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E-commerce boom faces infrastructure headwinds, Visa reports

SINGAPORE — Visa, Inc. is optimistic about the growth of electronic payments in the Philippines as smartphones continue to proliferate, although infrastructure issues may hamper the development.
Chris Clark, Visa Regional President for Asia Pacific, said Philippine financial institutions will continue to work on developing the electronic payment ecosystem in the country.
“We’re going to see more and more cases of Philippine financial institutions wanting to work on new kinds and ways to pay, and specifically focusing on e-commerce,” Mr. Clark said in a press briefing on the sidelines of the Visa Security Summit held on Wednesday.
As more financial institutions move to advance digital payments in the country, Mr. Clark said the “exploding” usage of smartphones will play a key role.
“And as smartphones have proliferated in the Philippines, we’ve seen more of that growth come over the recent years,” he said.
According to Visa’s 2016 Consumer Payment Attitudes Survey, the country is increasingly shifting towards a cashless society as 57% of the Filipinos surveyed prefer electronic payments as opposed to cash. That number surged from the 46% logged the previous year.
The study noted that half of the Filipino respondents shopped using their smartphones at least once a month.
Despite the growing numbers, Mr. Clark mentioned some headwinds in growth, noting infrastructure gap in the rural areas.
“But again, it’s a question of the stage of development of the market. If you think about where the infrastructure and the wealth are centered, it is in the northern part of the Philippines,” he said, also citing urban areas outside Luzon such as Cebu.
“You have these areas in the Philippines which are very wealthy and have better infrastructure,” he said. “And when you think about the rest of the economy, more in rural areas, [these areas do] not necessarily always [have access] to mobile telephony, or even power in some cases.”
He added that banks are reluctant to invest in electronic payments in far-flung areas as returns are more guaranteed in urban centers.
“It’s also where the banks have chosen to invest in electronic payments,” Mr. Clark said. “I think the big focus has always been in Manila and in the large cities where they know that they can actually guarantee penetration of cash and where there are more affluent consumers that are willing to [use] cards.”
But despite these, Mr. Clark said that the growth of electronics payment in the Philippines is a “great achievement.”
“I don’t think the Philippines should be ashamed of the fact that it doubled its penetration of electronic payments over the ten-year period. That in itself is a great achievement,” he said, citing the 2017 period versus 2007.
In his keynote speech, Mr. Clark said that electronic payments across the world will continue to expand as new payment platforms continue to be developed.
“What we know is that three billion cards and 46 million merchants out there today are going to grow to more than 30 billion ways to pay and more than 400 million ways to be paid,” he said.
Mr. Clark explained that payment channels will grow exponentially as more devices are now interconnected.
“When you think about the internet of things, everything that we are seeing and buying now, such as mobile devices, refrigerators and cars, are connected in some ways to the cloud, to the internet,” he said. “So many of those things already have payment capabilities and capacity built in.”
He added that there is still a lot of room to grow, especially in the Asia Pacific region, as the usage of cash is still prevalent.
In a statement handed to reporters, the Asia Pacific region is an $11-trillion market in payment volume terms, and 55% of the transactions are still cash-dependent.
“Meaning, there is a $6.1-trillion cash opportunity waiting to be converted into digital payments,” Visa said.
— Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Lower palay, corn Q2 output seen

THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said its output estimate for palay, or unmilled rice, in the three months to June is 4.049 million metric tons (MMT), which if realized would represent a 2.43% decline from the year-earlier output of 4.150 MMT.
In its “Rice and Corn Situation and Outlook” report released on May 15, the PSA said that the projected decline is due to early indications of reduced output in the Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, the Zamboanga Peninsula and SOCCSKSARGEN – the central Mindanao region formed by South Cotabato, Cotabato City, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City.
It said these regions’ production could decline due to a reduction in harvest area for the period, the increased pace of farmland conversion for commercial and industrial use, and the inadequate supply of water.
Crop Production
In the six months to June, its palay output estimate is 8.672 MMT. If the estimate pans out, it would represent a 1.2% increase from the year-earlier output of 8.659 MMT.
For the six-month estimate, the PSA cited an increase in harvest area to 2.12 million hectares from 2.10 million a year earlier, although it assumes a decline in yield per hectare to 4.08 metric tons (MT) from 4.09 MT a year earlier.
Forward estimates for the three months to September, which are based on an assessment of farmers’ planting intentions, point to a year-on-year rise due to expectations of early-onset rainfall and increased planting area as more land benefits from irrigation. It said farmers are also bullish because they are expecting an increase in subsidies for seed.
The PSA said corn output in the three months to June is estimated at 1.28 MMT. If realized, the estimate would represent a 3.7% drop from the year-earlier 1.33 MMT, due to declining planting area and yields.
The PSA cited an estimated decline in harvest area for the three months to June to 391,260 hectares from 401,510 a year earlier, and an expected decline in yield to 3.27 MT per hectare from 3.31 MT a year earlier.
It said corn planting in the three months to June may have suffered from farmers deciding to plant more in the previous quarter due to the availability of seed in the preceding period.
Meanwhile, some corn farmers may have shifted to other crops, or in the case of Cagayan Valley may have left land to lie fallow.
In the six months to June, the PSA’s corn production estimate was 3.756 MMT. If realized corn output will have risen 1.63% from 3.696 MMT a year earlier, due to increased planting area and yields for the period.
The PSA said based on planting intentions for corn, output for the three months to September may decline due to hot weather, with farmers also signaling plans to cultivate palay and other crops.

Remittances expected to bounce back in April

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez
Senior Reporter
REMITTANCES are expected to recover by April following March’s decline, a global bank said, even as it likely kept the peso weaker versus the US dollar.
“We expect remittances to exhibit some resilience in April,” Jose Mario I. Cuyegkeng, senior economist at ING Bank N.V. Manila, said in a report released yesterday.
“The central bank pointed to fewer banking days due to the Holy Week commemoration. This implies that April should show a good rebound since Holy Week in 2017 was in April.”
Remittances would likely bounce back by April following a 9.8% decline the previous month, the bank analyst said, pointing out base effects as the inflows clocked in a 10.7% growth in March 2017.
The recent drop came on the back of a repatriation order issued by President Rodrigo R. Duterte for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait back in February, which was followed by a deployment ban amid reports of abuse.
Tensions eventually eased and led to the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the two nations last Friday.
Mr. Cuyegkeng said the drop in cash transfers — which was the steepest fall in 15 years — may be attributed to a “sustained weakness” of inflows from the Middle East, with remittances from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait on a decline for two straight months.
Apart from its impact on domestic consumption, the softer remittance inflows are also affecting the economy via the exchange rate.
“The shortfall of remittances is the norm and contributes to the underlying weakness of PHP (Philippine peso),” the bank economist said. “The recent bout of PHP weakness is a combination of this shortfall, low emerging market risk appetite, the market’s dovish take of the central bank’s policy rate hike and higher oil prices.”
The peso averaged at P52.0676 versus the dollar in March, maintaining a depreciation trend since the year opened.
“We had expected that remittances would more than cover the March trade deficit by $100 million. Instead, remittances in March were $248 million short to cover the trade gap,” Mr. Cuyegkeng added.
The local currency has been dubbed as the worst-performing currency in Asia this year given a widening current account deficit.
However, BSP officials have said that the trade gap should be taken positively, as it reflects the increased importations of capital goods and raw materials needed for increased domestic economic activity, particularly the infrastructure push of the Duterte administration.

