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AUB books double-digit income growth

ASIA UNITED BANK Corp. (AUB) posted double-digit growth in its net income in 2018 driven by the robust performance of its core businesses.
In a regulatory filing Wednesday, the Ng-led lender posted a P3.3-billion consolidated net income in 2018, up 17% from the P2.8 billion recorded a year ago. This translated to a return on assets of 1.5% and a return on equity of 11.8%.
The double-digit growth was attributed to the core lending businesses of AUB and its subsidiaries, which remained “robust” even as competition inside and outside the industry is growing.
Net interest income grew 19% to P7.8 billion in 2018 from the P6.4 billion booked year-on-year, bolstered by the 35% increase in interest income from loans and receivables.
AUB’s loan portfolio expanded by 19% last year from the P131.1 billion logged in a comparable year-ago period, as the bank continued to maximize its cross-selling potential for both commercial and consumer loans across all product types such as credit cards, housing loans, auto loans as well as salary loans.
Meanwhile, deposits rose 21% last year from P159 billion in 2017.
AUB said it achieved operational efficiency in 2018 as it logged a “stable” cost-to-income ratio of 49.8%, ranked among the lowest in the industry.
Overall, AUB’s total assets were at P238 billion, up 19% from P200 billion in 2017.
“As we further move to being an agile organization, we are confident we can navigate the rapid changes in our operating environment and continue to cater to the needs of corporates and small and medium enterprises,” AUB President Manuel A. Gomez was quoted as saying in the disclosure.
He added that customers are “starting to feel the difference” in using AUB’s digital platforms such as the quick-response code payments through AUB Paymate mobile application.
“AUB is the only Philippine bank that has so far partnered with three of the world’s mobile payment networks and actively in partnership with financial technology companies,” the bank’s statement read.
In December, AUB announced its partnership with China’s UnionPay, enabling the latter’s cardholders to make cashless transactions in the country. It also partnered with Chinese mobile payment providers WeChat Pay as well as Alipay to better service the needs of Chinese visitors.
As of end-2018, AUB had a “modest” network of 228 branches and 34 additional branch subsidiaries.
AUB shares closed at P58 apiece on Wednesday, down 50 centavos or 0.85%. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Summer cupcakes

JUST in time for summer, Andrew Café’s resident pastry chef Erna Canatoy has come up with the Sweet Summer Series, a collection of cupcakes in banana, strawberry, and carrot flavors with cream cheese topped with a drizzle of walnut brittle, a tangy slice of fresh strawberry, and a carrot candy made of butter cream. Andrew Café is at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Taft Campus, corner of Estrada and Leon Guinto Streets, Malate, Manila. It is open Mondays to Fridays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Zobels take responsibility for Manila Water’s shortcomings in handling outage


