Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 10615

Big firms hard-pressed amid rising interest rates

BIG BUSINESSES in the Philippines could have a hard time coping with rising interest rates, an economic research group said, as this would mean higher costs and a growing debt stock.
Analysts at Natixis Research said that tighter financial conditions in the country do not bode well for local conglomerates, since these add pressure to “excessive” debt they may have accumulated.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) fired off three rate hikes in a row this year in the face of surging inflation. Benchmark yields have risen by a cumulative 100 basis points from May to August as policy makers sought to rein in inflation expectations in an attempt to temper price increases for basic goods.
Inflation surged to a fresh multiyear high at 5.7% in July, with the central bank seeing the year-on-year increase even bigger this August.
Prices have risen by an average of 4.5% in the first seven months, well above the central bank’s 2-4% full-year target for 2018.
‘A HARD TIME ONWARDS’
Natixis economists Alicia Herrero and Gary Ng said overall financial conditions have “worsened” especially for large companies and could signal deteriorating fiscal health for these firms.
“All in all, when push comes to shove, the Philippines’ firms are not in the best of circumstances to handle rate hikes. Externally, the Fed is hiking and the BSP will have to increase rates in the light of higher inflation and to stem off capital outflows,” the economists said in a report published last week.
“With the high corporate leverage, firms could face a hard time onwards in the rate cycle.”
Natixis said segments of the economy have been under pressure from a weaker peso, an “underperforming” stock market, a growing trade gap and a potentially bigger budget deficit as the government spends more on infrastructure.
“The top 25 firms by asset size have high leverage, low repayment ability and worsening financial health,” the France-based research group said, noting that the peso’s depreciation has also driven up business costs as they absorb rising prices.
“As a consequence, profit margin is down even though they are divesting. On the basis of structurally low revenue stream, a lack of capex and much higher leverage in a higher interest rate period, their prospects are poorer.”
The 25 biggest companies in the country had an average leverage ratio — or debt against equity — of 228% in 2017, against a 114% average of smaller counterparts, according to Natixis.
BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. has kept the door open for further increases in benchmark interest rates, saying that monetary authorities are ready to “take all necessary policy actions to address the threat of high inflation” following their Aug. 9 policy meeting. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Credit Suisse sees Asia wealth race shifting from offshore hubs

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG — After years of racing to accumulate assets in the key offshore centers of Singapore and Hong Kong, the challenge for wealth managers in Asia is shifting to cities such as Manila, Jakarta and Shanghai.
Private banks that want to tap into Asia’s growing onshore wealth need to think less about regional asset totals and more about accumulating a critical mass of wealth in the individual Asian countries, according to Francesco de Ferrari, head of Asia-Pacific private banking at Credit Suisse Group AG.
For the Zurich-based bank, the target is at least $10 billion in each of its 11 key markets across Asia, Mr. de Ferrari said in an interview earlier this month.
“What is the minimum critical size for a bank in Asia? What is the size of assets you need to become viable? Most people would have said 10 years ago it was $10 billion-$20 billion, now it’s $30 billion-$40 billion,” Mr. de Ferrari said.
“But the market size for Asia is completely the wrong question. For me, we need to have a minimum size by market if you want to operate there.”
As booming economies across Asia drove an unprecedented increase in wealth creation, private banks primarily focused on Hong Kong and Singapore, the main regional offshore centers.
That helped Credit Suisse and its competitors build huge operations in Asia, with market leader UBS Group AG overseeing $383 billion for wealthy clients in the region, according to Asian Private Banker.
Now, a new battleground is opening up in the onshore Asian markets, where total wealth assets are seen growing by an average of 10% annually in the eight years to 2025, according to McKinsey & Co. forecasts.
Offshore wealth, mainly concentrated in Singapore and Hong Kong, is expected to grow six percent to seven percent a year over the same period.
Mr. de Ferrari said his bank has already been experiencing the shift. “Over the last six, seven years, as our assets doubled overall in Asia, our onshore tripled,” he said.
Credit Suisse set up an onshore wealth team in Manila earlier this year, after creating a similar operation in Bangkok two years ago.
The bank is also seeking to raise its stake in its China securities venture with Founder Securities Co. to 51% from 33.3%, a move that may pave the way toward an onshore wealth presence on the mainland, where Swiss rival UBS is already established.
Thailand is among the three markets where Credit Suisse still needs to get onshore and offshore assets under management above the $10 billion target, Mr. de Ferrari said. He declined to name the other two.
Assets of Thailand’s 100,000-plus high net worth individuals rose 13% to $548 billion in 2016, the second-fastest growth in the Asia-Pacific region after Indonesia, according to a Capgemini SE report.
At the same time, local banks in some markets have a relatively small set of investment offerings to attract wealthy clients — in Jakarta, for example, the slate of US dollar products on offer from Indonesian banks can be limited.
Credit Suisse also has an onshore presence in Japan, the Philippines, Australia and India, in addition to Hong Kong and Singapore, which also act as the bank’s offshore booking centers for the region.
Credit Suisse covers its other key Asian markets of Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan from Singapore and Hong Kong.
The onshore strategy brings new challenges because of the diverse nature of the individual markets.
“Asia is complex to define because there are many different jurisdictions with very different rules,” Mr. de Ferrari said.
“You need to be relevant in every market.” — Bloomberg