TRAIN books P12.5-B net gain in Q1

THE TAX Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law was able to shore up a P12.5-billion net gain in the first quarter, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said, largely due to collections from tobacco products and softer-than-expected revenue losses from lower withholding income taxes.
The BIR yesterday reported to the Congressional Oversight Committee on the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program that the law generated P39.1 billion in additional revenues offset by P26.6 billion in foregone collections in the first three months of the year, yielding a surplus of P12.5 billion.
This is better than the expected P3.2-billion net loss for that period, and is equivalent to 15.19% of the P82.3-billion full-year net gain the government is targeting.
“The balance is attributable to both the field performance, especially our reinforcement processes in our revenue regions,” said BIR Director Alfredo V. Misajon during the hearing.
“That is a positive note for us,” he added.
TRAIN or Republic Act No. 10963 reduced personal income taxes and estate and donor’s tax rates, but removed some value-added tax exemptions.
At the same time, it hiked excise tax rates for automobiles, minerals, tobacco, and fuel and imposed new levies on sugar-sweetened beverages and cosmetic procedures, among others.
The BIR said it recorded a loss of P23.34 billion in the first quarter from lower withholding income taxes, down from the P36.04-billion loss it initially expected.
Losses from the lower estate taxes also came in lower at P225.23 million versus the P361.72-million shortfall it expected.
Meanwhile, the donor’s tax yielded a gain of P61.06 million instead of the P376.2-million loss the BIR programmed.
However, this gain was slightly tempered by value-added tax collections that yielded a P3-billion loss against the targeted P4.21-billion net gain.
“Maybe this is just the temporary movement in our VAT system. Maybe because of the projected increase, some of the consumption has decreased,” Mr. Misajon explained.
Meanwhile, the additional revenues from tobacco products due to the TRAIN law yielded P14.97 billion, higher than the P686.02-million target and making it the largest contributor to the program’s net surplus.
“We noticed that although we increased the…excise tax on tobacco, we’ve seen that the consumption of tobacco has not been tapering off… Maybe it’s because we’re just in the initial months of implementation, and some of these manufacturers had an inkling of the increases in excise tax,” Mr. Misajon said.
The BIR chief noted that demand for cigarettes was front-loaded ahead of another tobacco tax hike come July as mandated by the TRAIN law.
Incremental gains from higher documentary stamp taxes stood at P8.72 billion, more than the P7.06-billion target.
However, TRAIN’s gains from petroleum, automobiles, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) — the third-largest contributor to the total — as well as coal, minerals and cosmetic procedures were all below target during the first quarter.
The take from petroleum came in at P4.73 billion that period against the P9.99-billion target; automobiles at P363.71 million versus the P673.66-million goal; SSB at P7.7 billion (versus P7.78 billion); coal at P305,000 (versus P116.62 million); minerals at P264.97 million (versus P440.46 million); and cosmetic procedures at P7,000 against the P14.95-million target.
Meanwhile, additional revenues from higher final taxes in the first quarter went above program, with foreign currency deposit unit taxes yielding P159.71 million versus the P99.72-million target, capital gains on non-trade stocks at P1 billion against the P777.07-million goal, and transactions of traded stocks at P1.12 billion versus the P409.4-million program.
However, the BIR has no estimate for the impact of tax administration measures so far, even though it expects these initiatives to have generated some P1.31 billion in gains in the first quarter. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

CPG, Mitsubishi form JV for affordable housing

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
CENTURY Properties Group, Inc. (CPG) has partnered with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. for the establishment of a company that will develop affordable housing projects that are expected to generate P57 billion in sales over the next five years.
The listed property developer on Wednesday signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with Mitsubishi for the incorporation of Phirst Park Homes, Inc. (PPHI).
PPHI, which will be 60% owned by CPG and 40% owned by Mitsubishi, will have an authorized capital stock of P5 billion. It will be incorporated once the deal is cleared by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).
CPG and Mitsubishi decided to form the JV company following strong demand from their first project, Phirst Park Homes Tanza, which was launched last year. The 26-hectare Cavite project offers a total of 3,000 units priced between P1 million and P3 million each.
To date, Phirst Park Homes Tanza has already sold out 98% of its first phase and 16% from the second phase. Reservation sales from the affordable housing project reached P1.4 billion in 2017, coming mainly from first-time homeowners within the Cavite area and from overseas Filipino workers.
Under PPHI, CPG and Mitsubishi will spend around P10 billion over the next five years for the launch of 15 projects with about 33,000 units. The company is currently in various stages of land banking for these projects, with seven properties already identified.
For this year alone, PPHI may launch two projects, one located south of Metro Manila and the other in Central Luzon.
“We’re looking at, at least two, based on the progress of our land acquisition, as soon as we get clearance from PCC… This will give us an initial footprint spread from both sides of Metro Manila,” CPG President for the affordable platform Ricky M. Celis said in a media briefing in Makati on Wednesday.
PPHI will be offering units sized 40 to 56 square meters, priced from P1 million to P6 million. Monthly amortization can range from P7,000-P8,000 and P15,000-P16,000, depending on the size of the project.
The company will target the first home-buyer market and OFWs for its projects. The Phirst Park Homes Tanza project, for instance, saw 45% of its sales coming from the OFW market.
“We decided to tap the first home buyer market, which demand right now is insatiable because really there are many people joining the middle class in the Philippines,” CPG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jose E.B. Antonio said during the signing ceremony.
For its part, Mitsubishi said the partnership will help address the estimated housing backlog of 6.6 million units in the country.
“We have experience from Japan, US, China, and other countries. Mitsubishi is ready to introduce the kind of construction materials, and our know how from Japan. We believe this will differentiate our products from what is available in the market,” Mitsubishi General Manager of ASEAN Urban Development Hidetoshi Suzuki said during the press briefing.
The P10-billion capex for the joint venture company will be funded through a mix of internally generated income and bank loans.