AYALA CORP. Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala told customers of Manila Water Co., Inc. that the group is taking responsibility for its own shortcomings in the water shortage that has beset Metro Manila’s east zone since early this month.
“These past weeks have been difficult for many of us with the current water shortage situation. A multitude of factors resulted in this lack of supply, and we take responsibility for our own shortcomings in the company. We recognize and understand the difficulties that all our customers are going through,” Mr. Zobel said in a post on his Facebook page on Wednesday. The post was co-signed by his brother Fernando Zobel de Ayala, chairman of Manila Water.
His message comes a day after the Ayala subsidiary announced a one-time bill waiver program in March to be reflected in customers’ April bill as relief to those affected by what it called a “massive water service interruption.”
With the voluntary move expected to cost at least P150 million, Manila Water renewed its call for support from all sectors.
Manila Water President and Chief Executive Officer Ferdinand M. dela Cruz called on Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to develop new water sources to meet existing and future demand.
“As a concessionaire, our mandate is treatment and distribution but we work with MWSS on the supply,” he said on Tuesday when he announced the bill waiver program.
In congressional hearings last week, Mr. Dela Cruz also emphasized the concessionaire’s mandate, and its call for new water sources.
Mr. Zobel, who also chairs Manila Water, made a similar call for support.
“Resolving this situation requires support from all sectors. As our teams search for and implement immediate and long-term solutions to the water problem, we would also like to encourage everyone to conserve as much as they can,” he said.
He assured customers that Manila Water “is exploring all possible options to bring back services to the high levels that we are all accustomed to.”
“We continue to appeal for everyone’s patience as our teams at Manila Water are working hard and overtime to immediately and comprehensively remedy the situation,” he added.
As of March 25, the 8 to 12-hour water availability at ground floor level has reached 97%, he said.
“Again, we recognize our shortcomings in the situation. We will double our efforts to restore services to the high levels that we have had and to ensure that future shortages such as these will not be repeated. We are deeply grateful for your understanding,” he said.
Manila Water’s cooperation with MWSS on the supply side includes the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Prime Metroline Infrastructure Holdings, Inc. (Prime Infra), a company led by businessman Enrique K. Razon, Jr.
The MoU between Prime Infra and Manila Water calls for them to cooperate in the possible development of the Wawa bulk water supply project. The agreement formalizes the creation of a technical team that will conduct a technical study, which will be reviewed and approved by the MWSS.
Prime Infra said that compared with Laguna Lake and other similar water supply options, the project does not require an expensive treatment technology such as reverse osmosis. At the 500 million liter-per day capacity, it can serve more than 500,000 households in the MWSS franchise area, it added.
Mr. Razon’s group is to present the project to MWSS on Wednesday, the water agency’s Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco said in a chance interview. — Victor V. Saulon

Trend Micro warns of cybersecurity threats in 2019

GLOBAL CYBERSECURITY firm Trend Micro, Inc. said there are “more sophisticated” threats expected to arrive in 2019 that individuals and companies must watch out for.
In its report “Mapping the Future: Dealing with Pervasive and Persistent Threats,” the company said some breaching activities expected this year involve the phishing of accounts of online celebrities, sextortion, fake news, cloud-related vulnerabilities and artificial intelligence (AI).
“Cybercriminals will continue to follow a winning formula — exploit existing flaws, social engineering and stolen credentials — to drive profits,” Trend Micro Country Manager for the Philippines Ian Felipe said in a statement.
The company said this year may see the accounts of famous personalities online such as YouTube stars and Instagram and Twitter influencers compromised via phishing attacks.
“These will shine a light on account security in mainstream media, but not before millions of users following these accounts have been affected by whatever payload the attackers have in store for them,” Trend Micro warned.
It added that cases of bullying through sextortion may rise this year. Sextortion is the act of blackmailing someone to pay by threatening to publish a recorded sexual activity or information online.
“Even if there is no guarantee that a blackmailer will come through, the highly personal nature of this kind of attacks will make the victim seriously consider fulfilling the attacker’s demands, whether that means money or sexual favors. As sextortion, in particular, becomes more widespread, this kind of attacks will affect, and perhaps even claim, more lives in 2019,” the report said.
Trend Micro said a rise in the spread of fake news is also likely to happen this year, especially with the midterm polls scheduled in May. “We believe that in 2019, the improvements social media has made to fight fake news post-2016 will not be enough to keep up with the deluge of cyber propaganda surrounding these democratic exercises,” it said.
It noted that the motivation for fake news propagators will never go away, and the tools they use are likewise difficult to manage given that it is also used for “legitimate purposes.”
The transitioning of companies to the cloud was also flagged as a concern for this year. “Vulnerabilities found in cloud infrastructure, such as containers, and weak cloud security measures will allow greater exploitation of accounts for cryptocurrency mining, leading to more damaging breaches due to misconfigured systems,” the cybersecurity firm said.
Lastly, the increase in usage of AI is also seen to backfire on C-level executives as criminals may use the technology to trace their whereabouts. “This will lead to more convincing targeted phishing messages, which can be critical to BEC (business email compromise) attacks,” Trend Micro said.
The cybersecurity solutions firm said it is important for companies and individuals to learn the possible threats that they may equip themselves with necessary protective tools to ensure they are one stop ahead of digital attackers.
“As both corporate attacks surface and unknown cyber threats increase, it’s more important…for organizations to put more resources behind cybersecurity education to help protect against these growing attacks,” Mr. Felipe was quoted as saying. — Denise A. Valdez

BDO to raise P5 billion in fresh funds via LTNCDs

BDO Unibank, Inc. will raise P5 billion via long-term negotiable certificates of deposit.