MFT Group to bring Salad Stop, La Lola overseas

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter

MFT Group, Chief Executive Officer Maria Francesca “Mica” F. Tan — MFTGROUP.COM.PH

PRIVATE EQUITY firm MFT Group is investing $3 million this year to expand its food business under brands Salad Stop and La Lola Churreria overseas.
MFT Group, named after its Chief Executive Officer Mica F. Tan, said it is focusing on growing its food business in the coming years, eyeing an initial 10 to 15 branches from the two brands.
“That’s around $3 million from a mix of La Lola and Salad Stop, between 10 to 15 branches overseas,” Ms. Tan said in a press briefing in Taguig City on Monday.
The company is looking at opening 30 to 40 branches of Salad Stop in Spain, Vietnam, and Portugal in the next few years.
The company acquired the master franchise for the Salad Stop brand in Vietnam last year, considered as one of the largest healthy food chains in Asia. MFT Group then paved the way for the brand’s expansion in Barcelona, Spain as well as in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam recently.
Meanwhile, La Lola Churreria is a Spanish churros store in Singapore the MFT Group also acquired last year. The firm looks to expand its presence overseas as the SSI Group holds the master franchise for the brand in the Philippines.
The company said it is also bullish on expanding its medical business after recently acquiring Hong Kong’s Meihao Corp., which provides medical equipment and supplies to hospitals and health institutions in the country.
“We are the preferred supplier because we are a one-stop-shop and they just give us their purchase orders of all the equipment they need. We can source it for them while other suppliers can only provide some of the equipment needed,” Ms. Tan said.
MFT Chief Corporate Development Officer Parker Ong said Meihao generated around P500 million in sales of medical equipment such as MRIs and X-Ray machines sourced from China, Japan, and Germany. This year, Mr. Ong said they are on track to double 2017’s revenues to P1 billion.
Founded in 2014, the MFT Group is a private equity firm that focuses on family legacy businesses to help them establish a sustainable financial footing. Its assets now stand at P3.2 billion, with investments in different industries such as financial services and technology, credit, health care, real estate, petroleum, lifestyle and entertainment.
The company’s strategies in investing in firms include full acquisition, majority acquisition, or the purchase of shares equal to influential minority.
“Our management control depends on synergy, and see if there’s a match and what we can bring to the family,” MFT Chief Operating Officer Eric F. Tan said during the briefing.

Oil firms ordered to submit plans for Euro 2 revival

gas pump
THE Department of Energy is calling on oil firms to resume selling Euro 2 diesel.

