iraq where US forces are stationed,” Mr. Asuncion said.

“Normally, the market environment dictates the appetite for bonds. Bonds are considered “safe havens” for investors when the environment is fraught with fear…,” he added.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Iran launched 15 missiles at US-led forces in Iraq as a retaliatory act for the death of their top military official due to a Washington-sponsored drone strike. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

8 ways wine will change in 2020

By Elin McCoy, Bloomberg

WHAT A decade this has been for wine — both good and bad.

The 2010s saw the rise of serious global concern (at last!) about the effect of climate change on wine. That will continue big time, especially with 2019’s scorching heat waves in France and catastrophic fires in Sonoma, California, and South Australia.

The rosé juggernaut of the past decade continues, as luxury players move in to Provence. LVMH acquired two rosé producers last year, including a majority share of Château d’Esclans, maker of ubiquitous Whispering Angel. Chanel, owner of three Bordeaux châteaux, snapped up Domaine de l’Ile.

Natural wine captured the zeitgeist of the decade, which ended with trade wars slamming wine in the form of US tariffs on French, German, and Spanish reds and whites, with the uncertainty of more to come in 2020. Brexit is still a problem, and wine caves, once a major tourism attraction in Napa, California, turned into political footballs. (Tip for cave owners: Don’t turn on the chandelier.)

Hard seltzer also captured hearts, minds, and tongues this past year, with sales surging 210% in the US. To my dismay, they’re poised to triple by 2023, according to the drinks market analysts at IWSR. Why not make wine spritzers?

On the plus side, fizz continues to effervesce, even though the French are drinking much less Champagne. To supply ever-increasing global demand (and at lower prices), Brazil, California, New Zealand, Oregon, and Tasmania are producing better sparklers than ever.

At least, unlike the roaring ’20s of a century ago, 2020 won’t begin with Prohibition.

Here’s what else I see in my crystal glass for 2020:

1. GLOBAL WARMING WILL RAMP UP WINE EXPERIMENTS EVERYWHERE
You’ll see the bottled results of dozens of experiments, and more will be started. Sparkling wine from Nova Scotia? Definitely. Historic and new hybrid grapes that can cope with heat better? Spain’s Torres winery is on it; ditto Bordeaux, Champagne, and Napa. Fresher, brighter whites from high-altitude vineyards? Look to Chile and Argentina, including even the cold extremities of Patagonia.

2. UNFUSSY PIQUETTE WILL BECOME A THING
Casual, low-cost, and low-alcohol drinks that offer gluggable simplicity are having a moment, and they’ll be even more important in 2020.

The fashion for pét-nats (pétillant naturel wines) and even hard seltzer (ugh!) are part of this trend. The latest addition is piquette, a worker’s drink popular centuries ago. Not technically a wine, it’s made by fermenting pomace — the leftover skins, seeds, and stems of grapes — to create a drink that’s 4% to 9% in alcohol with light bubbles to perk it up. It’s zippy and refreshing, akin to a sour beer. Wild Arc Farm in the Hudson Valley released four in 2019, including one in cans.

3. YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT WINE IN SPACE
The past decade has seen wineries experiment with aging their wines under the sea. For 2020 and beyond, they’ll look to space.

This past November, Luxembourg-based Space Cargo Unlimited started a project that sent bottles of red wine to the International Space Station to be aged for 12 months. The idea is to investigate how exposure to more radiation and microgravity affect the evolution of a wine’s components. When the wine returns, the University of Bordeaux will analyze it and compare it with wines aged on Earth.

4. THE NO- AND LOW-ALCOHOL MOVEMENT WILL GAIN A FOOTHOLD
The health and wellness craze will affect wine beyond the idea of “Dry January.” Cutting back on how much you imbibe will be one of the biggest drinks trends of 2020, according to London-based retailer Bibendum. Alcohol-free Real Kombucha, introduced in 2017, is now available at more than 50 Michelin-starred restaurants and touted as an alternative to sauvignon blanc.

Expect a boost of interest in organic and biodynamic wines — “health-focused” wine club Dry Farm Wines claims its offerings are all-natural and lab-tested for purity — as well as those naturally low in alcohol, such as riesling, lightly fizzy Spanish txakoli, and slightly sweet Italian moscato d’Asti. All are far more delicious and just as healthy as wines from “clean wine” companies such as FitVine.

