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Alaskan salmon bagoong, unexpectedly

By Rebecca S. Torres
This is one of three articles that placed second in the Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Awards 2017.
NANAY LEONOR hails from the town of Sta. Lucia in Ilocos Sur and she worked as a seafood processor at a salmon cannery in Alaska for over 15 years together with other Ilokano kababayans, people hailing from the same Philippine province. Being an Ilokano, she is hardworking, thrifty, and determined.
Alaska is the largest state in the United States with an extensive span of maritime border and coastline. Those bodies of water are the rich source of different salmon varieties that are among Alaska’s main seafood exports as well as cod, pollock, and crab.
MEETING NANAY LEONOR
Over a decade ago, our friend Rey with his wife Emma introduced his mother Leonor to us when she came home to the Philippines for a visit. Nanay means mother in the Philippine National Language and it is often used as an honorific and term of endearment. Nanay Leonor, upon learning that I too am an Ilokano, proudly gave us a bottle of bagoong that she had personally fermented.
The bagoong (fermented fish paste) looked different from what we were used to. It was peach in color with a streak of light purple. It had a sweet pungent smell unlike common bagoong. To our surprise, her bagoong was made from fresh Alaskan salmon. Indeed, you could catch whiff of salmon aroma. Because we relished her bagoong so rich in flavor and smell, it was sparingly used as a special table condiment and never for cooking.
I found out recently that Nanay Leonor had returned to the Philippines about 10 years ago to spend quality time with her children and family. It was a good opportunity for us to meet again so I could learn more about salmon bagoong. She had worked in Alaska during summer and winter months, three months per season or a total of six months in a year. As a seafood processor, an employee was assigned tasks that could include sorting, cutting, cleaning, and grading different kinds of salmon; packing salmon roe; cleaning cans and filling them up. Her task was packing salmon roe in tins.
MAKING ALASKAN SALMON BAGOONG
Depending on the kind of salmon, salmon bagoong would have slightly different tastes. Nanay Leonor said that she ferments three types of salmon meat. Sockeye has a rich, deep reddish color and high oil content. Silver coho meat is more orange than red and has a mild flavor. Humpy is pale pink in color, light in texture, and low in fat content.
Through a mechanized cannery process on an assembly line, salmon belly is extracted from a whole fish. Head and tail are also removed, and the fish is stripped of its skin, fishbone, and intestines. The undesired fish parts are discarded.
Hardworking Ilokano seafood processors save the fishbone (called siit in their language) of red, silver, and pink salmons. They scrape off all remaining meat and mash it with salmon gut. Then rock salt is added to the mixture in a combination of one part rock salt and five parts mashed salmon meat and gut. Nanay Leonor advises that the salmon gut is a valuable ingredient. It makes bagoong more liquid and softer in texture than if pure salmon fish meat were fermented. The salmon mixture is then placed in a plastic pail, covered, and stored for one month or more to ferment. If fish sauce (patis) is desired as a by-product, fermentation should be lengthened. Patis is an orange liquid floating atop salmon bagoong.
SALMON BAGOONG AS GOURMET SEASONING FOR SIMPLE DISHES
Salmon bagoong can be used as sawsawan (dipping sauce) or table seasoning for slices of singkamas (turnip) and unripe mango. It is also a flavor enhancer for simple home-cooked dishes like picadillo (ground beef sautéed with potatoes and carrots or misua noodles) and bloodless batchoy (pork liver, kidney, heart, spleen, and tenderloin sautéed with kutchay [garlic chives] leaves) enjoyed at breakfast.
Salmon bagoong is a testament to the inspirational traits of Ilokanos who find ingredients in foreign lands to assure their favorite seasoning is on hand always.