BDO UNIBANK, Inc. is set to raise P5 billion worth of long-term negotiable certificates of deposit (LTNCD) to support its business expansion and extend the maturity of its funding sources.
In a disclosure to the local bourse on Wednesday, the Sy-led lender said it will offer 5.5-year LTNCDs amounting to P5 billion, with an option to increase the issue size depending on market demand.
With an indicative pricing of 5.125-5.5%, the final coupon rate will be set before or after the offer period, which will run from March 27 until April 5. However, the bank can adjust the offer period as needed.
Investors can invest for a minimum of P100,000 with increments of P50,000. Interest will be paid quarterly in arrears. The debt papers will be issued on April 12.
Like regular time deposits offered by banks, LTNCDs offer higher interest rates. However, LTNCDs cannot be pre-terminated but can be sold on the secondary market, making them “negotiable.”
These instruments are insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. and are exempt from withholding tax, given that the papers will be held at least five years.
BDO said the fund-raising activity is part of its “efforts to lengthen the maturity of its funding sources and support business expansion plans.”
In April 2018, the country’s biggest bank raised P8.2 billion via LTNCDs, carrying an interest rate of 4.375% per annum. The offer was upsized from the initial offer of P5 billion to accommodate strong demand from investors.
Deutsche Bank AG-Manila branch will serve as the sole lead arranger of the latest LTNCD offer. It will also act a selling agent alongside BDO and BDO Private Bank. Meanwhile, BDO Capital and Investment Corp. will be the bank’s financial advisor.
BDO booked a record-high net income of P32.7 billion in 2018, up 17% from the P28.1 billion tallied a year ago, on the back of robust earnings from its core businesses.
BDO shares closed unchanged at P132 apiece on Wednesday. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

MPTC subsidiary begins working on Cavite portion of CALAX

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter
A METRO PACIFIC Tollways Corp. (MPTC) unit on Wednesday broke ground for the Cavite segment of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX).
“Ngayon ay pinagdiriwang natin ang pagsisimula ng construction ng Cavite segment ng Cavite-Laguna Expressway [Today we celebrate the start of construction of the Cavite segment of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway],” MPTC President Rodrigo E. Franco said during a ceremony in Imus, Cavite yesterday.
“In (three) years time, we hope the province of Cavite will have a brand-new expressway that will connect to the existing CAVITEx (Manila-Cavite Expressway), which is also operated by the Metro Pacific group,” he added.
The P35.43-billion CALAX is a project of MPCALA Holdings, Inc. which aims to build a 45.3-kilometer link between CAVITEx and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx).
It is divided into two sections: the 27.2-kilometer Cavite section which just broke ground, and the 18.1-kilometer Laguna section which is already being built.
“The Laguna section of the CALAX project is also under construction, and we expect to open the first sections of the Laguna section sometime by the third quarter, as early as July of this year,” Mr. Franco said.
The whole CALAX alignment is scheduled for completion in 2022. By then, it is expected to accommodate 50,000 cars and reduce travel time from CAVITEx to SLEx to below 45 minutes from the current 2.5 hours.
“Nagmamadali na po kami dahil kailangan matapos lahat ng [We’re rushing because we need to finish all] projects by 2022, before the end of the term of President Duterte. We will deliver on our promise, not just to solve traffic, but to bring development to our provinces,” Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark A. Villar said.
MPTC is the tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., one of three key Philippine units of Hong-Kong based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Shakespeare theater company coming to Manila


SHAKESPEARE’s Rose Theatre Company will make its international debut in Manila in September. The UK company will be performing two of Shakespeare’s plays — Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The two plays will play over one week for nine shows only from Sept. 17 to 22.
The productions are brought to the Philippines by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, which previously brought in shows such as Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, and Mamma Mia.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a riot of criss-crossed love and feuding fairies, with clod-hopping amateur actors and a magical potion adding to the confusion and mayhem.
Macbeth is bloody, action-packed and psychologically tense. Populated by witches, ghosts and haunting apparitions, it tells the story of over-reaching ambition, a toxic marriage, a kingdom in crisis, and a man’s encounter with his own darkest self.
Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre rose in the historic city of York, UK, last year, inspired by the famous London Rose Playhouse built in 1587, 12 years prior to The Globe. It recreates the experience of watching theater in an Elizabethan setting. The 21st century version has a 13-sided pop-up Elizabethan-style theater constructed from state-of-the-art scaffolding, corrugated iron and timber, and comprised three tiers of covered seating with an open courtyard for standing “groundlings.”
In its debut season last year, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre garnered popular and critical acclaim, as well as awards for Best Cultural Experience and Best Attraction. This year it will return for a second season in York, while simultaneously a second theater will make its debut at Blenheim Palace in Oxford, UK.
Now Philippine audiences can enjoy these two productions, which come direct from the summer season at Blenheim Palace, performed by a British cast in their first international season at Theatre at Solaire.
Originator of the project and CEO of Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, James Cundall, said “While Manila audiences will be seated in the comfort of Theatre at Solaire rather than an open-air scaffolding structure, the two productions will be innovative, immersive and fun, with the actors making some of their entrances and exits through the audience. We will have dramatic sword-fights, bubbling cauldrons, wayward fairies, comic love scenes, gruesome murders, grand poetry and no shortage of fake blood! I believe Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre offers something for everyone, and will showcase heritage theatre at its best.”
Artistic Director for Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre and The director of Macbeth will be Damian Cruden, who worked with the company last year, and was Artistic Director at York Theatre Royal for over 20 years. Directing A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Juliet Forster who was the original director for the play and will also be directing other titles in the UK season this summer.
For more information, visit www.shakespearesrosetheatre.com.

Tech-based confidential feedback platform for workplaces helping women employees speak up

IN A male-dominated industry, women in the field of technology are now given the chance to speak up through tech-based tools.
Dorothy Yiu, chief operating officer of EngageRocket, a cloud-based software that helps a company make better decisions in relations to its people using data, said although women in technology are already growing, they are still relatively outnumbered by men.
Founded in 2016, the Singapore-based company specializes in developing tools for companies to improve employee engagement and productivity, as well as to provide an early warning for employee attrition.
Noting a recent report across seven major technology companies, she said women account for less than 30% of leadership positions and less than 27% for technical positions. The companies included in the study were Facebook, Intel, Amazon, Twitter, Microsoft, Google, and Apple.
Sharing her personal experience, she said in an email interview early this month, “Personally, I was often the only woman in the room and I led an all-men software engineering team. There was a heightened pressure of wanting to be accepted and to be ‘liked.’ In my earlier days, I was also poorly equipped with the tech lingo, which added to my hesitation to speak up.”
In addition to this, she noted that there are still very few women role models in the industry and gender inequality is still observed everywhere.
“Gender inequality continues to prevail in the workplace today as women are paid less for the same performance and remain underrepresented in top positions,” she noted.
“These challenges are seen around the world, not just in Asia, as there is a perception that women are either competent or liked, but rarely both. This has contributed to the subconscious tendency of women choosing the seemingly safer choice of remaining silent, in the fear that speaking up might make them seem incompetent, or disliked for bringing up an opposing view.”
To address these problems, she said it is very important for managers to have mentoring activities not only for women, but for their employees. This could give them the chance to express what is in their mind. In addition to this, tools that can help employees identify their competencies can also help improve working conditions.
Still, to assure that they are able to speak up, they should be given means to do so with the assurance of confidentiality and security.
“Giving employees a confidential avenue to provide their feedback ensures everyone’s voice can be heard. It enables female employees who struggle to speak up to have a safe and confidential way to voice their opinion and make a difference to their own engagement,” she explained.
“Softwares like EngageRocket and Slack can be easily implemented and is a simply way to enable organizations to keep communication flowing and a pulse on employee sentiment. It enables female employees who struggle to speak up to have a safe and confidential way to voice their opinion and make a difference to their own engagement,” she said.
These both function as a medium for women to freely express themselves through internal messaging systems. Specifically for EngageRocket, it automates the process of giving and analyzing feedbacks from employees for the company’s human resource department and leaders.
“We have built the software such that it is simple and easy to regularly get feedback from employee at various touch points throughout the employee lifecycle,” she said.
In analyzing feedback received, the platform can generate recommendations for leaders on how they can address the problem at hand.
“The platform comes with well-researched workplace questions that are translated to most of our regional languages. Real-time analysis of the feedback also enable EngageRocket to serve as an early warning system for talent disengagement. Proprietary algorithms and artificial intelligence like machine reasoning are used to turn the data into immediate insights and action ideas. Managers are also given recommendations on how to engage their teams based on the aggregated results,” she explained. — V.M.P. Galang

Asia junk bonds may return 14%

HSBC PRIVATE BANKING has joined a growing number of funds that are bullish on Asia’s junk bonds and expect further gains after a strong rally in the first quarter.
US currency junk notes in the region have gained 5.6% so far this year, in the strongest start since 2012, according to ICE BofAML data. The private wealth arm of HSBC Holdings Plc sees more scope for gains, fueled by Chinese developers that are making progress cutting debt. “Stealth easing” of Chinese property curbs has also raised hopes of a boost ahead, even as new home price growth abated for a fourth straight month.
HSBC Private Banking predicts that Asian dollar junk debt could return 14% in 2019 after losses last year, while Asia investment-grade bonds may return 7%, according to Jeffrey Yap, Hong Kong-based regional head of fixed income, currencies and commodities, Asia.
The firm is positive on Chinese property US currency junk notes, which make up a high proportion of the region’s speculative-grade debt, as deleveraging efforts by developers have been “on track,” and their sales have been strong, said Yap, whose firm manages $309 billion in assets globally.
Average yields on Asia’s junk dollar notes have fallen about 2 percentage points so far this year to 6.9%, but they are still above the low of 5.9% in the past 12 months, according to a Bloomberg Barclays index. — Bloomberg

These fats keep processed foods fresh longer — but they shorten people’s lives

By Dinna Louise C. Dayao
WHAT are you having for lunch today? If you’re like four in every 10 Filipino adults, you will eat lunch out. Will you eat a burger and fries in a fastfood restaurant, fried fish in a canteen, or fried chicken in a convenience store? Maybe you’ll have a donut or a cup of 3-in-1 coffee for dessert.
But before ordering your lunch, and buying that donut or sachet of coffee consider this — those goodies could be laden with artificial trans fats.
TRANS FATS
There are two kinds of trans fatty acids, or trans fats for short. Naturally occurring trans fats are found in beef, pork, lamb, butter, and milk. Studies show that, in moderation, these trans fats do not seem to be as harmful as the manmade variety. It is the latter that are more concerning.
Artificial trans fats are made when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil. This process, called “hydrogenation,” produces partially hydrogenated oil, essentially turning liquid oil into solid form. This oil stays fresh longer than other fats. It is also much cheaper than butter, lard, or other fats like palm oil.
These characteristics make partially hydrogenated oil a favorite frying oil of restaurants ranging from fastfoods to turo-turo (a road-side diner). So, the fried food for lunch could be dripping with artificial trans fats.
Partially hydrogenated oil is also added to processed food as it enhances taste and texture at a low cost. The trans fats in this oil prolong the shelf life of packaged foods like baked goods, corn and potato chips, nondairy coffee creamer, margarine, and microwaveable popcorn.
HOW TRANS FATS HURT YOU
Artificial trans fats have “no known health benefits,” said the World Health Organization. Globally, these fats contributed to more than half a million deaths in 2010.
Research has been done since the 1990s on the health effects of artificial trans fats and here are some of them.
1. Trans fats clog your arteries. Eating foods that contain these fats raises the low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol in the blood. At the same time, trans fats lower the high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good”) cholesterol. This is a double whammy for one’s heart.
When a person has a lot of LDL, it tends to “stick to the lining of the blood vessels,” said Dr. Ranulfo B. Javelosa, Jr., the division chief of preventive cardiology at the Philippine Heart Center. Over time, the LDL — combined with other substances found in the blood — hardens and clogs the arteries. This results in the inability of oxygen-rich blood to freely flow to the organs and other parts of the body. As a result, one is in danger of having a heart attack or a stroke.
On the other hand, heart-heathy HDL “scours the walls of blood vessels and removes excess cholesterol,” said Dr. Javelosa. The higher one’s HDL levels are, “the more cholesterol is being removed from where it might otherwise cause damage,” he said.
Eating a lot of trans fats, though, decreases your HDL.
Even a small amount of trans fats is bad. For every 2% of calories from artificial trans fats consumed daily, the risk of heart disease rises by 23%, reports Harvard Health Publishing.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death of both men and women in the Philippines, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. In 2013, the disease claimed the lives of 118,740 Filipinos. This means that, every hour, 13 people die due to heart disease.
2. Trans fats can cause weight gain. Consuming foods rich in these fats may increase a person’s body mass index or BMI. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight, and the higher the BMI — meaning the heavier a person is — the higher the risk of developing diabetes.
Diabetes is among the top killer diseases in the Philippines. It is number five on the list. In 2013, 27,064 people died due to the disease, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. That’s three people every hour.
3. Trans fats shrink the brain and impairs memory. “Trans fats were most strongly linked to worse memory, in young and middle-aged men, during their working and career-building years,” said Beatrice A. Golomb, MD, PhD, in a press release from the American Heart Association. Dr. Golomb is a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego.
GETTING RID OF TRANS FATS
The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to get rid of harmful trans fats from global food supplies by 2023. The move could potentially save some 10 million lives, according to the health agency. It is a move that is good for the heart, as the success stories of Denmark and New York show.
In 2003, Denmark passed a law “limiting the amount of trans fats to 2 grams per 100 grams of fat or oil,” reports the WHO. The law set up a system of fines and penalties for violators.
Denmark’s law did save lives. Between 2003 and 2012, deaths due to heart disease in the country dropped from 359.9 to 210.9 per 100,000 people. This is one of the key findings of a study by Brandon Restrepo, a postdoctoral researcher with the European University Institute, and his research partner.
The Big Apple followed suit in 2007. “New York City was the first large metropolitan area in the United States to restrict trans fats in eateries, starting July 2007,” wrote Dr. Eric Brandt and his fellow researchers in their report. The municipal ban covered eateries ranging from bakeries to street-fair food booths.
Did it make a difference to the health of New Yorkers? The researchers checked medical records and compared counties covered by the ban to counties that were not. And they found that the ban is a win. The people living in counties that banned trans fats had 6.2% fewer heart attacks and strokes than those living in countries without bans.
Here’s another finding that shows the city’s ban works. A 2019 study shows that the levels of trans fats in the blood of New Yorkers who ate out four or more times weekly after the ban dropped by 61.6%. In comparison, blood trans fatty acid levels declined by more than 54% nationally between 2000 and 2010.
The bottom line is that the less trans fats a person consumes, the better for their health. Banning the toxic fats is good for the heart, as the success stories of Denmark and New York show.
There is no ban on trans fats in the Philippines. Still, one need not wait for such a ban to shift to healthier eating. Right now, one can take steps to avoid or lessen their consumption of these dangerous fats.
This story was produced under the “(Un)Covering Trans Fats Media Training and Fellowship Program” by Probe Media Foundation Inc. (PMFI) and ImagineLaw (IL). The views and opinions expressed in this piece are not necessarily those of PMFI and IL.

Huawei presents flagship smartphone in Paris during Chinese leader’s visit

PARIS — Huawei, the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, presented its new flagship phone in Paris on Tuesday with the hope of making further gains in Europe, a region where its other products could face in-depth scrutiny for security reasons.
Huawei’s P30 Pro, which has four rear cameras — including a so-called “time of flight” camera that helps its artificial intelligence create better exposures — will aim to take on Samsung’s Galaxy S10 and Apple’s iPhone X.
The phone has a new light sensor that detects yellow rather than green, which Huawei said would significantly boost light absorption to create better results, even in near darkness.
The P30 Pro, Huawei’s P30 premium version, also uses electromagnetism to vibrate the screen to create a speaker when the device is held up to the face, minimizing any sound problems when taking a telephone call, added the company.
An executive at Huawei’s product launch in Paris said the P30 would go on sale with a starting price of €799 ($902), while the P30 Pro would have a starting price of €999.
The unveiling of Huawei’s smartphone in Paris coincides with the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the French capital, where President Emmanuel Macron held a meeting along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to discuss climate and trade.
Huawei, which also makes telecoms network equipment, has been under much international scrutiny following US allegations that the Chinese giant’s products could be used by Beijing for spying.
The company has strongly rejected the allegations and earlier this month sued the US government over the issue.
Before his Paris visit, Xi stopped in Monaco, the tiny sovereign enclave on the Mediterranean, to mark the principality’s decision last year to agree a deal with Huawei to develop its 5G network, prompting concerns among European officials that other countries could follow suit.
The European Commission is poised to urge EU countries to share more data to tackle cybersecurity risks related to the next generation of mobile technology, or 5G, but will ignore US calls to ban Huawei, people familiar with the matter said last week. — Reuters

Zalora set to move to Cavite warehouse facility in 2020

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
FASHION E-COMMERCE site Zalora Philippines is moving into a new warehouse facility in Cavite by 2020, where it can expand its current capacity by more than six times.
Zalora Philippines Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Paulo Campos III said on Wednesday that it has partnered with Ayala-led AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. (AC Infra) for the construction of a 40,000-square meter (sq.m.) New Fulfillment Center located on a 3.7-hectare property near the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway.
“We’re experiencing really accelerating growth and tremendous, (especially) on super peak days. We really have had to build out a new facility,” Mr. Campos told reporters in a media roundtable discussion in Taguig City on Wednesday.
“It’s a build-to-suit facility that will feature very innovative conveyor technology, some forms of automation, and increase the throughput.”
The New Fulfillment Center will have a capacity of 7.2 million items, six times more than its capacity of 1.2 million items at its Carmona warehouse.
“Our strategy is to retain the one fulfillment center strategy…We could use it (the Carmona site) for (Entrego’s) expansion. We would potentially make use for it as an alternative site,” Mr. Campos said, referring to its last mile logistics service, Entrego.
AC Infra is funding the construction of the facility that is scheduled to be completed by December 2019. Zalora Philippines will then lease out the property from AC Infra.
The warehouse will also include a 5,000-sq.m. office space, which can employ up to 1,200 employees.
The new facility will address the strong growth of Zalora Philippines’ customer base and wider assortment of products available on the website.
By end-2018, Zalora Philippines counted a total of nine million e-mail subscribers, 7.4 million app downloads, 7.7 million Facebook fans, and 100 million website sessions. The company noted that 70% of its customers are women, while 30% are men.
Bulk of its customers come from Metro Manila at 42%, followed by the Cavite and Laguna area with seven percent, and Cebu with six percent. Its two fastest-growing geographies last year were Batanes and Sulu.
To sustain this growth, Zalora Philippines is partnering with several established brands such as Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, J. Crew, Jack Wills, Pomelo, and designer Josie Natori’s sleepwear brand Josie and clothing line N Natori. It is also expanding into the kids’ category.
“Zalora Kids is a new source of growth for us in 2019. Now that we have a more established customer base between the age of 20 and 40, the real millennial years, we want to be able to ensure we have a product for the whole family,” Mr. Campos said.
The company is also building four new pop-up stores in different shopping malls this year, with two in Metro Manila and two outside the metro, to further boost customer convenience in picking up orders.

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