5. YOU’LL BUY LUXURY WINES FROM VENDING MACHINES
Insert token, receive a small bottle of Moët & Chandon brut or rosé. What could be simpler? Nabbing a bottle at a test machine in the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida was cheaper, more convenient, and more fun than waiting for room service. New York got its first machine in October, and in 2020 Moët plans to spread 100 of them across the US. (You can even buy your own — $35,000 at Neiman Marcus — but stocking it with 360 mini-bottles costs extra.)

The machines reflect the growing demand for instant access, even for luxury wines. Expect other wine companies to jump on this bandwagon. But because of France’s alcohol laws, don’t look for one in Paris.

6. ENOTOURISM WILL GET BIGGER
For starters, a €100 million ($112 million) World of Wine project is opening in 2020 across the Douro River from the city of Porto. The Fladgate Partnership, owner of several top port houses, is transforming 300-year-old warehouses into a series of wine experiences including a wine school and cork museum.

In France, Champagne Bollinger is opening its doors to the public via membership in its special Club 1829, Château Lafite Rothschild will open a new hospitality center and wine school at Château Duhart-Milon in time for harvest, and Burgundy breaks ground this month on its own Cité des Vins.

But the most interesting new wine travel development is the global DIY winemaking timeshare the Vines Global. Membership will let aspiring vineyard owners test their mettle making wine in a dozen regions with top winemakers. It started in Tuscany’s Montalcino last September; next year it will add Priorat, Spain, and two other places, with more to come.

Just want to see vineyards? The World’s Best Vineyards, a new annual ranking of the 50 most amazing ones to visit, will help you know where to go.

7. WINE PACKAGING WILL SURPRISE YOU
No longer a fad, canned wines are expected to reach sales of $4.6 billion by 2024. Now that canning has been normalized, and higher-quality wines skip the traditional glass bottle, keep a lookout for ever more innovative packaging: refillable, reusable jugs and flat bottles made from recycled plastic, as well as green-friendly components such as zero-carbon corks.

As for the staid wine label, more than 500 wineries across the globe are turning to augmented reality to bring labels to life through apps. And in Washington state, Chateau Ste. Michelle’s new Elicit Wine Project will act as an innovation hub for brands to take an info-rich, creative look at names, labels, and bottle design; for instance, its Fruit & Flower brand comes in both cans and bottles with themed label images to mirror the flavors of the wine inside.

8. WINE SHOPS WILL BECOME LESS CONVENTIONAL
UK department store John Lewis has added bookable wine master classes. Stranger Wines in Brooklyn, New York plays vintage vinyl records and is expanding to snacks, and Manhattan’s just-opened Peoples is a wine bar that doubles as a retail wine shop, even if they have to have separate entrances because of liquor laws.

Nielsen predicts AR and virtual reality technology will transform wine shops with navigation apps and electronic shelf beacons. The future will surely bring artificial intelligence-powered robot assistants. At the same time, buying online via phone apps will soar, again helped along by new technology.

But as the year progresses, I still have plenty of questions. Will wine lovers continue to lust after the wines LeBron James posts on Instagram? Will interactive wine lists on tablets take over in Michelin-starred restaurants? Will South Africa be the value region of the year? I’ll be watching and reporting on these stories and many more in 2020.

Bulacan airport set to break ground next week

THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) on Wednesday said the groundbreaking for the Bulacan airport project will finally push through next week.

“In so far as the Bulacan airport is concerned, I have been advised that the groundbreaking by the proponent will be done mid-January. I think it is also Jan. 15,” Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said in his speech during the conference on the Institutionalized Leveraging of Infrastructure Program for Airport Development (iLIPAD) held in Clark, Pampanga on Wednesday.

“This project will now be a go,” he also said. The groundbreaking for the airport project was supposed to happen in December last year.

Asked to confirm, San Miguel Corp. (SMC) Media Affairs Group Manager Jayson B. Brizuela told BusinessWorld in a phone interview: “Naghihintay pa rin kami ng confirmation, at saka kami magi-issue ng statement (We’re still waiting for confirmation, we’ll then issue a statement).”

SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang had said last month that the groundbreaking was “being delayed” after the government raised concerns about the contract.

According to Mr. Tugade, it was the Department of Finance (DoF) that raised concerns about the project contract.

He said Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III just wanted to make sure that all contracts are in favor of government.