THE DEPARTMENT of Energy (DoE) has ordered oil companies to submit their implementation programs on its earlier call for them to sell the cheaper but dirtier Euro 2 diesel to ease the rising cost of fuel.
“In their respective implementation plans, the oil companies are expected to indicate the participating retail outlets, the date of intended implementation and other related information for the provision of an additional diesel fuel alternative,” the DoE said in a statement on Monday.
The department, through its Oil Industry Management Bureau, gave the companies until Friday, Aug. 24, to submit their plans.
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said his office was “actively finding ways to help control inflation” and bringing in Euro 2 compliant diesel gives Filipinos an additional option. He assured consumers that the Euro 2 fuel can be used by diesel engines with the catalytic converter.
“These are usually the 2015, 2014 and earlier models of vehicles,” he said.
Motorists who own older vehicle models from 2015 and earlier, including those in the transportation sector, would benefit from additional savings that Euro 2 diesel fuel would provide, the DoE chief said.
“With rising prices, each centavo of savings counts,” Mr. Cusi said.
The DoE has assured consumers that it would continue the stringent monitoring of the quality of fuels being sold in the country.
“We empower our consumers when we give them the ability to choose. We are enhancing the competition among the suppliers. This is what the Euro 2 diesel option is all about,” Mr. Cusi said.
The order to submit implementation plans comes a day after independent oil companies came out with a statement opposing the DoE directive to make Euro 2 diesel available at their fuel retail stations.
The Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA) said Euro 4 is 10 times cleaner than Euro 2, and blending of ethanol would no longer be needed in achieving cleaner emissions from gasoline products.
The association also pointed out that there is not much difference between the price of Euro 2 and Euro 4 diesel as domestic and international refineries have upgraded and shifted their production to Euro 4 and even Euro 5 compliant diesel products. The upgrade has made Euro 2 diesel even less available.
IPPCA said the reintroduction of Euro 2 is a setback to efforts to ensure cleaner air. Going back to Euro 2, the association said, means reverting to fuel with 10 times more sulfur at 500 parts per million (ppm) as against the much cleaner diesel that has 90% less sulfur at 50 ppm.
IPPCA also said offering Euro 2 is “a logistical nightmare for oil companies,” requiring the installation of underground tanks at retail outlets since the fuel could not be co-mingled with Euro 4 diesel. — Victor V. Saulon