Netflix to boost Asian push with original content

By Zsarlene B. Chua
Reporter
NETFLIX LAUNCHED its plan to focus on strengthening its Asian market as it announced 17 Asian original productions from Korea, India and Southeast Asia with more on the way, the streaming service’s executives said in a two-day conference in Singapore.
“We’ve got plans to pretty aggressively program throughout the region, planning 100 regional productions — series, specials and films — throughout Asia,” Theodore Anthony Sarandos Jr., chief content officer of Netflix, told the media during a press briefing on Nov. 9 as part of the conference in Singapore.
He added that they’re just getting started in Asia as they continue to look and “tell stories that are really, really locally relevant for each country…and that’s really been our strategy: to create the best, most authentic shows in as many places as we can in the world.”
During the two-day conference dubbed See What’s Next Asia, Netflix announced 17 Asian originals including Thai-language originals, five animated series (which includes an animated adaptation of Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo’s Trese graphic novel set in Manila), Indian originals, South Korean originals (this includes zombie historical epic, KINGDOM, which despite having a Jan. 25, 2019 premiere date, has already been renewed for a second season) and a Chinese-language original from Taiwan (Triad Princess).
The newest titles are welcome additions to Netflix’s first foray into Asian programming which includes the South Korean variety-comedy series BUSTED! India’s crime-thriller Sacred Games and Japan’s animated series, DEVILMAN crybaby.
Next year, Mr. Sarandos said they will be “most definitely” be increasing their content budget which was pegged at $8 billion this year, though an assessment by Goldman Sachs in July pointed out that the streaming giant’s content spending will land more between $12 to $13 billion this year with 85% spent on original programming alone.
THE FOCUS ON ASIA
Netflix ended the third quarter of 2018 with 137 million subscribers, up almost seven million from the quarter before. Of the 137 million subscribers on the service, 58.46 million are from the United States, according to statistics portal, Statista.
This means that much of Netflix’s subscribers are now outside the US, though Media Partners Asia, a provider of advisory, consulting and research services, noted in a report in April that Asia “plays a modest role in the company’s growth story” as it contributes less than 5% of the global base at the end of 2017.
A number Wilmot Reed Hastings Jr., Netflix CEO, has belied this, saying, “I wouldn’t listen to the analysts very much.”
“Asia has been a great market for us. You can see the acceleration in our overall numbers: several years ago we were only growing by ten or 20 million new members per year, now it’s 25-30 [million] and that’s really a contribution [from the region],” Mr. Hastings said in a press conference on Nov. 9.
Netflix entered Asia and much of the world at the start of 2016.
But the focus on Asia isn’t contained on growing the subscribers within the region as Netflix observed that there is a big market for Asian content outside Asia.
“More than half of Asian content hours viewed on Netflix this year are viewed outside the region,” Mr. Sarandos said in a presentation during the conference.
“So we have confidence that our upcoming slate of Asian productions will find fans in their home countries and abroad,” he added.
THE COMPETITION
In August, Netflix reported that it released 88% more programming for 2018 than it did for the same period in 2017, according to Fortune. But this doesn’t mean that Netflix will, if ever, stop being an aggregator of content and focus on original-only programming.
“Aggregation is an important part [of the business]. We’re not trying to be Netflix content only, we’re trying to be customer-pleasing as the main thing we focus on,” Mr. Hastings said, explaining that studios and producers like Disney “might pull back” their content from the Netflix service — that’s why the company needs to invest in their own content to differentiate themselves from their competitors like Amazon, HBO and the soon-to-be-launched Disney+ service which is expected to be rolled out in the US in late 2019.
“We’re used to competition,” Mr. Hastings said. “Amazon has been competing with for ten years and HBO for 14 years.”
“It’s just up to each service to try and do great content. And if all of us are fighting for more consumer attention, then the consumer has many choices…and it does force us to do really great creative work because HBO, Disney, they are really impressive,” he explained. (He also noted as an aside that the “Disney service looks great” and he will probably subscribe to it).
Netflix’s focus on aggressiveness on original content has created a negative cash flow that is expected to be between $3 to $4 billion in 2018, larger than 2017’s $2 billion, according to the company’s letter to its shareholders in January 2018 but Mr. Hastings said it is not a cause for concern as it is a consequence of being in “hypergrowth” when it comes to producing original content.
“Something like the internet only comes by once in 50 or a hundred years — a change like this. So our investors are pushing us to go faster and faster and we need to be producing creative content…think of it as a minor thing for investor standpoint and a great thing for consumer standpoint because we produce a lot more than we would otherwise,” Mr. Hastings explained.
“Someday, the growth will be slower and we should be cash flow positive but while we are in this hypergrowth around the world and that does consume cash and our investors are comfortable with that,” he added.