The P734-billion Bulacan airport project, which will be officially called the New Manila International Airport, involves construction of a 2,400-hectare airport with four parallel runways (expandable to six runways), eight taxiways and three passenger terminal buildings. It will have an annual capacity of 100 million travelers, which the government hopes will help decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City.

NAIA REHABILITATION
Mr. Tugade also said in his speech: “So what happens now to (NAIA) terminal 1, terminal 2, terminal 3 and terminal 4? The NAIA conglomerate, I hope that the conversations with the consortium will be finished in no more than two more meetings.”

“I will give them a final deadline to finalize everything within a set time limit in this month, otherwise I may be forced to cancel the unsolicited proposal and offer it to parties and individuals that are ready to accept the terms and conditions of the government’s concession agreements and the government’s detailed program in so far as the improvement and rehabilitation of terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4 are concerned,” he added.

In November last year, the board of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) approved the unsolicited P102-billion proposal from the country’s top tycoons to rehabilitate NAIA.

The project will be subjected to a Swiss challenge after the Manila International Airport Authority and the NAIA Consortium agree on terms and conditions of the concession agreement. The Manila International Airport Authority will submit the draft agreement to the Office of the Solicitor General and the DoF for comment.

The consortium undertaking the project consists of Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc; AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.; Alliance Global Group, Inc.; Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp.; Filinvest Development Corp.; JG Summit Holdings, Inc.; and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

The NAIA rehabilitation is expected to increase its capacity to handle passengers to 47 million a year in the first two years and further expand this to 65 million after four years.

The international airport has been operating beyond its 30.5 million passenger capacity with 45.3 million passengers in 2018, 42 million in 2017 and 39.5 million in 2016. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Qualcomm launches autonomous driving computer, aiming to hit roads by 2023

QUALCOMM Inc. on Monday announced a computing system for autonomous vehicles designed to handle everything from lane controls to full self-driving that it aims to have on the road by 2023.

The system, dubbed Snapdragon Ride, is the company’s first foray into a full system to power self-driving cars.

San Diego-based Qualcomm, known best as the world’s biggest mobile phone chip supplier, has been a major automotive supplier for more than a decade, but primarily for the modem chips that connect vehicles to the internet and chips for the infotainment systems that power screens inside vehicles.

Qualcomm has spent years developing self-driving technology near its headquarters in virtual silence while rivals such as Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp. jumped into the market, spending billions on acquisitions supplying major automakers for autonomous driving.

Patrick Little, the senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm’s automotive business, said the company is using the expertise it built in the mobile phone processor business developing powerful processors that consume little electricity and generate little heat.

Qualcomm’s new computers can fit in one hand and do not need fans or liquid cooling systems to prevent them from overheating. Lower power consumption will become important in electric vehicles, in which computers will have to compete with the drive train for battery power.

“Many of these cars have a supercomputer in the back. It looks like your kid’s gaming PC,” Little told Reuters in an interview. “Now imagine you’re putting that in the trunk of an electric vehicle. Now your range anxiety is just doubled.”

Qualcomm has also broken the system into pieces of hardware and software that can be scaled up or down for various needs from automakers. A smaller version of the computer can be used for simpler tasks like lane-control, or the computers can be chained together for full self-driving. Little said Qualcomm has used test vehicles in San Diego to develop its own set of self-driving software algorithms if automakers want to use them, but that it will be up to each one.

“If they came to us with their own software stack, or even somebody else’s software stack, we’re happy to say we’ll help you” adapt it to Qualcomm’s hardware, he said.

Qualcomm and General Motors Co. on Monday also said that the automaker has expanded its existing partnership with the chip suppler into “high performance compute platforms.” Qualcomm previously provided chips for the company’s dashboard electronics, location tracking and driver-assistance systems. — Reuters

Goldman Sachs answers investor demands on consumer business

GOLDMAN SACHS Group, Inc. will start disclosing the results of its consumer business regularly. — REUTERS

GOLDMAN SACHS Group, Inc. unveiled details about its consumer business for the first time on Tuesday and will start disclosing its results regularly as part of a broader reporting-line shuffle, responding to long-standing requests for more transparency from analysts and investors. The changes are part of Chief Executive Officer David Solomon’s efforts to get Goldman in line with rivals like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup that have bigger consumer businesses and share more information with investors.

Goldman’s consumer business, which includes Marcus and the bank’s credit card, generated $822 million in revenue over the four quarters ended Sept. 30, representing 2.4% of the bank’s total revenue during the period.