8 movies to be screened at the International Silent Film Festival


WHILE MORE than half of the Philippines’ film collection has been lost forever because of the country’s lack of technology in conservation and restoration, and also of the lack of foresight over the importance of intact films, which includes silent movies, the Philippines is still able to join the 12th International Silent Film Festival, which will be held from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 at the SM Megamall.
All the movies in the festival will be shown for free.
“We’re the most challenged country [in the festival],” Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) chair Maria Liza Diño-Seguerra said during a press conference on Aug. 14. She said the Philippines has lost three fifths of its films.
Unlike the Philippines, the other countries participating in the festival — France, Spain, Austria, Italy, Japan, USA, and Germany — have seen the value of restored movies and have funds for their preservation.
The goal of the FDCP, Ms. Diño-Seguerra said, is to put up a Philippine archive and preservation center, but she said the government is not very keen in supporting the endeavour.
As the FDCP chair, Ms. Diño-Seguerra has visited countries like Japan, Spain, and France to get ideas on how to preserve and conserve movies. Ms. Diño-Seguerra said there is a large collection of preserved Philippine movies in France — which is one of the movie pioneers in the world and which has advanced technology to preserve film — which the council hopes to get back.
Ms. Diño-Seguerra said the country was lucky to find a film entry for this year’s festival — and it isn’t quite an old film. The Philippine entry is The Lost Film Trilogy which is composed of the archival films Filipiniana, a 13-minute-long experimental clip; the seven-minute-long Aswang, a 1933 film by George Musser; and Juan Tamad Goes to the Moon (1898), which were reworked by Khavn dela Cruz.
Each movie in the festival will feature music that will be performed live to accompany the silent film. The Lost Film Trilogy will be accompanied by Khavn and the Kontra Kino Orchestra.
The other films are:
• Satanic Rhapsody (Italy; 1915-1917, restored in 2015), Aug. 30, 8 p.m. A star of Italian silent cinema, actress Lydia Borelli plays aristocrat Dame Alba d’ Oltrevita who is willing to make a pact with the devil to experience youth again. It will have a live musical score by Miles Experience band.
• La Passion De Jeanne D’Arc (France, 1928), Aug. 31, 9 p.m. The film covers the trial of Joan of Arc in 1431 where she was accused of heresy and was burned at the stake. The musical score will be performed by musician Dingdong Fiel.
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Germany, 1920), Sept. 1, 4 p.m. The film that helped introduced techniques like a twisted ending and which was dubbed as the “first true horror film,” the movie is about the mad doctor Caligari who is suspected of reawakening a corpse. The musical score will be performed by Kontra-GaPi.
• A Straightforward Boy (Japan, 1929), Sept. 1, 6 p.m. The film is about Tetsubo, a boy with big appetite for sweets, who was kidnapped, but, unable to keep him under control, Tetsubo is returned by his kidnapper. The original silent film was 38 minutes long but parts of it were presumed lost. The 14-minute 1988 was shown at the 2015 Silent Film Festival. This year’s screening is longer by five minutes thanks to an intact 9.5 mm version that was discovered. The musical score will be performed by the Tanikala Tribe.
• Our Hospitality (USA, 1923), Sept. 1, 8 p.m. A woman takes her baby boy, Willie, to New York after her husband is killed in a family feud with the Canfield. When Willie grows up, he travels back home after learning that he inherited his father’s estate. While on the train he meets a young woman and falls in love with her, not knowing that she’s the only daughter of the Canfield patriarch. The musical score will be performed by the Brass Munkeys.