Filinvest net income rises 27%

FILINVEST Development Corp. (FDC) delivered a 27% increase in its net income attributable to the parent for the first quarter of 2018, driven mainly by its property unit and investments in the hospitality and leisure sector.
In a regulatory filing, the Gotianun-led holding firm said it booked an attributable profit of P1.95 billion in the first three months of the year, versus the P1.53 billion in the same period last year. Revenues went up 4.1% to P17.25 billion, with 46% coming from the property unit, 39% from banking, 11% from power, and 4% from sugar.
Revenues of Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) hit P6.33 billion during the quarter, up 7% year on year, leading to a 7% uptick in net income to P1.51 billion.
The listed property unit saw rental revenues grow 24% to P1.2 billion after opening new office and retail buildings last year. FLI now has 22 office buildings covering 348,000 square meters (sq.m.) in gross leasable area, with retail GLA at 239,000 sq.m. This places the company on track to achieve its target of 1.5 million sq.m. by 2022.
FDC’s property revenues also got a lift from the 21% net income growth in the hotel segment to P67.3 million. Its unit, Filinvest Hospitality Corp. (FHC), offers a total of 1,591 rooms across four properties carrying the Crimson and Quest brands.
FHC will be adding eight hotels offering a total of 1,700 rooms under its portfolio this year. Two Quest properties in Tagaytay and San Mateo will be managed by Chroma Hospitality, Inc. The company will also be unveiling the 192-room Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay, once the government finishes its six-month rehabilitation of Boracay island.
The listed conglomerate has also been ramping up its leisure portfolio through the 201-hectare Filinvest Mimosa + Leisure Estate, where it is set to develop a $200-million casino complex in Clark, Pampanga. The group has already secured a provisional license from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. for the casino, which will be surrounded by a lifestyle mall, a five-star hotel, and events venue.
EastWest Bank, meanwhile, saw its net income drop 16% to P920.9 million from the P1.2 billion posted in the same period last year, weighed down by lower contributions from its wholly owned unit, EastWest Rural Bank.
“While we expect 2018 to be a challenging year, mainly due to rising interest rates and higher inflation that could directly impact our customers, we are nonetheless bullish about future growth,” FDC Chairman Jonathan T. Gotianun said in a statement.
The banking unit is set to conduct a P50-billion stock rights offering by the second half of the year.
FDC noted its power unit, FDC Utilities, Inc., generated P290.3 million in net income with the increased demand for its 405-megawatt clean coal power plant in Misamis Oriental. This is against a net loss of P69.9 million in the same period last year. The company has partnered with global services provider PIC Marubeni for more coal plant projects in the country.
“Our interests in power and infrastructure can provide balance to our more cyclical property segments and banking businesses with steady and stable revenues from rental, power, sugar and infrastructure sectors. At the same time, investment in airport infrastructure will complement our hospitality and BPO projects in the country,” FDC President and Chief Executive Officer Josephine Gotianun-Yap said in a statement.
For investments in infrastructure, FDC is currently part of the “superconsortium,” which includes six other conglomerates, that aims to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and transform it into a regional airport hub in the ASEAN region.
The company will also be bidding for the operations and maintenance of Clark International Airport. — Arra B. Francia

Grocery business lifts Cosco income

COSCO CAPITAL, Inc. reported its net income attributable to equity holders of the parent rose 8% in the first quarter, driven by robust sales of its grocery retail and liquor businesses.
In a regulatory filing, the retail holding firm of tycoon Lucio L. Co said attributable net profit went up to P1.25 billion during the January to March period, from P1.15 billion a year ago.
Total revenues grew by 14% to P36.82 billion from P32.32 billion during the same period in 2017.
“The growth in consolidated revenues in 2018 was largely driven by a combination of the group’s sustained organic growth from its grocery retail segment; sustained revenue growth from the LPG business unit driven by the gradual recovery of global petroleum and gas prices…; steady revenue contributions from the real estate segment…; and sustained growth in revenue contributions from the liquor and wine distribution business,” Cosco Capital said.
Its grocery retailing business, Puregold Price Club, Inc. and S&R Membership Shopping Club, accounted for 58% of the company’s profits. Its consolidated net income contribution rose 12% to P1.42 billion, on the back of a 12% growth in revenues to P30.88 billion.
Ten new Puregold stores and one new S&R quick service restaurant were opened during the first quarter.
The commercial real estate segment reported an 11% jump in net income to P283.64 million, on the back of a 10% increase in revenues to P607.96 million. Cosco Capital attributed this to the additional leasable space from four new malls, higher occupancy rates, and increased income from oil storage tanks business in Subic Bay Freeport.
The liquor distribution business generated P1.71 billion in revenues, up 46% in the first quarter, resulting in a 32% rise in net income to P178.99 million.
“The growth in revenue is still principally driven by its brandy portfolio which accounts for more than 60% of sales augmented by the increase in sales of the spirits sector,” Cosco Capital said.
Liquigaz Philippines Corp.’s net income was flat at P101.07 million, despite a 24% increase in revenues to P3.73 billion. Revenues of Office Warehouse, Inc. rose by 13.4% to P499 million.

8990 Q1 profit hits P1B

EARNINGS of 8990 Holdings, Inc. grew by more than a third in the first quarter of 2018, fueled by the delivery of more housing projects across the country.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the mass housing developer said net income reached P1 billion in the quarter, 37% higher than the P736 million it realized in the same period a year ago. Gross revenues jumped 57% to P2.5 billion, due to increased contributions from its projects nationwide.
The listed firm delivered 1,786 homes valued at P2.5 billion in the January to March period, marking a 57% year-on-year increase. More than half of the units came from projects in the National Capital Region, while were 24% in the Visayas and 14% were in Mindanao.
Reservation sales improved by 7% to 2,113 units, following robust demand from local buyers.
“We continue to build affordable homes nationwide given the strong demand we have seen. We expect this to further improve as the country’s economy grows,” 8990 Holdings President and Chief Executive Officer Willibaldo J. Uy said in a statement.
The company’s rental revenues picked up 8% to P2.6 million for the period. It also reported a 21% drop in other income to P350 million after liquidating its receivables to fund its projects and to pay outstanding loans.
8990 Holdings acquired an 822-square meter property along Taft Avenue and a 5.7-hectare lot in Ormoc, Leyte in the first quarter as part of its land banking initiatives.
Located near the Shaw Boulevard station of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, Urban Deca Tower EDSA is the company’s first high rise project offering a total of 1,143 units across 42 floors. Mr. Uy noted the company was able to sell out the project two years after its launch.
8990 Holdings plans to launch five projects worth P60 billion this year.
Shares in 8990 went up 0.7% or five centavos to close at P7.15 each at the stock exchange on Wednesday. — Arra B. Francia

Google workers reportedly quitting over drone contract

SAN FRANCISCO — An internal petition calling for Google to stay out of “the business of war” was gaining support Tuesday, with some workers reportedly quitting to protest a collaboration with the US military.
About 4,000 Google employees were said to have signed a petition that began circulating about three months ago urging the Internet giant to refrain from using artificial intelligence to make US military drones better at recognizing what they are monitoring.
Tech news website Gizmodo reported this week that about a dozen Google employees are quitting in an ethical stand.
The California-based company did not immediately respond to inquiries about what was referred to as Project Maven, which reportedly uses machine learning and engineering talent to distinguish people and objects in drone videos for the Defense Department.
“We believe that Google should not be in the business of war,” the petition reads, according to copies posted online.
“Therefore, we ask that Project Maven be canceled, and that Google draft, publicize and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology.”
‘STEP AWAY’ FROM KILLER DRONES
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet rights group, and the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) were among those who have weighed in with support.
While reports indicated that artificial intelligence findings would be reviewed by human analysts, the technology could pave the way for automated targeting systems on armed drones, ICRAC reasoned in an open letter of support to Google employees against the project.
“As military commanders come to see the object recognition algorithms as reliable, it will be tempting to attenuate or even remove human review and oversight for these systems,” ICRAC said in the letter.
“We are then just a short step away from authorizing autonomous drones to kill automatically, without human supervision or meaningful human control.”
Google has gone on the record saying that its work to improve machines’ ability to recognize objects is not for offensive uses, but published documents show a “murkier” picture, the EFF’s Cindy Cohn and Peter Eckersley said in an online post last month.
“If our reading of the public record is correct, systems that Google is supporting or building would flag people or objects seen by drones for human review, and in some cases this would lead to subsequent missile strikes on those people or objects,” said Cohn and Eckersley.
“Those are hefty ethical stakes, even with humans in the loop further along the ‘kill chain.’”
The EFF and others welcomed internal Google debate, stressing the need for moral and ethical frameworks regarding the use of artificial intelligence in weaponry.
“The use of AI in weapons systems is a crucially important topic and one that deserves an international public discussion and likely some international agreements to ensure global safety,” Cohn and Eckersley said.
“Companies like Google, as well as their counterparts around the world, must consider the consequences and demand real accountability and standards of behavior from the military agencies that seek their expertise — and from themselves.” — AFP

Xurpas unit plans $100-M coin offering

A UNIT of Xurpas, Inc. will be raising $100 million through a coin offering to fund its project that seeks to provide free Internet access to consumers in select markets.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the listed technology firm said its Singapore unit ODX Pte. Ltd. looks to sell ODX tokens. ODX, which stands for Open Data Exchange, wants to provide free Internet access to consumers in emerging markets through sponsored data packages.
The company said it already has more than $50 million in initial downpayments for the share sale. The tokens will not be sold to citizens or residents of the Philippines, United States, or China.
Proceeds of the coin offering will be used to finance ODX’s infrastructure, its business development with Internet service providers, publishers, and other partners.
“We have always kept an eye out for disruptive, game changing technologies. Two decades ago, the mobile Internet was an example of this, and today it is blockchain,” Xurpas Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Nico Jose S. Nolledo said in a statement.
Xurpas said ODX will be the first of many blockchain projects it will be launching this year.
“We have been studying the technology and believe that our existing businesses will benefit significantly from the scalability, efficiency and security of the blockchain, while making it possible to introduce new business models that would not have been possible otherwise,” Mr. Nolledo said.
Xurpas swung to a net loss of P77.93 million in the first quarter of 2018, against a profit of P103.24 million in the same period last year. The company attributed this to a 56% drop in revenues to P327.03 million during the period.
The firm cited the challenging market conditions in the mobile consumer segment, such as new policies on Value-Added Services from one of its telco partners, which led to a slower performance.
Weakness in the 2017 performance of its advertising business, Art of Click (AOC), also spilled over to this quarter. Xurpas said it has already implemented measures to improve AOC’s client mix, but this has yet to be felt in the January to March period.
On the other hand, revenues from the company’s enterprise and HR technology segments grew by 11% and 164%, respectively, due to a more diversified client mix. — Arra B. Francia

From Yahoo to Uber, biggest hacks of data

PARIS — The European Union’s new data protection rules, which take effect on May 25, will give people more control over the way their personal information is used online.
They follow scandals involving lax personal data protection procedures such as at Facebook where US-British political research firm Cambridge Analytica was able to harvest the data of 87 million users.
In another case, Grindr, the self-proclaimed world’s largest gay dating app, admitted in April to sharing data on its clients’ HIV status with third party software vendors.
Such scandals are, however, less frequent than cases in which data are stolen through hacking attacks on websites.
Here are some of the biggest:
YAHOO, BILLIONS HACKED
In what is considered the biggest cyber-attack in history, a 2013 hack affected all three billion accounts at Yahoo.
The disclosure in October 2017 by Verizon, which acquired Yahoo’s online assets in June, revised upward the initial estimate of one billion accounts affected.
Yahoo said the stolen user information did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data or bank account information.
The disclosure threatened the sale to Verizon, which finally secured a lower price.
Another hacking attack on Yahoo affected some 500 million accounts in 2014 but was only revealed in September 2016, for which its financial arm Altaba was fined $35 million.
UBER OFF THE ROAD
The ride-sharing giant was vilified after the hacking in 2016 of data on 57 million of its riders and drivers, unveiled only in November 2017.
It was also criticized for paying the hackers $100,000 to destroy their booty.
Investigations have been opened in the United States and Europe.
EQUIFAX LOSES CREDIT
A breach by major American credit agency Equifax in September 2017 is seen as potentially more damaging than that of Yahoo because of the sensitivity of the data leaked.
Equifax said hackers obtained names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses and some driver’s licence numbers, potentially exposing victims to identity theft.
It said the breach could have affected more than 147 million US, Canadian and British clients.
The company was sued for having identified but not corrected the breach, for having insufficient security systems and for delaying reporting the problem.
Its chiefs were also suspected of insider trading as they sold shares before the hacking was revealed.
PASSWORD PLUNDER
In August 2014 online data protection firm Hold Security claimed that Russian hackers had accessed 1.2 billion passwords linked to 420,000 Internet sites around the world, from corporate giants to individual accounts.
Hold Security pointed to a group of hackers called CyberVor, which it said had potentially gained access to 500 million e-mail accounts. There was no major fallout from the announcement.
TAKING AIM AT TARGET
The US retail giant was hit by a computer attack in December 2013 that affected 110 million clients.
Seventy million might have lost personal data including names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail accounts, while 40 million bank accounts and credit cards were also put at risk.
HOTTEST HACK
In August 2015 hackers calling themselves The Impact Team published nearly 30 gigabytes of files including the names and sexual orientation of people who had signed up with Ashley Madison, a website facilitating extra-marital affairs.
The company’s boss stepped down as several suicides in the United States and Canada were linked to the revelations.
Ashley Madison had earlier offered to delete users’ personal data for a modest fee but did not. — AFP

Cebu Landmasters Q1 earnings rise 17%

CEBU Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) reported a double-digit increase in earnings for the first three months of 2018, driven by higher revenues due to the construction progress of its projects.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Cebu-based property developer said net income improved by 17% to P498.7 million in the first quarter, supported by a 14% jump in revenues to P1.26 billion.
Reservation sales grew 24% to P2.7 billion during the period, following the launch of its new Garden-series condominium in Bacolod and Casa Mira in Dumaguete. With this, the company is on track to reach its full-year target of P7 billion in reservation sales.
CLI also noted that higher occupancy and lease rates allowed it to book a 31% increase in rental revenues to P11.89 million for the period.
“We remain bullish about our prospects for the rest of the year as we see a sustained momentum in our real estate sales and our continuous drive to grow our recurring income,” CLI Chief Executive Officer Jose R. Soberano was quoted as saying in a statement.
With the strong first quarter results, Mr. Soberano is optimistic the company can achieve its full-year guidance of P5.3 billion in revenues, and P1.7 billion for net income.
The company has a total of 20 projects lined up for this year, located primarily in the Visayas and Mindanao region. This will bring the total number of projects under CLI to 66.
“We continue to introduce new projects to diversify our product line and provide sustainability to the company. The 20 projects will be a mix of residential, office, retail and hotel,” Mr. Soberano said.
For its hotel portfolio, CLI has recently partnered with the Radisson Hotel Group for the first Radisson RED hotel in the country. This will be the fourth hotel under its network, following Citadines Cebu City, Citadines Riverside Davao, and lyf Cebu City.
In a study released by real estate consulting services firm Santos Knight Frank, CLI was tagged as the leading local housing developer of horizontal and vertical developments in the Visayas and Mindanao region.
Santos Knight Frank reported that CLI accounted for 18% of supply for house and lots, while delivering 2,638 condominium units in 2017.
For this year, CLI has committed to spend P8.8 billion in capital expenditures for land acquisitions as it aims to expand to General Santos City, Butuan City, Ormoc City, and Roxas City. — Arra B. Francia