Since Goldman launched the online retail bank in 2016, analysts have repeatedly asked for more details about its credit quality and growth on earnings calls.

Some have also sounded alarms about potential risks, worried that Goldman might be expanding into consumer lending ahead of a recession, with little experience in the business.

Executives have typically said they are duly cautious about credit quality, and that the consumer business was not yet big enough to warrant routine disclosures.

Goldman set aside $302 million for potential consumer credit losses in the first nine months of 2019, compared with $338 million for 2018 and $123 million in 2017, according to its 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

As the business grows, the Wall Street bank will naturally have to boost credit provisions. Goldman reported $5.5 billion worth of consumer loans as of Sept. 30, up 22% from yearend.

Goldman unveiled Marcus as part of a broader strategy that initially planned to generate $5 billion in fresh annual revenue by entering new businesses and growing existing ones.

TRADING WOES
The bank had little choice but to change, due to huge declines in trading, which was once its main profit engine. Goldman has since backed off the revenue goal, intending to replace it with other metrics at its investor day later this month, Reuters reported in November.

Its new consumer reporting line will include details about not only Marcus, but also wealth management — another area the bank is trying to expand. Goldman already has a sizable private bank that caters to the ultra-rich, but wants to start offering more services to individuals with fewer assets as well.

Over the four quarters ended Sept. 30, Goldman generated $5.1 billion in revenue from that segment, $822 million or 16% of which came from the consumer portion. The broader segment generated $540 million in pretax profit, representing less than 5% of total earnings.

The other major change Goldman announced in a filing, which was sent out late on Monday but was made public on Tuesday, is its decision to get rid of a reporting-line segment called “Investing & Lending,” which detailed revenue from those activities across various businesses.

Goldman created that segment as part of another reporting-line shuffle in 2009. It aimed to clarify what the bank earned from activities with its own balance sheet, after a sweeping financial-regulatory law banned proprietary trading.

But investors and analysts have complained that the reporting line was a volatile black-box, and discounted its importance to Goldman’s overall profitability. Revenue from that line will now be distributed across different segments.

Goldman will now have four reporting lines: Investment Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management and Consumer & Wealth Management. Previously its results were segmented into Investment Banking, Institutional Client Services, Investing & Lending and Investment Management. The trading business, which was previously housed in Institutional Client Services, will now be part of Global Markets.

Some analysts applauded the changes.

“The new reporting structure appears more centered around its different client segments and should help drive increased accountability in how it executes on its relatively new strategy,” Barclays analyst Jason Goldberg said.

Goldman is expected to unveil the new targets and metrics at its first-ever investor day on Jan. 29. It is expected to report fourth-quarter results on Jan. 15.

The investment bank’s shares were up nearly 1.2% in morning trade. — Reuters

Labor shortage seen to lift workers’ pay

DMCI HOLDINGS, Inc. Chairman and President Isidro A. Consunji expects construction workers’ take home pay to increase as the construction industry experiences labor shortages.

“Dapat ‘yung take home mga P1000 a day (Their take home pay should be P1000 a day),” he said, from the P700 daily pay of lower-skilled carpenters and masons.

DM Consunji, Inc. is the construction arm of DMCI Holdings, Inc.

He told reporters on the sidelines of the 4th Philippine Construction Industry Congress that the aggregate requirement for construction workers has increased dramatically due to the government’s infrastructure program “Build, Build, Build.”

Based on the its road map launched last year, the construction industry expects to increase available jobs to 7.1 million. According to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, there were 4.2 million jobs in the industry last year.

Mr. Consunji said jobs in the provinces have also increased, discouraging workers to move to Metro Manila for construction jobs.

“People are now realizing that the salary scale of the construction of the industry is rather low,” he said, noting the physical hazards the jobs entail. Workers also deal with expensive housing and traffic in Metro Manila.

“Effectively labor is saying, you pay me more money so that I can work here,” he said.

The ability of construction companies to raise wages immediately is limited because they bid forward, he said.

“They cannot adjust the salary scale very fast without affecting the margin. I think over the next three, four years, mag-a-adjust dramatically, the adjusting of the skills,” he said.

He said his company is putting up living quarters, offering shuttle rides, and giving allowances for skilled workers in addition to their pay.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez told reporters at the same event that construction companies have no choice but to increase wages to continue to attract skilled laborers and continue their projects.

“You add some salaries para lang pumunta sila sa (just so they would go to the construction) site, and that’s happening. And they said that’s because of the demand in other sectors, BPO (business process outsourcing), which are all growing as well,” he said.

“They will have to compete with the workforce and that means also that they will have to offer bigger salaries in this sector. That’s good, that should make their sector more attractive to workers.” — Jenina P. Ibañez

What happens when an airline opens a restaurant?

By Adam Minter, Bloomberg Opinion

THE Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur has more than 100 restaurants, cafés, and snack stands to meet every kind of craving. As of this month, that list includes a novel and seemingly quixotic option: Santan, a café that serves airplane food in cardboard boxes.

As restaurant concepts go, “quick airplane food” isn’t an obvious winner. But Santan is owned and operated by AirAsia Group Bhd, the region’s most successful budget airline. With profits declining in the industry, the company is looking to diversify — it wants to reduce flying from 80% of its business to about 40% by 2025 — and earthbound airplane food is central to its vision. Over the next few years, it plans to open more than 100 new Santans.

“A year ago, when I first conjured the idea of turning… our in-flight food choices into a fast-food restaurant, everyone thought I was crazy,” says Tony Fernandes, the company’s chief executive officer. “Just as they thought 18 years ago when I said I was starting an airline. Look how that turned out!”

That may seem like an inapt comparison. But the idea of creating “the first ASEAN fast food franchise,” as Fernandes puts it, isn’t inherently crazy. Southeast Asia’s expanding middle class is increasingly keen on upgraded dining options. And Western fast-food outlets, such as McDonald’s and KFC, have been proliferating. In Malaysia, Yum! Brands Inc., owner of KFC and Pizza Hut, has opened more than 1,000 outlets, making it the country’s — and the region’s — most successful food-service operator.

So the market is potentially vast. The problem for AirAsia is that winning customers in Southeast Asia’s cutthroat restaurant industry will be much harder than winning passengers on budget aircraft.

For one thing, Fernandes may be misreading the competition. Those American fast-food outlets make up a mere fraction of the 167,000 food and beverage businesses in Malaysia, the vast majority of which serve local fare. That makes KFC a relative novelty: an expensive foreign twist on a local favorite (fried chicken). A one-piece chicken-and-rice combo there costs about $3.00, while a plate of Malaysian chicken rice typically goes for half that.

Another problem is that what Fernandes calls “ASEAN food” — using the acronym for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — doesn’t really exist. Santan’s menu is a puzzling hodgepodge of vaguely regional dishes: nasi lemak, pho, Cambodian pineapple fish-fillet noodles and others. It’s the kind of error that only an airline would make. In the air, a menu is a compromise intended for a diverse set of customers who don’t really expect much choice. On the ground, a menu needs to match quirky and far more specific cravings. Nobody, anywhere craves “ASEAN food,” just as nobody craves “European Union food.” Instead, Southeast Asians seek out — and often debate — the highly distinctive cuisines of respective nations, such as Thailand or Vietnam.

Of course, if Santan’s food was uniquely good, that might not be such an obstacle. But it isn’t. On a recent Saturday, my son and I visited the inaugural store and ordered three dishes. The Nyonya curry laksa had little flavor beyond the chili; Uncle Chin’s chicken rice was salty and greasy; and the chicken satay with peanut sauce was, in my son’s estimation, “fuzzy and too cooked.” Even worse, for a café in an emerging market, Santan offers poor value: Meal prices average 15 ringgits ($3.62) with a drink, about 25% more than a chicken-and-rice combo at KFC, and double what a similar meal would cost in a local joint.

And that’s the biggest problem for AirAsia. A chain offering generically regional dishes can’t hope to compete with the hundreds of thousands of small, independently owned eateries that make Southeast Asia one of the world’s great culinary destinations. It’s like Taco Bell trying to win over Mexicans or Olive Garden hoping to entice diners in Tuscany. Why choose the corporate compromise when you can have the real thing?

Two decades ago, AirAsia revolutionized consumer expectations in the region with the catchphrase: “Now everyone can fly.” But everyone in Southeast Asia can already eat — and eat better than airplane food.

Amazon to showcase its transportation drive at world’s largest tech show

FROM making cars talk using Alexa’s voice to managing data from factories full of robots, Amazon.com Inc. wants a big piece of the action in transportation, and this week at CES will unveil more about its strategy to achieve that goal than ever before.

The Seattle retail and cloud services powerhouse plans to use the annual technology show in Las Vegas to unveil its plan to be a major player in self-driving vehicle technology, connected cars, electric vehicles and management of the torrents of data generated by automakers and drivers, company executives told Reuters.

Amazon Web Services, which provides large-scale cloud computing and data management services, is central to Amazon’s strategy.

“We really are extending ourselves more and more out in the ecosystem from manufacturing to connected car,” Jon Allen, head of professional services in Amazon Web Services’ automotive practice, said in a telephone interview. “The takeaway message on this is if you go to CES this year we really are taking it as a ‘One Amazon’ view.”

Until now, Amazon has shown its transportation strategy to investors — and rivals — one piece at a time. Amazon has invested in self-driving software start-up Aurora. It also has signed deals with automakers to deliver packages to vehicle trunks, help develop electric vehicle charging networks and use AWS to network their factories.

The Seattle company will share the CES stage with partners such as virtual reality firm ZeroLight, electric vehicle start-up Rivian, Canada’s BlackBerry Ltd. and video game software development company Unity Technologies.

“It’s our attempt to weave everything together in a single experience for our customers,” Dean Phillips, AWS’ automotive technical leader, told Reuters. “Customers don’t distinguish AWS from Alexa from Amazon.com. It’s Amazon.”

At CES, ZeroLight and General Motors Co.’s Cadillac will demonstrate how they are partnering to develop an online vehicle configuration experience that will allow high-fidelity images of vehicles that consumers build online to be taken with them on visits to dealers, Phillips said.

The process can open the door to dealers better meeting customer needs by knowing what users focused on when building their dream car. It has already boosted profit per vehicle at Volkswagen’s Audi brand by an estimated €1,200 ($1,340), he said.

Rivian, in which Amazon has twice invested, will demonstrate Alexa in the R1T electric pickup truck it will begin building this fall, as well as the companion R1S SUV that will follow, Phillips said. Rivian will begin building 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon starting in 2021. Alexa will be integrated into all of those vehicles, Amazon said.

BlackBerry and Karma Automotive, using AWS back-end services, will demonstrate how to better predict an electric car’s battery health, allowing automakers to train drivers on how to drive in ways that will extend the battery’s lifetime, he said.

Unity will show how its gaming simulations are used by automakers to create virtual worlds to allow self-driving vehicle developers to speed the training of the software used in those cars, Phillips said.

Some industry officials fear the loss of profits to technology companies, but Amazon has worked to woo the sector by showing greater flexibility to company needs. For instance, when Alexa is launched in GM cars in the US market next year, it will be push-button activated and not use the wake word, “Alexa,” Amazon officials said.

A new in-car feature, using the voice command “Alexa, pay for gas,” will enable users to buy fuel at 11,500 Exxon and Mobil gas stations, Amazon said.

A new version of Fire TV will be available this year on in-vehicle entertainment systems from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Amazon said. — Reuters

UK financial watchdog to hone data crunching to spot problems easier

LONDON — Britain’s financial regulators said on Tuesday they will transform their data crunching capabilities over the coming decade to spot problems in banks and markets earlier.

Banks and insurers must report a wide range of data, such as how much capital and cash they hold and exposures to risky instruments like derivatives.

Data collection has grown sharply since regulators failed to spot a global financial crisis in the making a decade ago.

The Bank of England (BoE) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published plans to obtain data more efficiently from banks, insurers and investment firms, and to analyze the data better to predict, monitor, and respond to issues.

“Recent developments in technology should allow us to improve how we collect data from firms, making reporting more timely, more effective and less burdensome for firms,” said Sam Woods, deputy governor at the Bank of England.

The FCA said it wants to transform itself into a “highly data-driven regulator.”

The BoE is setting itself a decade-long timeline for the “substantial challenge” of reforming data collection so that it could explore “more radical changes.”

There would be no “one-size-first-all” solution, the BoE said in a nod to lawmakers who want less burdensome rules for smaller banks to encourage competition.

Consultants McKinsey estimated last year that regulatory reporting by UK banks cost them 2 billion to 4.5 billion pounds annually as they fill in mandatory forms that could each contain thousands of data points.

John Liver, a UK financial services partner at consultants EY, said automated collection could cut costs. “The path to transformation will require considerable effort… but the potential rewards are very significant,” he said.

The BoE set out ideas for reforming data collection in a discussion paper and will respond to feedback later in the year.

Changes could include more detailed common data inputs and modernizing how the BoE writes reporting instructions, such as by using computer code instead of everyday language.

Another solution could be to introduce a “pull model” that would allow the BoE to query certain data held within firms and generate reports on demand, the BoE said. — Reuters

Megaworld unit expects P1.4-B sales from Tanza project

MEGAWORLD CORP. subsidiary Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (GERI) recently launched a 17-hectare residential project in its Arden Botanical Estate in Tanza, Cavite, where it expects to raise P1.4 billion in sales from the project’s first phase.

In a statement Wednesday, the Andrew L. Tan-led tourism and leisure developer said it introduced the residential village The Lindgren located within the 251-hectare Arden Botanical Estate.

The project has 123 prime lots with sizes ranging from 159 square meters to 252 square meters priced between P10 million and P13 million.

GERI said it designed the property such that 40% of the entire village will be comprised of green and open spaces. It will have amenities such as a multi-purpose hall, fitness center, adult pool, kiddie pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, daycare center, children’s playground, multi-purpose court, outdoor bar and cabana, convenience store and collab space.

“Our concept is to make everyone feel the community vibe. There will be several areas for personal relaxation and socialization where community members can work, play, and grow together,” Megaworld Global-Estate, Inc. Head of Sales and Marketing Rowena Espiritu was quoted in the statement as saying.

The house and lots are scheduled for turnover starting 2025.

GERI said the design of The Lindgren is in line with its plan to have half of the entire Arden Botanical Estate allocated for residential developments, and the remaining half for commercial, institutional, recreational and open spaces.

Megaworld and GERI, the co-developers of Arden Botanical Estate, have committed to spend P18 billion to develop the township over the next 15 years. It is the 25th township of Megaworld and the seventh under GERI.

Shares in GERI at the stock exchange slipped 2 centavos or 1.72% to P1.14 each on Wednesday, while shares in Megaworld increased P0.12 or 2.88% to P4.29 each. — Denise A. Valdez

Dining Out (01/09/20)

New at Canton Road

NEW AUTHENTIC Chinese signature dishes are now found at Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila’s Canton Road restaurant this month. The fresh line-up of flavors highlight more Cantonese dishes mixed with Sichuan, Huaiyang and Mingnan selections. These dishes are: Canton Road three-flavor dessert combination, Braised quail eggs in mixed herbs and spices, Stir fried sea conch and celery in special chili sauce, Double boiled sea conch soup with chicken served in coconut bowl, Szechuan style tiger prawn tail with dried chili and crispy sesame ball, and Sichuan spicy beef tongue with bean sprouts. The a la carte menu is available for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 6 to 10:30 p.m. daily. For gatherings of up to 50 persons, guests may curate their own dining experience in any of the nine private dining rooms. Reservations may be done through e-mail at cantonroad@shangri-la.com or via Canton Road’s Facebook (@CantonRoad).

Cebuano flavors in Cucina

CULINARY favorites from the Queen City of the South reign supreme at Cucina this January. Located on Level 24, Marco Polo Ortigas Manila’s all-day dining destination continues its mission to showcase and highlight different regional fare. From Jan. 11 to 23, Cucina will be featuring select dishes from Cebu as part of the daily lunch and dinner spread. Recommendations include the Sinuglaw (grilled pork belly and fish ceviche), Paklay (pork, beef and goat innards), and the classic Humba (braised pork belly with tausi and dried banana blossoms). Other dishes include the Nilarang na pagi (ray in coconut milk), Ginabot (pork cracklings), and Cucina’s own take on the puso (cooked rice in woven coconut leaves). The restaurant’s chefs also feature the Philippine mango, one of Cebu’s treasured products, in a seasonal dessert pizza, which is only available for the duration of the promotion. For more information on Cucina’s spotlight on Cebuano cuisine this January, call (+632) 7720-7720 or e-mail restaurant.mnl@marcopolohotels.com.

Ali Mall welcomes Popeyes

ARANETA CITY starts the year by welcoming the international fried chicken chain Popeyes to Ali Mall. “It’s our (Popeyes) first opening of the year so why not do it in the City of Firsts, so here we are now in Araneta City today celebrating. Thank you so much,” said Kuya J Group Marketing Director Ton Gatmaitan. Popeyes is open during Ali Mall operating hours and is located at the Ground Floor, Ali Mall Araneta City.

Which commodities contributed the most to 2019 inflation?

Which commodities contributed the most to 2019 inflation?

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