• Frivolinas (Spain, 1926), Sept. 2, 5 p.m. The film revolves around an old widower who loves the nightlife and a comedian who falls in love with the widower’s daughter. The musical score will be performed by Tapati.
• Die Kleine Veronika (Austria, 1929). Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m. The film is about country girl who travels to Vienna to visit her aunt, but finds out that the Vienna she daydreamed about is not all about fun and glamor. The musical score will be performed by Joee & I.
The International Silent Film fest was established in 2007 by Goethe-Institute Philippine, Japan Foundation, and Instituto Cervantes. — Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman

Developers report mixed Q2 results

SEVERAL PROPERTY companies reported mixed performances in the second quarter of 2018, with Rockwell Land Corp. posting strong real estate sales, while others saw a drop in revenues.
ROCKWELL
In a regulatory filing, Rockwell said it generated P628 million in net income attributable to the parent during the April to June period, 21% higher than what it posted in the same period a year ago. This followed a 28% increase in revenues to P4.72 billion.
On a six-month basis, the Lopez-led property company grew its attributable profit by a fifth to P1.25 billion, on the back of a 19% rise in revenues to P8.05 billion from the P6.76 billion it recorded in the same period a year ago.
Rockwell attributed the higher earnings to the 18% increase in sale of condominium units due to the completion rate of its properties Edades Suites, Proscenium, and Vantage. The company said it also benefited from the expansion of the Power Plant Mall and RBC Sheridan, prompting an increase in lease income.
The listed Rockwell spent P6.4 billion in capital expenditures during the first semester of the year, almost half the P14-15 billion it allocated for 2018.
STA. LUCIA LAND
In a separate filing, Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. (SLI) registered a 12% decline in net income to P242 million in the second quarter of the year, as revenues likewise dropped three percent to P1.05 billion.
For the first six months of the year, SLI’s net income increased by six percent to P508 million, driven by a 13% climb in revenues to P2.03 billion.
SLI noted an 18% increase in real estate sales for the first half, which it attributed to extensive marketing schemes and more lots and units offered for the period. The company also developed and procured more land during the first semester, while also entering more joint ventures.
At the same time, SLI’s rental income went down by 10% after seeing a change of tenant mix for the period.
ANCHOR LAND
Meanwhile, luxury property developer Anchor Land Holdings, Inc. (ALHI) reported a 45% decrease in net income attributable to equity holders of the parent in the second quarter to P127.43 million, versus the P174.15 million it delivered in the same period a year ago.
Revenues for the April to June period reached P1.3 billion, flat from the P1.32 billion it generated in the second quarter of 2017.
This brought ALHI’s attributable profit for the first half of the year to P231.04 million, 26% lower than the P312.7 million it generated in the same period a year ago. The company’s revenues meanwhile went up by two percent to P2.54 billion.
The company said the decline was due to fewer units sold since most of its properties have already been sold out, including Monarch Parksuites, Oxford Parksuites, and Princeview Parksuites. ALHI is launching several projects in the following years to lift its earnings in the future.
On Monday, shares in Rockwell closed flat at P2 each, SLI shares gained one centavo or 0.88% to P1.15 apiece, while shares in ALHI rose 4.33% or 58 centavos to P13.96 each. — Arra B. Francia

How Aretha Franklin made ‘Respect’ a feminist anthem

PARIS — It may be the most rousing feminist anthem ever, but “Respect” — the song that made Aretha Franklin the “Queen of Soul” — was actually written about a man demanding a break from his wife.
Franklin’s genius was to turn the song — and the traditional values it espoused — on their head by some deft changes to the lyrics and by adding the stirring “R — E — S — P — E — C — T” chorus.
In so doing, she made Otis Redding’s 1965 lament of an exhausted working man demanding some slack from his woman into a rallying call for downtrodden African American women.
Rolling Stone magazine put her version in the top five greatest songs of all time, saying Franklin was a “woman calling an end to the exhaustion and sacrifice of a raw deal with scorching sexual authority.”
And even Redding — who wrote other such timeless classics like “Dock of the Bay” and “Try a Little Tenderness” — acknowledged within months of Franklin’s recording that the song belonged to her.
His biographer Mark Ribowsky said that at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival in California, Redding joked to the crowd, saying: “This next song is a song that a girl took away from me.”
Five months later, the “King of Soul” died in a plane crash aged just 26.
Franklin was an almost unknown gospel singer from Detroit when she went into the studio to record “Respect” with her sisters Erma and Carolyn.
She speeded the song up and cooked up the provocative high-tempo “Sock it to me” refrain, producer Jerry Wexler later recalled in his autobiography, Rhythm and the Blues: A Life in American Music.
“The fervor in Aretha’s voice demanded that respect,” he wrote.
But American musicologist Professor Victoria Malawey told AFP that Franklin’s take on the song was far more than a jazzed up cover version.
A NEW SOUL
She insisted that Franklin changed “the song so radically… that I would argue she re-authored it.
“It was not just her altering of the lyrics, or changing the point of view of the song from a male one to that of a woman, she also gave it an entirely new energy and soul,” the pop music specialist added.
Malawey, chair of music at Macalester College in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, credits Franklin with turning the song into an anthem for both the feminist and civil rights movement in the late 1960s.
“Not only did she add the R-E-S-P-E-C-T chorus, but her remaking of the song gives it a whole different empowerment message, both sexually and politically.
“In my opinion, the extent of her re-authoring grants her status as owner of the song, and makes it a whole new sonic experience. That is why multiple social movements have claimed Franklin’s ‘Respect’ as theirs” over the past half-century, she said.
The hit won Franklin the first two of her 18 Grammy awards, and went on to feature in more than 30 major films including Platoon, The Blues Brothers, Mystic Pizza, and Forrest Gump.
Malawey said that Franklin, the daughter of a Baptist minister, always denied that there were sexual overtones to the lyrics she added.
SEXUAL EMPOWERMENT
But Wexler begged to differ. “More respect also involved sexual attention of the highest order. What else would ‘Sock it to me’ mean?” he said.
Others who knew her said she was drawing from her tumultuous marriage at the time.
“Whatever the intention, people have taken a definite female sexual empowerment message from the song,” Malawey said.
“There is a long tradition of black female performers allowing for a variety of meanings from their lyrics to assert their sexuality. You see this right down to Beyonce.”
But Malawey said it was Franklin’s “voice, and the power and soul she gives the song, which has inspired and empowered so many people.
“It is something beyond lyrics or the melody that really moves us and that is all to do with Aretha Franklin’s own vocal delivery. That is what has made the song so powerful, so lasting and so relevant today.” — AFP

PSALM planning to rebid Manila property after last week’s failed auction

STATE-LED POWER SECTOR Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) will rebid a parcel of land in Manila where a thermal power plant used to stand after the agency failed to attract bidders.
“PSALM will look into the reasons as to why the four bidders, who initially purchased bid documents, decided eventually not to participate in the bidding,” the agency said in a statement on Monday, quoting Irene Joy B. Garcia, its president and chief executive.
She declared the public auction a failure due to the non-receipt of any bids on the deadline set at noon of Aug. 15, 2018. The asset’s rebidding will be set as soon as the road map for the second round of bidding is finalized, PSALM said.
The property, which has an approximate area of 20,975 square meters, is valued at around P886 million. It had previously hosted a power plant, which provided electricity to consumers in the Luzon grid before it was decomissioned in 2009.
Proceeds of its privatization was used to liquidate maturing debts of the power sector.
PSALM took over ownership of government-owned power generation assets when the sector was restructured with the passage of Republic Act No. 9136, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001. Its principal purpose is to manage the orderly sale and privatization of the assets.
The privatization of the Manila thermal power plant paved the way for the clean up of the land ahead of its sale. The agency had expected the proceeds to help augment its funding sources for the management of its assumed liabilities.
PSALM said the property has a potential commercial value because of its proximity to Manila’s business establishments. The land is on Isla de Provisor along the Pasig River in Paco, Manila.
In its invitation to bid published on Aug. 8-10, 2018, the PSALM board set the a minimum bid price for the property at P885,746,650. It said the invitation did not refer to a new project, but merely intends to inform interested bidders of the land’s minimum bid price.
PSALM first published its invitation on Dec. 5-7, 2017 without disclosing a minimum bid price. Any bid below the minimum will be rejected during bid opening. Interested parties were informed that the property will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis.
The bidding was open to individuals and sole proprietorships, partnerships or corporation, joint ventures or consortiums, government corporate entities and local government units authorized by law to acquire, own, hold or develop real properties in the Philippines.
If the bidder or any of its components is a corporation, it must be duly registered and organized under the laws of the Philippines and at least 60% Filipino-owned. — Victor V. Saulon

Hilton eyes more partnerships in PHL

By Arra B. Francia
Reporter
HILTON WORLDWIDE Holdings, Inc. is on the lookout for more partnerships with hospitality institutions in the Philippines, as it seeks to develop more talents to serve the growing tourism industry in the country.
The global hospitality firm sees a need to enhance the talent pool in country to accommodate the projected influx of tourist arrivals in the coming years. Citing government data, the company said international arrivals grew by 10.96% to 6.6 million in 2017, and is further expected to rise in the next 10 years from top spending markets such as Korea, the United States, and China.
With this, Hilton is looking to take advantage of the opportunities in the hospitality sector.
“We are always committed to nurturing and developing talent across the country, especially among young people. Our goal is to impact at least one million young people by 2019, and we strive to connect, prepare, and employ these talents, such as through alliances with schools,” Hilton Vice President for Human Resources for Asia-Pacific Brendan Toomey said in an e-mailed response to questions sent by BusinessWorld.
“We conduct training sessions and bring on board interns and management trainees from these school alliances, and are on the lookout for suitable partners in the Philippines,” Mr. Toomey added.
Hilton noted comprehensive training is essential in delivering value service to their guests. For this, the company has several initiatives to ensure that each member undergoes comprehensive training, including the Management Trainee Program, Asia Pacific Elevator Program, and E3 Leadership Development Curriculum.
The Management Trainee Program is an 18-month program in Southeast Asia, Japan, and India where youths who want broader operational exposure but do not have any hospitality experience can be trained for 18 months.
The Asia Pacific Elevator Program is for those aspiring to become general managers, and are deployed in the Operations, Commercial, Finance and Human Resources functions. Trainees are also rotated to properties in two countries to broaden their perspectives on various cultural contexts.
Meanwhile, the E3 Leadership Development Curriculum is described as a “globally harmonized framework for leadership development with three distinct tracks – Elevate, Engage and Excel, aligned with different career stages for our Team Members.”
“We are committed to helping (our team members) reach their full potential, so that they can deliver that renowned hospitality experience that is synonymous with our brands,” Mr. Toomey said.
Alongside the need to train more people for the hospitality sector, Hilton said the number of hotel rooms in Metro Manila are not enough to accommodate the large tourist numbers. Citing a study by Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services, Inc., the company said Metro Manila needs an additional 70,000 rooms for tourists.
Hilton has taken this as an opportunity to expand its presence in the country through the opening of Hilton Manila this October. The Hilton Manila expects to cater to the demand for business and leisure travelers, at the same time creating employment opportunities in the country.

Prince’s 1995-2010 albums made available for streaming

LOS ANGELES — The estate of prolific late pop icon Prince made more than 300 songs from his later career available on digital download and streaming services for the first time on Friday.
The tracks come from 23 albums — from 1995’s The Gold Experience to 2010’s 20Ten — that have been launched online as part of a deal struck with Sony’s Legacy Recordings.
There is also a new 37-track compilation called Prince Anthology 1995-2010, made up of highlights from the 23 albums.
“Many of these albums, long sought-after by fans and collectors, are available for the first time for streaming and download, adding more than 300 essential Prince songs to the artist’s online in-print catalog,” Legacy said in a statement.
The Prince Estate and Sony Music Entertainment reached an agreement in June that would see Legacy digitally distribute 35 Prince albums in total.
The music includes previously unreleased albums as well as singles, B-sides, live recordings and other rarities.
The songs come from Prince’s later career, when he was at his most industrious, and putting out up to four albums a year.
“Freed from major label demands and expectations, Prince was able to write, record and release his own music on his own terms,” Legacy added.
Variety magazine noted that Prince’s biggest hit from that period, 1994’s “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” has not been included, despite being on The Gold Experience.
It quoted an unnamed source who said the track was “on legal hold as a result of existing litigation.” — AFP

T-bills fully awarded on strong liquidity

THE GOVERNMENT made another full award of the Treasury bills (T-bill) it auctioned off on Monday as rates slipped across all tenors on the back of additional liquidity in the market amid P91-billion worth of maturing state debt.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) borrowed P15 billion as planned at its T-bills auction yesterday. The offer was almost thrice oversubscribed as demand from investors totalled P43.1 billion, albeit slightly lower than the P49.4 billion recorded at last week’s offering.
Broken down, the government borrowed P4 billion as planned via the 91-day tenor yesterday as tenders amounted to P12.857 billion. The average rate for the papers slid 4.1 basis points (bp) to 3.203% from the 3.244% logged in the previous auction.
For the 182-day T-bills, the Treasury borrowed P5 billion as planned out of the P17.928 billion offered by banks and other financial institutions. The average yield likewise declined by 5.3 bps to 4.064% from the 4.117% quoted in the previous offering.
The government also made a full award of the 363-day papers, accepting the programmed P6 billion out of total offers amounting to P12.358 billion. Its average yield likewise declined 2.3 bps to 4.869% from last week’s 4.892%.
At the secondary market prior to the auction, three-month and six-month papers were quoted at 3.615% and 4.0651%, respectively, while one-year securities fetched a 5.1077% yield.
At the close of the trading, the yield on the 91-day T-bill was steady at 3.615%, while rates of the 182-day and 364-day papers went down to 4.0641% and 4.8366%, respectively.
National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said the government opted for another full award yesterday given strong liquidity in the market.
“The appetite continues to be on the short end but nonetheless we see that the rates are already trending downwards,” Ms. De Leon told reporters on Monday.
“We have maturities of about P91 billion. P86 billion would mature [on Monday] and then another P5 billion within the week. That will also go to the system [as it will increase liquidity].”
She added that the 50-bp rate hike by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier this month “calmed” the market.
“We see that after the 50-bp hike was delivered, I think that has also calmed the market. More or less, we see rates on a downward trajectory,” Ms. De Leon said.
The central bank’s policy-setting Monetary Board raised key rates by 50 bps on Aug. 9 — the third consecutive tightening move this year — to temper inflation expectations. Rates now stand at a 3.5-4.5% range.
“And also the pronouncements of [BSP Deputy Governor] Diwa [C. Guinigundo] that eventually inflation will peak sometime in September, so [market players] see that rates are also trending downwards.”
Meanwhile, a trader said the auction result was within market expectations.
“As expected, we saw strong demand on the Treasury bills due to the recent maturity of the bonds,” the trader said in a phone interview
“There’s also an upcoming maturity this Aug. 22 worth P5 billion so that drove the bids lower.”
The Treasury is set to raise P300 billion from the domestic market this quarter through auctions of securities, offering P195 billion in T-bills and another P105 billion in Treasury bonds.
The government plans to borrow P888.23 billion this year from local and foreign sources to fund its budget deficit, which is capped at 3% of the country’s gross domestic product.
MARAWI BONDS
Meanwhile, Ms. De Leon said yesterday that the Treasury is discussing with the Bangon Marawi team the necessary funding for the planned retail Treasury bonds for the rehabilitation of the war-torn city.
“We are already discussing with the Bangon Marawi team in terms of the requirements and also about their plans and requirements,” she said, noting they are focused on the campaign to encourage Filipinos to participate.
Last week, the national treasurer said the government has already secured necessary approvals for the planned retail Treasury bonds for the rehabilitation of Marawi city worth an indicative P50-60 billion, but the timing of the offering has yet to be determined.
“The structure that we’re looking at for the Marawi bonds is we want everyone to contribute to help. Even for those [overseas Filipino workers] through online means because if they do that online, they don’t have to go through banks,” Ms. De Leon said. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

SC sets aside CA decision on PT&T rehab plan

By Denise A. Valdez
THE SUPREME COURT (SC) has reversed the appellate court’s decision to junk Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp.’s (PT&T) rehabilitation plan, the telecommunications company said on Monday.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, PT&T said the High Court on July 11, 2018 issued a resolution that granted the company’s motion for reconsideration and reinstated its appeal against the May 2017 Court of Appeals (CA) decision that stopped its rehabilitation plan.
“Given the circumstances, this is a favorable decision for PT&T,” the company’s legal counsel Kenneth Joey H. Maceren said.
The Court of Appeals last year dismissed PT&T’s petition for rehabilitation, siding with a group of creditors.
Earlier this month, PT&T said the regional trial court (RTC) of Makati City, which acted as its rehabilitation court, has allowed the company to exit its court-assisted corporate rehabilitation on Aug. 6 “subject to compliance with certain requirements in line with the approved Rehabilitation Plan.”
PT&T chief operations officer Miguel Marco A. Bitanga told BusinessWorld in a text message on Monday that the company’s priority is still to leave rehabilitation.
“We just have to make sure we do whatever is necessary to exit rehab, and addressing both the rehab case with the RTC and the appeal with the SC would help ensure this objective is met,” he said.
Mr. Bitanga earlier said leaving rehabilitation would let the company raise additional capital in the stock market to finance its plans for expansion.
PT&T is vying to participate in the government’s bid for a so-called “third telco” player. PT&T Chief Executive Officer James G. Velasquez said earlier this month that leaving rehabilitation is “another proof” of its commitment to this endeavor.

1...10,61410,61510,616...12,768Page 10,615 of 12,768
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube