Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube
Home Blog Page 11262

Less Filipinos jobless, seeking more work

By Carmina Angelica V. Olano
Researcher
LATEST data show a decline in the country’s unemployment rate and underemployment rates in January, the government’s statistical agency reported on Thursday.
At the same time, the period saw a decline in the number of employed Filipinos even as the ranks of the unemployed went down. This can be explained by the decline in the participation rate, which indicates more Filipinos have left the labor force.
Labor force survey
Preliminary results of the January 2019 round of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority put the country’s unemployment rate at 5.2%, down from the 5.3% recorded in the same period last year.
This is equivalent to 2.29 million jobless Filipinos, down from 2.32 million in January 2018.
Likewise, the underemployment rate — the proportion of those working, but still looking for more work or longer working hours — improved to 15.6% from 18%. This corresponds to around 6.45 million Filipinos underemployed compared to 7.5 million the previous year.
Among the January LFS rounds, January 2019’s unemployment rate was lowest since 2005, the year the government adopted new definitions for the LFS.
The same could be said for underemployment, considering that rates go as high as above 20% in past LFS rounds.
The size of the labor force in January was approximately 43.659 million out of the 72.524 million Filipinos 15 years and older, yielding a participation rate of 60.2%, lower than the year-ago 62.2%.
The employment rate, which is the proportion of the employed to the total labor force — inched up to 94.8% in January from 94.7% in the same round last year.
However, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) noted in a statement that the number of employed persons in the latest survey was lower by 0.9% or 387,000 to 41.4 million versus the 41.8 million employed in January 2018.
“This was mainly due to the 1.7 million employment loss in the agriculture sector, which overshadowed the combined 1.3 million additional employment in industry and services sectors,” NEDA said in its statement.
The employment rate in agriculture was 22.1% in January, down from 26% in the same round last year.
Meanwhile, the employment rate in services improved to 58.1% from 55.9% while that of industry rose to 19.7% from 18.1%.
NEDA noted the rising cost of inputs amid low profit, limited access to credit, poor infrastructure, and vulnerability to environmental risks that have contributed to the continued decline of workers in agriculture.
“The prevalence of low-productivity jobs in the agriculture sector remains a challenge. Sustainable solutions such as shifting rice farmers to high-value crops, promoting crop diversification, accelerating development of local infrastructure and training for farmers on technological advances are critical to raising productivity in agriculture,” NEDA quoted its director-general, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia, as saying.
Full-time workers — those who worked for at least 40 hours in a week — increased to 71.7% from 63.6% in January 2018. Part-time workers accounted for 27.7% of employed persons from 35.2%.
The January round of LFS also revealed that working hours per week averaged 43.2 hours, up from 40.6 hours a year ago.
“The overall improvements in the proportion of remunerative work and full-time employment, as well as the decline in underemployment and vulnerable employment, indicate that the quality of work in the country is continuously progressing,” Mr. Pernia said.
For Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) economist Michael L. Ricafort, the decline in unemployment was “widely expected,” ascribing it to the continued growth of labor-intensive industries like retail, real estate, construction, business process outsourcing, manufacturing and tourism.
He added that higher-paying construction jobs “partly lured away” some workers from the agriculture sector, especially those in fast-growing provinces outside Metro Manila.
Mr. Ricafort also noted the lower participation rate that was brought about by the smaller number of employed and unemployed Filipinos in January.
“[T]his could be a signal that some people withdrew from the local job market as this might indicate some people looked for jobs overseas, instead of applying for work locally,” he said.
For Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc. (UnionBank) chief economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, the country’s unemployment rate in January was “quite a surprise.”
“It must be considered that GDP (gross domestic product) growth last year was lower than [in] previous years. I did expect that unemployment might be the same or even worse than the previous period. This may mean that there were better and real opportunities for the labor force considering the challenges to economic growth last year,” Mr. Asuncion said.
“Aside from increased availability of jobs, the quality of jobs might have also improved. Jobseekers find jobs, while those looking for better jobs actually get them as well.”
In a research note, global think tank Nomura estimated the country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 5.1%, which “sustains a downtrend that has become more pronounced over the last few years.”
“In addition to the near-term boost from election-related spending, falling unemployment supports the strong rebound in household consumption that we expect this year and drives our above-consensus 2019 GDP growth forecast of 6.8%, up from 6.2% in 2018,” Nomura said.
To recall, the Philippine economy grew by 6.2% in 2018, dragged by slower-than-expected GDP growth of 6.1% in the fourth quarter.
For UnionBank’s Mr. Asuncion, an improvement in agriculture employment could improve the overall employment situation in the country further, noting that the sector employs most of the country’s poor.
“Agriculture has been the drag on our economy. It has limited the opportunity to cut unemployment significantly. Just imagine if agriculture growth will be secured and expanded, it will definitely be an important contributor to economic growth and additional employment where jobs are needed badly,” Mr. Asuncion said.
“As investment-led economic growth in the country continues, UnionBank’s Economic Research Unit sees unemployment and underemployment continue to decline,” he added.
“However, agriculture employment is expected to be meager and thus a drag to the overall picture of the labor force in the country.”
RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort likewise expected labor conditions to improve this year on the back of slowing inflation, easing borrowing rates and the rollout of more public infrastructure projects.

Electricity bills higher this month — Meralco

DISTRIBUTION utility Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) announced on Thursday a slight increase in the overall electricity rates for March to P10.4961 per kilowatt-hour (/kWh), up by P0.0894/kWh from the P10.4067/kWh in February.
Meralco, which earlier reported a 4.6% rise in its customer base to 6.61 million, said the increase translates in an P18 rise in the total monthly bill of a typical household consuming 200 kWh. Those using 300 kWh, 400 kWh and 500 kWh can expect increases of P26.82, P35.76 and P44.70, respectively.
The increase in power rates this month comes despite the lower cost of electricity under power supply agreements (PSA), which brought down the generation charge. The decline failed to offset the higher electricity cost at the spot market and the rise in other charges, including transmission cost and government taxes.
“From P5.8939/kWh last month, generation charge for March went down to P5.5973/kWh, a decrease of P0.2966/kWh,” the country’s biggest distribution utility said.
It said the P1.0768/kWh decrease in PSA charges was because of the strengthening of the peso against the US dollar, lower fuel prices and higher average plant dispatch.
Meralco said unit one of the First Gen Corp.’s 414-megawatt San Gabriel power plant returned to normal operations in February after the scheduled maintenance outage in January.
“The share of PSAs to Meralco’s total requirement this month was at 48%,” the listed company said, referring to the February supply month whose charges are carried in March bills.
In contrast, charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) rose by P0.5178/kWh because of the tighter supply conditions in Luzon “with higher demand for power and more frequent plant outages this month,” Meralco said.
The cost of power from the independent power producers (IPPs) was higher by P0.0549/kWh due to the lower average plant dispatch. Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. was on scheduled maintenance outage from Jan. 18 to Feb. 8.
WESM and IPPs provided 12% and 40% of Meralco’s supply requirement, respectively.
Meanwhile, the transmission charge for residential customers rose by P0.0288/kWh after the higher ancillary service charge imposed by privately owned National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
Taxes and other charges also went up by P0.3572 after the completion of the refund last month on the universal charge-stranded contract costs.
“Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged for 44 months, after these registered reductions in July 2015,” the company said, reiterating that it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges.
Generation charge payments go to power suppliers, while payment for the transmission charge goes to NGCP. Taxes and other public policy charges like the universal charge and feed-in tariff allowance are remitted to the government.
Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — VVS

FX reserves grow for fourth month

FOREIGN CURRENCY reserves rose in February for the fourth straight month, the central bank reported on Thursday, marked by higher investment income at a time of a stronger peso.
Gross international reserves (GIR) surged to $82.896 billion for the month, rising from January’s upward-revised $82.487 billion and the $80.432-billion level in February 2018, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.
This is the highest reserve level since October 2016, when the GIR stood at $85.106 billion.
In a statement, the central bank attributed the bigger GIR to inflows from its foreign exchange operations, as well as higher net foreign currency deposits held by the government. This was partly offset by the state’s payment of its maturing foreign obligations.
Income from the BSP’s offshore investments rose to $70.44 billion last month from the $69.97 billion in January as well as the $64.185 billion seen a year ago. This accounted for bulk of the reserves.
In contrast, the country’s foreign currency holdings slipped to $2.431 billion from January’s $2.441 billion, just as the peso gained strength versus the dollar.
The central bank usually dips into the reserves to temper sharp swings in the exchange rate. The local unit continued to pare back 2018’s losses to average P52.1901 against the greenback, coming from January’s P52.4679. In fact, the peso even returned to the P51:$1 level in the last two days of February.
Some currency traders have said that the BSP likely bought more pesos during the month as monetary authorities sought to rebuild the reserves — after it slipped to a seven-year low in 2018 — to cushion the peso’s drop.
Meanwhile, the value of the BSP’s gold holdings slid to $8.359 billion from $8.407 billion a month ago. This reflects lower gold valuations in the international market.
Reserves maintained under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dipped to $472.5 million versus $477.2 million the prior month.
The country’s special drawing rights — or the amount which can be tapped under the IMF’s reserve currency basket — roughly steadied at $1.193 billion.
February’s GIR shot past the $77-billion projection of the central bank for the full year.
The reserves can cover up to 7.3 months’ worth of import duties, higher than the seven-month ratio in December but below the 7.5-month coverage a year ago. Still, the central bank described this as an “ample” liquidity buffer above the three-month global standard.
The GIR is also equivalent to 6.3 times the Philippines’ short-term foreign debt based on original maturity (of up to one year), and 4.1 times when computed in residual terms (outstanding external debt with original maturity of up to a year, plus principal payments on medium- and long-term loans of the public and private sectors falling due within the next 12 months).
The GIR has consistently been cited as a source of strength for the Philippines, as it serves as a buffer against external shocks that could erode the country’s capability to service its foreign obligations. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Trolls targeted Captain Marvel, but Disney was ready for them

THE online trolling was fierce.
Brie Larson, Oscar-winning star of the Captain Marvel, is too political, the trolls said. She can’t possibly be strong enough. She’s forcing diversity on moviegoers.
Perhaps worst of all, she doesn’t smile enough, the trolls whined. So they posted doctored pictures of Larson, in her Captain Marvel regalia, doing what superheroes — male, female or otherwise — seldom do while rescuing Earth from almost certain annihilation. Smiling.
But besieged movie studios have learned how to deal with online turmoil. With hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, the Walt Disney Co. empire — and Larson herself — struck back.
She shared altered photos of other Marvel superheroes, the male Iron Man, the male Captain America, and the male Doctor Strange, with silly grins to illustrate the double standard of the “smile more” trope.
She also countered another line of attack. The comic-book Captain Marvel has been a man and a woman over the years (unlike, say, Wonder Woman), and Larson faced questions over whether she was brawny enough to play one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel universe. In a show of strength, she posted videos of her workouts on Instagram, including one where she pushed a 5,000-pound Jeep. Larson also didn’t shy away from the topic of female empowerment in interviews.
“This film is about trying to put in as many little revolutions as possible,” she told AV Club. “And as many little nods to what that experience is like, being a woman, so that other people could feel less alone.”
Not that long ago, a studio trying something different — remaking a classic comedy with women in the lead roles instead of men, say, or casting a female Asian-American as a day-saving fighter pilot — struggled with how to respond to online harassment campaigns. That wounded Sony Pictures’ 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, and it drove Kelly Marie Tran of Disney’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi off Instagram.
“If a backlash gets enough visibility in the news, it’s the tipping point that can become a crisis situation,” said Justin Pertschuk, senior vice-president of digital marketing at Universal Pictures. “Ultimately a negative conversation on social that gets amplified through the new media has the power to break a movie.”
The Last Jedi, boosted by moviegoer loyalty to its beloved franchise, did well at the box office. But Ghostbusters struggled, despite mostly positive reviews and an opening weekend that was a career best dollarwise for director Paul Feig and actress Melissa McCarthy. Along the way, actress-comedian Leslie Jones was subjected to online racism and misogyny, similar to what bedeviled Tran.
Captain Marvel, which comes out this week (It opened in the Philippines on Wednesday; it opens in the US and Canada over the coming weekend. — Ed.), is set in the 1990s, when alter ego Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes and joins a galactic war between two alien races. The film could garner opening-weekend ticket sales of about $125 million in theaters in the US and Canada, rivaling (male) Marvel colleagues Iron Man and Thor. Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at the research site Box Office Pro, put his estimate at $160 million.
Trolls seem hellbent on driving those numbers down. They’re a relatively recent phenomenon, a loose organization of men dedicated to policing the culture. Having achieved success using social media to hound female gamers and journalists during the so-called Gamergate of the earlier 2010s, they moved on to politics and now cinema. The attacks have gotten so bad that Rotten Tomatoes took the step last week of prohibiting user reviews before a movie’s release, an attempt to prevent trolls from torpedoing a film. (Actual film critics have responded favorably to Captain Marvel: It currently has an 83% rating on the site and is “certified fresh.)
Disney has plenty of experience dealing with the onslaught. Executives and strategists try to keep their tactics under the radar, and Disney declined to provide an executive to comment on its tactics. But the studio’s answer to the online hate is there for all to see on the internet.
STUDIOS ARE MUCH MORE EXPERIENCED NOW
Last year, trolls zeroed in on Black Panther and its groundbreaking African-American cast. Facebook groups tried to target the Rotten Tomatoes scores of the movie, posting negative comments to depress the online index that some moviegoers use to gauge whether the film is worth seeing. Facebook took the pages down, while Twitter tackled fake reports of racially motivated violence at screenings. The movie went on to become the highest-grossing superhero movie ever screened in US and Canadian theaters.
Some digital-marketing specialists recommend leaving it to the fans of the movies to correct any negative discourse, rather than having the companies intervene. But studios have made countering online barrages a priority. In 2019, digital ad spending in the entertainment industry will be an estimated $6.64 billion, up from $3.45 billion in 2016, according to researcher EMarketer.
Spending on digital has risen from a maximum of 10% of the overall marketing budget to, in some cases, half the funds for a movie campaign, Pertschuk said.
Likewise, the number of teams at the major Hollywood studios dedicated to countering online trolling has swollen from just a handful to as many as 40, said Marc Karzen, lead strategist at RelishMix, which tracks online activity and advises studios on tactics.
“The studios are much more experienced in dealing with these wildfires that spike up,” Karzen said. “If the movie is great, you have to stick to your guns.” — Bloomberg

Queen of Jazz Annie Brazil takes her final bow, 85

THE country’s queen of Jazz, Annie Brazil (born Justiniana Bulawin), died of pneumonia at the age of 85 on the afternoon of March 5 in Quezon City, her children — singers Richard James B. Merk and singer Rachel Anne Wolfe, and Raffy Wolfe — confirmed in separate Facebook posts on the day of her passing.
“We are saddened by the demise of Ms. Brazil known as the Grand Lady of Jazz and the Philippine Queen of Jazz,” said an official statement from the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson on March 6.
“For the woman who has lived a life full of music, rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon her as we pray for the repose of her soul,” the statement continued.
Ms. Brazil had been based in New Jersey, USA, for the last 20 years, living with her daughter. She suffered a stroke in 2017 while visiting in the Philippines and was advised not to travel.
Ms. Brazil was born in Manila in 1934 and started singing at the age of six in front of American soldiers in Clark Air Base and Jimmy’s Night Spot in Dewey Boulevard (now Roxas Boulevard).
“I started singing with a big band when I was 12. I was not only singing jazz, I was singing old songs. I used to listen to Vaughn Monroe, [Frank] Sinatra, Vic Damone, Perry Como… Nat King Cole,” she said in a YouTube video posted in 2018.
“You gotta have a sound for jazz, you can’t just sing jazz. You’ve got to have the sound, the feeling, the soul, and the spirit, you know?” she explained.
In a career which spanned almost eight decades, she had sung with jazz greats like Nina Simone, Miles Davis, and Duke Ellington.
In 2003, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Filipino-American Jazz Society, and in the same year, she also received an award from the Asian American Jazz Festival in New York.
“When I’m on stage, I’m a totally different person. I’m alive, it’s like I’m home,” Ms. Brazil said in the video before saying that she “doesn’t want to stop singing until He takes my gift away.”
She might have been called the Queen of Jazz or the Grand Lady of Philippine Jazz but the signer disliked this, saying that she hates “being called the Queen of Jazz” because “queens are just for beauty queens, right?”
“But we have fun giving titles to artists right? I don’t mind,” she said in the YouTube video.
And despite her passing, it seems Ms. Brazil’s gift of song has brought people together once more as her friends and loved ones spent the first few days of her wake singing, including pianist Henry Katindig who performed Grover Washington, Jr.’s “Just the Two of Us” as seen in a video posted on Facebook.
“I lost my Queen of Jazz. I lost my dearest mom, Annie Brazil. Dear God, please bless the loving soul of my dear mom. Please take good care of her in your beloved kingdom. I love her very, very much. ‘Til we meet again, mom,” jazz singer Mr. Merk posted in his Facebook page.
In the same platform, actress Vivian Velez and composer Vehnee Saturno extended their condolences.
“My sincere and deepest sympathies to the Merk family for the passing of their jazz matriarch, Annie Brazil. I had the rare opportunity to share the stage with her and other Pinoy Jazz luminaries at the Catalina Club in Hollywood, where we all shared the most heartwarming and gracious of vibes,” jazz guitarist Johnny Alegre said in a Facebook post.
“Rest In Peace tita Annie. Your friends in the world of jazz are grieving too. Eternal rest grant unto your soul, let perpetual light shine upon you,” jazz singer Lorna Cifra said in a separate post.
“I just want to be remembered for my voice and for my name, Annie Brazil,” Ms. Brazil said in the YouTube video.
Ms. Brazil was involved with an American DJ James Bernard Merk based in Okinawa and they had a son. After his death at the young age of 31, Ms. Brazil married music impresario David Wolfe, who was the father of Rachel Anne. They adopted Raffy in 1986.
The singer lies in state at the Premier Suite 1 Chapel, Loyola Memorial Chapels, Guadalupe Makati. Viewing is until March 9 and cremation will be on March 10 at the Loyola Crematory in Makati. — Zsarlene B. Chua

PLDT allots record P78-billion capex for 2019

PLDT, Inc. is allocating a record P78.4 billion in capital expenditures (capex) for this year, 34% higher than last year’s figure, as the telecommunications giant ramps up its network expansion amid the impending entry of a new player.
“We’re guiding capex at the number of P78.4 billion, which is an increase of P20 billion over the P58 billion realized in 2018,” PLDT Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a press briefing on the company’s 2018 financial results on Thursday.
Of the total capex, P48 billion will be dedicated for network and information technology platforms “to widen PLDT’s lead in network quality.” This includes the expansion of its LTE/3G mobile coverage, widening its fiber footprint, and lifting its network capacity to cater to growing demand for data.
“We have another P16 billion which is what we call business and customer capex. For every home we connect, we spend for the last mile, the modems. Since we don’t charge the customers, that’s a PLDT asset and a PLDT capex,” PLDT Chief Financial Officer Anabelle L. Chua said.
PLDT is also spending a one-time capex of around P3 to P4 billion for its Home and Enterprise units, which will be used to hire around 3,000 to handle installation and repair services. Another P2 billion will be used for data center expansion.
Mr. Pangilinan said that in the coming years, although capex may not be as high as P78.4 billion, the company is moving to the direction of normalizing the high investments.
“It’s sort of emerging to us that there are new areas of revenue that we’re seeing that we did not anticipate. Particularly when 5G (fifth generation network) is built in this country and elsewhere. I think as we get to know the Home business more and more, we’re surprised pleasantly that there are new areas of revenue that can be developed or that can emerge that can help the revenue line of PLDT,” Mr. Pangilinan added.
SOARING PROFIT
Meanwhile, PLDT reported its attributable net income surged 40.47% to P18.92 billion in 2018, from P13.37 billion in 2017, as revenues rose 3% to P164.75 billion on stronger demand for data.
PLDT reported its core income dropped 5% to P26.2 billion, as it accounted for the P3-billion loss in digital arm Voyager Innovations, Inc. Excluding Voyager, the company said telco core income is 3% higher at P24.4 billion in 2018.
Service revenues grew 5% to P149.4 billion. The bulk or 60% of this came from higher data services which generated P90.2 billion, up 37% year on year.
On the other hand, revenues from domestic voice fell 7% to P42.6 billion, while short message service (SMS) revenues plunged 53% to P10.3 billion. Revenues from international voice also went down by 27% to P6.2 billion.
By business segment, PLDT’s enterprise unit contributed P38.4 billion in revenues, up 10% from the previous year. PLDT Home also added P36.4 billion or 10% more from 2017, and wireless segment P62.5 billion or 7% higher.
“I would like to think it’s been a satisfactory year for PLDT,” Mr. Pangilinan said.
“The fixed side of business, Home and Enterprise, continue to show robust growth. And that robust growth should continue onwards from 2019 through the coming years. That will underpin the growth prospects of the PLDT group moving forward,” he added.
PLDT is setting a telco core income guidance of P26 billion for 2019, up 6.6% from last year’s P24.4 billion. Dividend payout is also set at 60% of the core income. — Denise A. Valdez

Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek vows to fight advanced pancreatic cancer

LOS ANGELES — Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, one of the most recognizable faces in US television, has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, he said in a video message on Wednesday. He vowed to beat the disease despite its low survival rate.
Since 1984, the Canadian-born Trebek has hosted the syndicated game show, in which contestants must display their knowledge of a broad array of trivia topics by stating their answers in the form of a question.
Trebek, 78, said in a video message posted to YouTube that he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this week.
“Now normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I’m going to fight this, and I’m going to keep working,” Trebek said. “And with the love and support of my family and friends and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease.”
Stage 4 typically means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, and the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer that advanced is 3%, according to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
The low survival rate is attributed to the fact fewer than 20% of pancreatic tumors are confined to the pancreas at the time of diagnosis.
Trebek, who is known for his straight-faced but witty banter with contestants, made a joke about his vow to survive the disease.
“Truth told, I have to!” he said in the video message to fans. “Because under the terms of my contract, I have to host Jeopardy! for three more years! So help me. Keep the faith and we’ll win.”
Jeopardy! is watched by 23 million viewers a week in the US and Canada, making it the most watched quiz show in that television market. Trebek has hosted more than 7,000 episodes.
He also has won five Daytime Emmy awards for outstanding game show host and in 2011 received a lifetime achievement Emmy.
After he was injured in a fall in 2017, Trebek had surgery to remove blood clots on the brain and took a break from taping episodes. He returned to the show in January 2018.
Trebek, who is from a nickel-mining town in Ontario, suffered a heart attack in 2012 and was hospitalized for another in 2007.
Jeopardy! is produced by Sony Pictures Television, a division of Sony Corp, and distributed by a division of CBS Corp. — Reuters

Ayala to keep capital spending steady this year

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
AYALA CORP. (AC) is keeping its capital spending steady this year, while keeping a “fairly positive” outlook about the group’s businesses moving forward.
“As a group I think it’s about the same (capex) as last year,” AC Chief Finance Officer Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s media event in Makati City on Wednesday night.
The listed conglomerate committed to spend P249 billion in capital expenditures in 2018, 44% higher than its spending the year before to finance its investments as well as the expansion of its subsidiaries, Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI), Globe Telecom, Inc., and Manila Water Co., Inc.
Mr. Limcaoco noted they will be spending less at the parent level due to the absence of large investments.
“Last year, we had a big capex spend for the BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands) rights offer, IMI (Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc.) rights offer. I don’t see any big investments this year,” Mr. Limcaoco said.
BPI raised P50 billion through a stock rights offering last year to fund its business operations and expansion, while IMI also secured P5 billion in fresh funds through a rights offer. ALI has allotted P130 billion to support its plan to launch P130 billion worth of residential and office projects, depending on market demand. Globe also hiked its spending by 45% to P63 billion this year to address the rising demand for data services.
Mr. Limcaoco said they are closely watching how the third telco player will perform, calling the Mislatel consortium, led by Davao-based businessman Dennis A. Uy, a credible player.
“We keep on watching how the third player pans out. We get to be realistic that that is a concern, even though I think their business probably doesn’t pick up speed until towards the end of the year or next year…And the question is how fast can they get the business going,” he explained.
With the entry of a new player, Mr. Limcaoco said the higher spending will help them build out Globe’s network and further improve it, while also expanding their business on the home broadband segment.
Sought for his outlook, the top executive said 2019 looks “fairly positive.”
“I think we’re still fairly confident about the real estate market, it remains very strong. Banking looks very solid, loan growth looks steady, credit quality remains good,” Mr. Limcaoco said.
AC’s net income attributable to the parent rose three percent to P23.86 billion in the first nine months of 2018, following a 18% uptick in gross revenues to P201.68 billion. The company is set to release its full-year 2018 earnings results on March 13.
Shares in AC climbed 0.48% or P4.50 to close at P948 each at the stock exchange on Thursday.

100 Years of Solitude on Netflix

LOS ANGELES — The groundbreaking novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is coming to the screen for the first time in a Spanish language series for Netflix, the streaming service said on Wednesday. The multi-generational family tale, published in 1967, is widely considered one of the most influential novels of the 20th century and an early example of the magical realism style embraced by other Latin American authors. Garcia Marquez’s two sons will serve as executive producers on the TV series, which will be filmed mainly in the author’s native Colombia. They said in a statement that the Nobel Prize winning novelist, who died in 2014, had been reluctant to sell the rights to the books for years. However, given what has been called a new golden age of television “and the acceptance by worldwide audiences of programs in foreign languages, the time could not be better to bring an adaptation to the extraordinary global viewership that Netflix provides.” — Reuters

Megaworld eyes P18-billion sales from two condos

MEGAWORLD CORP. expects two new residential condominiums within its Parañaque City township to generate P18 billion in sales.
The listed property developer said in a statement that it has launched South Beach Place and Sunny Coast Residential Resort inside Westside City, which will add about 1,900 residential units to the 31-hectare township.
South Beach Place will offer 582 units across 15 floors. Units range from studio layouts, sized from 32-41.5 square meters (sq.m.), and one-bedroom sized from 46.5-61.5 sq.m. All units have their respective balconies or lanai area.
The tower will feature amenities such as an adult and children’s pool, massage pool, sun deck lounge, pool lounge and seating deck, playground, fitness center, and function rooms.
Megaworld will be building a footbridge that will directly link South Beach Place to the future Westside City Resorts World complex.
Meanwhile, Sunny Coast Residential Resort consists of two 21-storey towers with a total of 1,309 units. Units are sized up to 41 sq.m. for studio layouts, up to 77 sq.m. for one-bedroom, and up to 111 sq.m. for the executive one-bedroom.
Amenities at Sunny Coast Residential Complex include a infinity pool, children’s pool, wading pool, pool pavilion, lounge deck, meditation deck, children’s playground, fitness playground, fitness center, function rooms, and outdoor seating area.
The company expects to complete the towers by 2024.
The two projects augment Megaworld’s current residential inventory of about 3,500 units across 19 towers worth P50 billion. The company earlier launched the 15-building Bayshore Residential Resorts project in Westside City, followed by the four-tower Gentry Manor.
Apart from residential projects, Megaworld is also building several hotels in Westside City, namely Kingsford Hotel with 529 rooms and Grand Westside Hotel with 685 rooms. Both hotels will be directly connected to the township’s casino complex.
Westside City is a leisure and tourism estate developed jointly with Megaworld’s sister firm, Travellers International Hotels Group, Inc. (TIHGI). Megaworld has committed to spend P54 billion for construction of residential and hotel projects in the estate, while TIHGI will be spending about P57 billion for the Westside City Resorts World complex.
Westside City Resorts World Complex will be the fourth casino to operate along the state-run Entertainment City in Parañaque City, following Solaire Resorts and Casino, City of Dreams Manila, and Okada Manila. The group expects to open the casino complex by 2021.
Shares in Megaworld jumped 2.85% or 15 centavos to close at P5.41 apiece at the stock exchange on Thursday. — Arra B. Francia

R. Kelly arrested again

R&B SINGER R. Kelly was arrested for a second time in recent weeks on Wednesday — this time for failure to pay child support — hours after lashing out in a TV interview against charges that he had sexually assaulted teenage girls. Singer Robert Kelly, known as R. Kelly, was taken into custody in Chicago for owing more than $161,000 in child support to his three children with ex-wife Andrea Kelly. The singer must pay the full amount to get out of jail, Cook County Sheriff’s spokesman Sam Randall said, following a court hearing over a Wednesday deadline for the money to be paid. Kelly’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kelly, 52, pleaded not guilty in February to charges that he sexually assaulted three teenage girls and a fourth woman. The charges were brought after seven women including his ex-wife, appeared on a Lifetime TV documentary and accused him of emotional and sexual abuse. He spent a weekend in jail on the sex charges before being released on $100,000 bail on Feb. 25. Wednesday’s arrest came hours after CBS TV aired parts of Kelly’s first interview since being charged, in which the singer tearfully and angrily rejected allegations that he had sex with underage girls. — Reuters

Prodigy frontman Keith Flint, 49

LONDON — Keith Flint, the Prodigy lead singer who captured the hedonistic spirit of 1990s British rave culture, has died aged 49 in what the band’s founder described as a suicide. Flint was one of the best known faces of British electronic music, performing apparently random dance moves often with eccentric hair cuts, sometimes styled as devil’s horns, and heavy makeup around his eyes. Liam Howlett, founder of the group, said Flint had taken his own life. “Our brother Keith took his own life over the weekend. I’m shell shocked, fuckin’ angry, confused and heart broken,” Howlett said on Instagram. “R.I.P brother.” Police were called to an address in Essex on Monday where they found Flint who was pronounced dead at the scene. — Reuters

1...11,26111,26211,263...14,237Page 11,262 of 14,237
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube