Alcantara firm slumps to loss

November 16, 2018 | 12:07 am

ALSONS Consolidated Resources, Inc. (ACR) posted a net loss attributable to the owners of the parent firm of P41.58 million in the third quarter, reversing the P31.63-million profit recorded in the same period last year, the Alcantaras’ listed holding firm reported to the stock exchange.
Revenues slipped 6% to P1.54 billion during the July to September period, with energy fees accounting for the bulk of the top-line figure. Energy fees slipped 7% to P1.53 billion from P1.64 billion previously.
Third quarter expenses went up 1% to P1.54 billion.
ACR posted an after-tax net income of P77.09 million, down 8% from P83.97 million in the same quarter last year.
For the nine months to September, the company registered a net loss of P137.33 million attributable to the owners of the parent, from a net income of P117.66 million a year ago. After-tax income was at P197.4 million, down 28.1% from P274.48 million in the same period last year.
The net attributable to shareholders takes out the non-controlling interests, aiding management and investors in identifying the company’s profit allocated to each outstanding share.
Revenues as of end-September reached P5 billion, down 4% from P5.21 billion in the same nine-month period last year.
Alsons attributed the decline to the “realignment of some of its diesel assets to serve markets outside of Mindanao such as some of the off-grid areas and some parts of the Visayas where there is higher growth potential and greater demand for diesel power.”
The company said it was “preparing to reposition some of its diesel plants from being primarily generators of baseload power to becoming providers of back-up and ancillary services for the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) in order to help stabilize the Mindanao power grid.”
Alsons Chief Finance Officer Robert F. Yenko said he remains optimistic about future growth prospects, noting the three major projects coming on-line starting next year.
He also cited the group’s additional run-of-river hydroelectric power projects in Negros Occidental, Sarangani, Davao Oriental, Zamboanga del Norte, the two Agusan Provinces, and Surigao del Sur. The projects have a total hydro capacity potential totaling more than 145 megawatts (MW).
Alsons’ power group claims to be Mindanao’s first and most experienced independent power producer. It operates four power facilities on the island.
Two of these plants Southern Philippines Power Corp. in Alabel, Sarangani and Western Mindanao Power Corp. in Zamboanga City recently offered to provide ancillary services to system operator NGCP.
The group also runs the 103-MW Mapalad Power Corp. diesel plant in Iligan City and the first 105-MW section of the 210-MW Sarangani Energy Corp. baseload coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani province.
The Sarangani plant’s second 105-MW section is expected to begin commercial operations in the first quarter of 2019.
The group’s other projects that are lined up for the coming years are the 15.1-MW Siguil River hydroelectric power plant in Sarangani, which is set to start operating in 2021, and the 105-MW San Ramon Power, Inc. coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga City, which is expected to begin operating in 2022. — Victor V. Saulon

House panel approves bill allowing early retirement for civil servants

November 16, 2018 | 12:06 am

A BILL lowering the optional retirement age for government employees to 56 years has been approved by the House Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization.
The still unnumbered Substitute Bill was written principally by ACT Teachers Representatives Antonio L. Tinio and France L. Castro.
The bill will amend Republic Act No. 8291, The Government Service Insurance System Act of 1997, which currently grants employees an option to retire at 60.
“While the… mandatory retirement age (of 65) remains, government employees should be given the freedom to retire earlier, especially those who are suffering from ailments and are in need of intensive medical attention,” the bill’s authors said in a statement on Thursday.
They said the measure will not deplete the workforce, as a majority in government service prefers to remain at work up to age 65.
“These civil servants dedicate 20, 30 years of their lives in the service of the nation. It is high time that the government heed their clamor for the option to retire at an earlier age in order for them to enjoy their retirement benefits for as long as possible,” Mr. Tinio said.
He noted the member of Congress from ACT Teachers have been pushing for the measure since the 16^thCongress.
Ms. Castro said the measure has long been on the wish list of public school teachers.
“It is imperative that Congress listen to these government workers who have devoted their lives to honing the minds and nurturing the hearts of our youth, in spite of receiving meager salaries, working in underfunded schools and doing additional, usually unpaid, miscellaneous tasks.” — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Spinal Tap creators, Vivendi to mediate $400-million lawsuit

November 16, 2018 | 12:06 am

THE CREATORS of This Is Spinal Tap have agreed to put their fraud lawsuit against Vivendi SA on hold while a mediator tries to resolve their $400-million case over the 1984 cult film.
In a court filing on Tuesday, lawyers for Vivendi and for the plaintiffs Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, and Harry Shearer said they have chosen a mediator who will “attempt to resolve or narrow” the lawsuit.
A mediation was scheduled for March 11, 2019, the earliest date everyone could agree on, and the case against Paris-based Vivendi was stayed until April 1, 2019.
The filing followed an Aug. 28 ruling by US District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles that the plaintiffs could try to show that Vivendi’s StudioCanal unit deprived them of a “fair return” from Spinal Tap, its music and its merchandise by breaching a 1982 agreement to finance and produce the film.
Vivendi has controlled Spinal Tap rights for nearly three decades. The plaintiffs have said it has estimated their share of Spinal Tap income as just $81 from merchandising between 1984 and 2016, and $98 from music sales between 1989 and 2016.
This Is Spinal Tap is a pioneering example of the mock documentary, known for details including the deaths of drummers under bizarre circumstances, and amplifiers that “go to 11” rather than the normal maximum volume of 10.
The case is Century of Progress Productions et al v Vivendi SA et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 16-07733. — Reuters

SM opens 1st mall in eastern Visayas

November 16, 2018 | 12:06 am

SM PRIME Holdings, Inc. is expanding in Eastern Visayas region with the opening of a new mall in Ormoc, Leyte.
In a disclosure, the listed property developer said SM Center Ormoc covers 20,000 square meters, with 85% of the space already leased out. Among its stores include SM Supermarket, SM Appliance Center, Watsons, Ace Hardware, Simply Shoes, Surplus, Miniso, as well as Banco De Oro.
The mall also has an al fresco dining area on its second level, and four SM Cinemas, including a Director’s Club Cinema.
“It is SM Prime’s pride and joy to finally open our first mall in the Eastern Visayas Region. SM Center Ormoc will be a great addition to the growing local economy of Ormoc City and the continuously developing province of Leyte. We look forward to more growth opportunities for the people of this region along with SM’s brand of lifestyle and entertainment,” SM Prime President Jeffrey C. Lim said.
SM Center Ormoc brings to 79 the number of SM malls, which include seven in China.
In the first nine months of 2018, SM Prime has opened four new malls, namely SM Center Imus in Cavite, SM City Urdaneta Central in Pangasinan, SM City Telabastagan in Pampanga and SM City Legazpi in Albay.
SM Prime’s 9-month net income climbed 17% to P23.44 billion, after a 16% surge in revenues to P34.91 billion. Its shopping mall business contributed 58% to its revenues during the period.

Youthworks training program to seek applicants in January

November 16, 2018 | 12:05 am

A P1 billion US-funded employment training program for the youth organized by the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) will start recruiting beneficiaries early next year.
In an interview with BusinessWorld last week, PBEd executive director Lovelaine B. Basillote said that Youthworks Ph, a workforce development program, will begin seeking out applicants at the beginning of 2019.
“We’ll start recruiting youth not in education in January,” she said.
The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which has given assistance worth $25 million or over P1 billion.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to participate in the project.
Ms. Basillote said Youthworks will be launched in the National Capital Region (NCR) in January.
“(The) public launch in NCR will be in January next year but we’re already in operation,” she said.
Other locations where Youthworks will have work-based training sites are Cebu, Iloilo, Cagayan De Oro, General Santos City, Zamboanga City, and Davao City.
Youthworks is developing training curricula in agriculture; banking and finance; construction; energy; hospitality and tourism; and manufacturing.
Ms. Basillote also said that for some locations such as Zamboanga and Cagayan De Oro, training in food processing will also be available.
In September, Youthworks Ph Chief of Party Karol Mark Yee expressed interest in creating a short-term renewable energy course in Cagayan De Oro. — Gillian M. Cortez

Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace concert film finally debuts

November 16, 2018 | 12:05 am

NEW YORK — Three months after her death and 46 years after she first recorded it, Aretha Franklin’s live gospel concert is coming to the big screen.
Amazing Grace, filmed in January 1972 when the Queen of Soul was just 29 years old, follows Franklin over two nights giving a concert at the New Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles.
Belting out gospel songs like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” “Climbing Higher Mountains,” and an 11-minute version of “Amazing Grace,” Franklin brought churchgoers and guests (including Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger) to their feet.
But Franklin herself stands still, saying little in the 90-minute film.
“It’s a church service. It’s basically just our aunt standing there singing,” Sabrina Owens, Franklin’s niece and executor of her estate, told Reuters Television.
“She doesn’t have much conversation with anybody beyond some of the technical crews that’s around her. At some point she asked about a key and other point she asked about water, but she’s just basically standing there singing, giving her all, doing what she does best,” said Owens, who is also a producer on the film.
The service was released as an album in 1972, becoming a best-seller for Franklin. But the film languished for years over problems with synchronizing the visuals and the audio. Advances in technology made it possible to fix that issue and producer Alan Elliott, who took over the project some 10 years ago, got agreement from Franklin’s estate following the singer’s death in August to finally release the film.
Owens said Elliott told her about the film some three years ago. “I had never even heard about it and he sent me the link, and I was like, ‘Oh wow! This is really good’.”
Amazing Grace got its world premiere in New York on Monday, winning warm reviews, and will get a limited release in the city and in Los Angeles in late November and early December, making it eligible for Hollywood’s awards season.
Britain’s Guardian newspaper said the film is “a spine-tingling sensation” while the Hollywood Reporter called it “somewhat shapeless as a movie… But it does contain moments of bliss.” — Reuters

Balfour, MRail to rehabilitate LRT power substations

November 16, 2018 | 12:05 am

LIGHT Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) on Thursday said it inked a P650-million deal with First Balfour, Inc. and MRail, Inc. for the rehabilitation of the power substations of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1).
First Balfour and MRail have committed to complete the rehabilitation of the substations, some of which are 30 years old, within two years. It will involve the replacement of major substation equipment such as the critical switchgears, rectifiers, transformer, cables, and upgrade of the supervisory control and data acquisition system.
“As they power our trains, the substations are absolutely critical to providing reliable electricity supply and efficient operations of trains,” LRMC President and CEO Juan F. Alfonso was quoted as saying in a statement.
LRMC, the consortium of Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd., bagged the public-private partnership (PPP) project for the Cavite extension in September 2015.
Metro Pacific Investment Corp. is one of three Philippine subsidiaries of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., maintains an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group.

Gov’t looks to float sukuk bonds under Islamic finance framework

November 16, 2018 | 12:04 am

By Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan, Reporter
THE GOVERNMENT is looking at floating Shari’ah-compliant securities next year, but will still wait for the establishment of a legal framework for Islamic banking, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said yesterday.
Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the development of Islamic finance in the country is part of the Duterte administration’s economic reform agenda.
“The President’s commitment to the Muslim people is not lost on us, his economic managers. One important economic issue that we are looking into is lack of access to Shari’ah-compliant financial instruments in the market,” Mr. Diokno was quoted in a statement as saying.
“This should be exciting news with Islamic finance being largely collateral-based or asset-backed,” he added.
Mr. Diokno however said that the government will first wait for the legal framework before issuing Islamic or Sukuk bonds.
Mr. Diokno said in a media briefing on Wednesday that the start of public offerings of Shari’ah-compliant securities may “take another whole year.”
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on second reading House bill No. 8281, or An Act Providing for the Regulation and Organization of Islamic Banks. Its counterpart bill, however, is pending at the committee level at the Senate.
The bill seeks to promote financial opportunities to the underserved Muslim population by authorizing the establishment of Islamic banks, the entry of foreign Islamic banks to operate here, and conventional banks to establish Islamic banking transactions.
Currently, the Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines is the sole lender in the Philippines that performs Shari’ah-compliant lending practices.
Islamic banking differs from commercial banking as it prohibits the charging of interest upon loans — instead, lenders earns by forging partnerships and lease-to-own deals with borrowers.
The bill allows Islamic banks to accept or create current accounts, accept savings for safekeeping, accept investment accounts, foreign currency deposits, issue letters of credit or guarantee, negotiate notes and bills of exchange, act as correspondent of banks to handle remittances, act as collection agent of payment orders, provide Shari’ah compliant financing contracts, and handle storage operations for goods or commodity financing, issue shares, among others.
Mr. Diokno said in the statement that the government is committed to “financial inclusion and the growth of our financial sector,” noting it will “continue to move this issue forward with utmost diligence and care.”
The government has been diversifying its financing sources. Earlier this year, it has raised fresh funds from successful issuances of dollar-, renminbi-, and yen-denominated bonds.
It is also set to float retail bonds this year, while another offer of securities is targeted raise money for Marawi city. It is also eyeing to tap the Euro debt market in the future.

Qatar enacts employee insurance law

November 16, 2018 | 12:04 am

OVERSEAS FILIPINO WORKERS (OFWs) in Qatar will be entitled to employment insurance under a new law passed by that country, the labor department said.
The Department of Labor an Employment (DoLE) said Thursday that Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III received a report from DoLE International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) Director Alice Q. Visperas “about the issuance of the worker’s support and insurance fund law by Qatar’s highest official, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.”
Law No.17 series of 2018 was issued on Oct. 29 establishing a “Worker’s Support and Insurance Fund” for private-sector and domestic workers.
Mr. Bello said: “We welcome the issuance of Law No. 17 series of 2018, by the Amir, as this will guarantee the protection of rights and ensure the welfare of Filipino domestic workers in the Arab state.”
According to DoLE’s Report to Congress for the first half, most of the 230,000 Filipino workers in Qatar are domestic workers.
The new law will pay put benefits according to decisions of dispute resolution committees, including end-of-contract benefits and repatriation costs. — Gillian M. Cortez

Final season of Game of Thrones to premiere in April

November 16, 2018 | 12:04 am

LOS ANGELES — HBO’s hit Emmy-winning drama Game of Thrones will debut its eighth and final season starting in April, the network announced in a trailer released online on Tuesday.
The video featured footage from previous seasons of the costly battles that preceded the coming showdown for control of the fictional kingdom of Westeros. The network did not reveal a specific date for the final season’s premiere, which will run for six episodes.
Game of Thrones, which has won multiple Emmy awards, is HBO’s biggest hit ever with some 30 million viewers in the United States and an army of devoted fans worldwide.
The series is based on novels by George R.R. Martin in a series called A Song of Ice and Fire.
HBO, the premium cable network owned by AT&T Inc., plans to put a large physical and social-media marketing effort behind the upcoming season. Starting Nov. 27, promotions will be spread throughout New York’s Grand Central Station, and 250,000 Game of Thrones mass transit MetroCards will be issued.
Several spin-offs of the series are in the works. HBO said in June that it had given a pilot order to a prequel that will take place thousands of years before the events of the current series. — Reuters

Pepsi Philippines swings to loss

November 16, 2018 | 12:04 am

PEPSI-COLA Products Philippines, Inc. (PCPPI) reported a net loss in the third quarter of 2018, hampered by the impacts of higher taxes following the passage of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.
In a regulatory filing, the manufacturer of bottled beverages posted a loss of P32.55 million in the July to September period, against a profit of P187.85 million in the same period a year ago. This came amid a 2% increase in gross sales to P9.07 billion.
The slight increase in gross sales is attributed to excise-tax driven price increases, despite lower volumes for the period.
PCPPI is among the food and beverage companies directly hit by the passage of TRAIN law, which imposed taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). The law enacted last January placed an excise rate of P6 per liter on drinks containing caloric or non-caloric sweetener and P12 per liter on drinks containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
In January alone, the company paid P666 million in taxes due to TRAIN.
On a nine-month basis, PIP booked a net loss of P81.19 million, even as revenues went up by 5% to P28.07 billion. This translates to losses per share of two centavos.
“The effect of the TRAIN law on volume and cost continue to adversely impact the company’s profitability with net loss at P81 million year-to-date,” PCPPI said.
PCPPI said it will continue to invest for future growth despite the decline in volumes. It spent a total of P1.7 billion in capital expenditures during the January to September period.
Incorporated in 1989, PCPPI is the license bottler of PepsiCo, Inc. and Pepsi Lipton International Limited in the country. Beverage brands under its portfolio include Pepsi-Cola, 7Up, Mountain Dew, Mirinda, Mug, and Gatorade, among others.
The company is valued at around P5.76 billion, in terms of market cap. — Arra B. Francia

Daimler to open new R&D center in China to accelerate localization

November 16, 2018 | 12:03 am

BEIJING — German automaker Daimler AG said on Wednesday it plans to invest 1.1 billion yuan ($158.23 million) in a second research and development center in Beijing to help accelerate localization of Mercedes-Benz vehicle models in China.
Daimler said in a statement the new tech center will be situated close to Daimler’s engine and vehicle assembly hub in China’s capital and is expected to start operations in 2020.
China, the world’s biggest auto market, is Daimler’s single largest market globally. The company’s existing tech center in Beijing was established in 2014.
“We remain positive for further growth opportunities in China… and will continue with our investment here,” Hubertus Troska, Daimler’s chief for greater China operations, said in a statement. — Reuters