The new Momofuku is in Columbus Circle. Don’t tell David Chang

By Kate Krader, Bloomberg
SINCE HE opened his first Momofuku Noodle Bar in a no-frills East Village storefront in 2004, David Chang has become renowned as a chef who shakes things up.
The third floor of the Shops at Columbus Circle, in midtown Manhattan, is not the place I would imagine Chang doing that. Yet Chang and his team are embracing the location of his second New York Noodle Bar, opening on Nov. 15. But the notoriously stubborn chef won’t call it “the Shops at Columbus Circle,” the name owner Related Co. insists on. “I will always say ‘Time Warner Center,’” says Chang.
I spent a lot of time at the original Noodle Bar, most recently home to Momofuku’s fried chicken-sandwich takeout spot, Fuku. There were 22 seats, about six items on the menu, and OB beer, with $1 bottles of Poland Spring water. Since then, his empire has grown to include restaurants in New York, Sydney, Toronto, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Washington.
The new Momofuku has a designer — Inc. Architecture & Design — and 90-plus seats, most of them stylish booths, as well as a dedicated cocktail bar and a private dining room. At the helm is executive chef Tony Kim, who ran the Noodle Bar kitchen after it shifted a few doors to its present location.
“Yeah, we’re on the third floor of a shopping mall,” Chang tells me. “You don’t think there’s going to be a heartbeat, so we’re trying to create the sense of controlled chaos.” In a preview Chang gave me in early November, I was able to check out some of the highlights.
THE SPECIALS BOARD
To combat the mall setting, Chang created a feature that invigorates the location while combating the clamor for such signature dishes as pork-belly-stuffed buns and ramen. “How do you do nostalgia without being stuck in it? You have to have a new menu every day,” he answers.
The new location boasts a train station-style departure board over the bar that cycles through specials. “Whole Dover Sole @7.30,” and “Black Truffle Ramen” are some of the dishes that could pop up and then disappear when they sell out. Chang credits his constant travel. “I have been living in train stations and on airplanes. We created a Warby Parker board; it’s the same concept as a chalkboard, but it’s constantly updating.”
THE RAMEN
Like a sequel in the Avengers series, Momofuku has taken its greatest hits and updated them. The biggest change for any fans (me) of their ramen template is that the noodles are now custom made, in partnership with Sun Noodles. The result is strands with a more pronounced grain flavor.
Most significant, they’re more durable and stay relatively firm in a bowl of broth for upward of 30 minutes, the equivalent of a ramen superpower. “Back in the day, I would say, eat your food and get out of here; the noodles don’t wait,” says Chang. “Chang won’t be cooking here,” says Kim.
Those noodles come into play in the spicy beef ramen with chunks of short rib and the garlic chicken ramen with the Asian leafy green, yu choy. The signature bowl is smoked pork ramen. The deep, brown broth is chicken-based, with a fresh, crunchy wedge of bamboo floating on top, bumping into the caramelized pork slice and slow-poached egg yolk. “When we started adding slow-poached eggs to ramen, no one was doing it. We couldn’t afford the labor to peel hard-boiled eggs,” says Chang.
He sees this as the culmination of the ramen he’s been making over the 14 years he’s been serving it: version 14.0. “There are stretches when our ramen has been bad; we changed the broth, we went to pork, we went away from pork. It’s like a sports team — you have some bad seasons.” The ramen price will be in the high teens.
THE BUNS
Chang has seen his pork belly buns copied around the world, but he decided to embrace the steamed bun instead of running away from it. “If everyone is making one, we have to be the best-in-class,” he says.
The team is now making the buns in-house, too. The process is neither labor- nor space efficient, according to Kim: Every day, two to four cooks are dedicated to preparing them; it is also the base of the flatbread rotisserie meat sandwiches at the adjacent, just-opened Bang Bar.
The signature bun at midtown Noodle Bar is the French dip — fans of the pork belly version will have to wait for it to make an appearance on the specials board. “I’ve been eating a lot of French dips in L.A.,” explains Chang. Here, they are filled with chunks of braised short rib and onion with a bowl — shaped like a fancy shell — of black vinegar-spiked broth. “This bun is the hardest thing we’re doing in this restaurant. Tim Ho Wan [the Michelin-starred dim sum expert] doesn’t mess around with the shape of dough. But we’re embracing the artisanship,” says Kim.
I found them sweet and puffy, with a pillowy, chewy bite.
THE DRINKS
The new Noodle Bar is a dedicated spot for drinks that, by itself, is about as big as the original Noodle Bar counter. Momofuku bar director Lucas Swallows worked with Anne Robinson (a Booker & Dax alum) to create what they call a “House Soda Fountain.” Their Highball Program includes the Sundial, made with tequila, suze, and clarified orange cordial and decorated with little orange cut outs. The Fun Guy features soju infused with dried shiitake and vermouth, with results unexpectedly like a cream soda.
THE NEW SIGNATURES
Kim and his kitchen are pushing a handful of dishes that have made appearances at East Village Noodle Bar. Oxtail soup is served in a handsome Le Creuset pot, with rice cakes in a spicy broth. The meat is bone-in; Chang suggests customers pick it up with their hands. The same goes for the head-on Szechuan shrimp: a plate of plump shellfish coated in a piquant spice mix of coriander, cumin, and Szechuan peppercorn.
The team is considering serving then without silverware, so customers will be forced to eat with their hands. “There’s a lot of reasons for this dish. Head-on shrimp are the most delish, easiest way to eat them. People eat soft-shell crab; this is essentially that,” says Chang. I told him I would eat the whole thing but not the top of the head, with those giant eyes staring up at me. “You don’t have to eat them,” he said. He didn’t eat them, either.

Epson launches inkjet printer for enterprises

EPSON HAS launched a new linehead multifunction inkjet printer for enterprise use.
Epson’s WorkForce Enterprise WF-C20590 is a high-speed office printer and copier, which delivers simplex and duplex output at a lower cost and easy maintenance for less downtime, it said.
“The PrecisionCore Line Head WorkForce Enterprise MFP is capable of achieving a blistering 100ppm (pages per minute) in both simplex and duplex modes — matching or surpassing most laser printers. The implications for productivity are obvious — the less time spent waiting for a print or copy job to complete, the more time available for other pressing tasks,” Epson said in a statement.
Unlike a laser printer, Epson said the inkjet WorkForce Enterprise doesn’t need to warm up and starts printing immediately. Because no heat is used in the printing process, its power consumption is as much as 75% lower than an average laser.
Meanwhile, the WorkForce Enterprise’s Precisioncore linehead technology lets it produce consistent image quality at ultra-fast printing speeds.
“The printer’s innovations include an electrostatic transport belt that ensures the paper is always completely flat so that it produces consistently sharp images, and a self-maintaining print head. This latter feature monitors nozzle health and automatically detects and adjusts print head performance, reducing the issue of clogged ink nozzles,” Epson said.
Its cartridges can also print up to 100,000 pages in black and 50,000 pages in color each, reducing the need for constant replacement.
The printer likewise supports a wide range of specialist papers up to 350gsm.
Aside from printing, the multifunction product allows users to copy, scan to email and more, and comes with management tools and security features such as authentication and administrative functions.

Strong sales lift SSI’s bottom line in Q3

SSI GROUP, Inc. grew its profit by a fourth in the July to September period, boosted by higher sales across its brands.
In a regulatory filing, the specialty store retailer reported a net income of P84.77 million in the third quarter of 2018, against P67.7 million in the same period a year ago. This brought nine-month earnings 8% higher to P368.05 million.
Net sales for the quarter ending September reached P4.53 billion, 10% higher year-on-year, for a total of P13.79 billion from January to September. This marks an 11% growth from the same period a year ago, despite a 7.6% annual drop in total selling area.
SSI attributed the robust sales growth to “strong consumer demand coupled with selective price increases.”
During the nine-month period, fast fashion sales went up 3% to P4.74 billion, while luxury and bridge brands generated 27% higher sales at P3.5 billion. SSI’s fast fashion brands include Zara and Bershka, while its luxury lines include Prada, Burberry and Tod’s.
SSI’s same-store sales growth stood at 12.9% in the third quarter, and accelerated to 12% in the first nine months of the year.
“The Group posted strong third quarter results driven by resilient mid and high end discretionary spending as well as by the firming up of gross profit margins,” SSI President Anthony T. Huang said in a statement.
The company operates a network consisting of 95 brands, including international luxury brands Hermes, Gucci, and Salvatore Ferragamo, among others.
“Within a more volatile macro economic environment the Group continues to benefit from the strength of its brand portfolio and its store network and from the work that we have put into optimizing our expense base,” Mr. Huang said.
Shares in SSI picked up 2.63% or seven centavos to close at P2.73 each on Wednesday. — Arra B. Francia

Bids for term deposits down ahead of BSP review

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez, Senior Reporter
DEMAND for term deposits waned this week ahead of the central bank’s upcoming policy review, with players also seeking higher yields amid uncertainty on interest rates.
Banks offered to place P65.626 billion under the term deposit facility (TDF) on Wednesday, plunging from the P95.901 billion which bids received the previous week and settling well below the P90 billion the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) put up for auction.
Tenders were slashed across all tenors as banks were reluctant to lock in their funds, leaving all three undersubscribed despite a lower auction amount.
This comes a day ahead of the BSP’s policy meeting, where market players are torn on whether the central bank will keep rates steady or raise by another 25 basis points (bp). This will follow four consecutive tightening moves worth 150 bps since May, which brought benchmark yields to a 4-5% range.
Inflation steadied at 6.7% in October, while third-quarter economic growth softened to 6.1%.
Appetite for the seven-day deposits paled to P35.409 billion yesterday, down from the P50.17 billion bids received last week to settle lower than the central bank’s P50-billion offering. In turn, players asked for higher yields which averaged 4.8291%, up eight basis points from the 4.7442% fetched the previous auction.
The 14-day tenor also received softer demand this week as offers totalled P19.32 billion, slipping from P29.563 billion the prior week and failing to fill the P20-billion auction amount. In turn, banks sought bigger margins to fetch a 4.8642% average, ticking higher from the 4.789% fetched during the Nov. 7 exercise.
The same trend was observed for the 28-day papers as it scraped just P10.897 billion in total tenders versus the P20 billion which the BSP offered to sell. The amount is also lower than the P16.168 billion demand seen the previous week.
Given this, players sought to maximize yields as they asked for 4.85-5% returns, hitting an average of 4.9162% from 4.901% a week ago.
Since June 2016, the central bank has been counting on the TDF to capture excess liquidity and influence short-term rates in the financial system. Through the weekly auctions, the BSP can bring market and interbank closer to its desired range by setting the standard for short-term instruments using the margins that they pay to banks for these placements.
Sought for comment, BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said market forces continue to dictate changes in TDF yields.
“Volume appears higher than actual liquidity that is now available in the market. Apparently, banks continue to have greater uses for lending, investment and some FX (foreign exchange) purchases,” Mr. Guinigundo said in a text message to reporters. “As a result, TDF rates climbed higher. It’s a normal market development.”
Market players have said that liquidity is tight in recent weeks, with more entities looking to borrow funds to support their requirements.
For next week’s auction, the central bank is offering P70 billion in term deposits: P40 billion for the seven-day term, P20 billion for the 14-day and P10 billion for the 28-day tenor.

Cebu’s Rico’s Lechon opens its biggest branch in Pasig’s Tiendesitas

IT TOOK a while for a franchiser’s ambition to bring Rico’s Lechon, the popular lechon (roast pig) brand of Cebu to Manila.
“(For) more than five years, I’ve been talking to the owner, Rico Dionson, [about] wanting to franchise it,” Meat Concepts Corp. CEO George Pua told BusinessWorld at the restaurant’s launch on Oct. 24.
As an avid fan of lechon, Mr. Pua was adamant about pursuing a franchise in Manila. Instead the owner offered a sell his 23-year-old brand.
“Last December [2017], the owner offered if our company wanted to purchase the whole thing,” Mr. Pua said. “I told him, ‘I think you know the answer.’”
In May 2018, Meat Concepts Corp. announced its acquisition of the Rico’s Lechon.
Last month, the largest branch of Rico’s Lechon in the country opened in Tiendesitas in Pasig City. It fills a 733 square meter space and has a seating capacity of 300. Featuring its signature tropical safari interior, the restaurant includes a take-out area, and seven VIP rooms which are named after districts in Cebu.
Mr. Pua said that the space was offered to their company and that he is glad about its location since Tiendesitas is “at the center of everything,” adding that Pasig is accessible to other cities.
The Tiendesitas branch offers new dishes that are available exclusively at the store. These dishes include lechon kare-kare (a peanut sauce-based stew), beef tripe kare-kare, tokwa at lechon baboy (tofu with roast pork), and lechon lumpiang shanghai (spring rolls), as well as desserts: buchi (mung bean paste-filled, deep-fried sesame-covered sweet rice balls) with caramel sauce and maja kalabasa (a coconut milk based dessert, made with pumpkin in this version).
“From this store onwards, we will be launching new dishes that would be special for the store only,” Mr. Pua said, adding that the new dishes will be made available in the other branches around Manila depending on customer reception after a month.
He said that a branch of Rico’s Lechon is set to open within the month in UP Town Center in Quezon City, and its biggest provincial branch will open in Mandaue, Cebu in 2019.
Rico’s Lechon in Tiendesistas is located at the 1st Level, Food Village Bldg. B, Ortigas East, Barangay Ugong in Pasig City. It is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

China scours social media, erases thousands of accounts

BEIJING — China’s top cyber authority has scrubbed 9,800 social media accounts of independent news providers deemed to have posted sensational, vulgar or politically harmful content on the Internet, it said late on Monday.
China’s strict online censorship rules have tightened in recent years with new legislation to restrict media outlets, surveillance measures for media sites and rolling campaigns to remove content deemed unacceptable.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement that the campaign, launched on Oct. 20, had erased the accounts for violations that included “spreading politically harmful information, maliciously falsifying (Chinese Communist) party history, slandering heroes and defaming the nation’s image.”
CAC also summoned social media giants, including Tencent’s (0700.HK) Wechat and Sina-owned Weibo, warning them against failing to prevent “uncivilized growth” and “all kinds of chaos” among independent media on their platforms.
“The chaos among self-media accounts has seriously trampled on the dignity of the law and damaged the interests of the masses,” CAC said.
The term “self-media” is mostly used on Chinese social media to describe independent news accounts that produce original content but are not officially registered with the authorities.
Such accounts have proliferated in recent years and range from hard-hitting investigative journalism to celebrity gossip or lewd content. Many are hugely popular due to offering more novel and sensational news than official sources.
Online commentators noted that some of the accounts closed had been sharing false or pornographic content — both of which are illegal in China — but also lamented that some of the accounts targeted in this latest sweep appeared to have merely been too critical.
One Weibo user questioned why an art and entertainment blog called “youshuguang” was blocked.
“The one I really don’t get is youshuguang, who made no sign of violations and wrote emotive content in a well-behaved manner. Why were they still blocked?” the Weibo user wrote.
“You get blocked if you write the truth, get blocked if you write lies, so what are we now supposed to say?”
NGOCN, an group that produced popular articles about social issues in China, also had two accounts deleted but pledged in a statement to continue producing content.
“This is an era of accounts being obliterated,” the group said. “It went from a single article being blocked, to the censorship of some prohibited speech… then today all of a sudden, we have no account.” — Reuters

AC Energy says close to reaching balanced mix of renewables, geothermal

AC ENERGY, Inc. is close to reaching an equal share of renewables and thermal energy capacity in its portfolio among its operating plants as of 2018, its top official said.
“You’d be surprised. We’re close to 50-50. Very close. I’m talking about actual electrons being produced. It doesn’t include projects under construction,” AC Energy Chief Executive Officer Eric T. Francia said in a media round table at the company’s head office in Makati City.
The Ayala Corp. energy investment platform has 1.7 gigawatts (GW) or 1,700 megawatts (MW) of operating energy capacity. It had targeted installing 1,000 MW of renewable energy by 2020 but had stopped talking about that goal as it sets its sights on a new target of 5GW by 2025 from a balanced mix of renewables and thermal assets.
“Our geothermal investment is 126 MW attributable at a 90% plus capacity factor. That offsets Mariveles [plant] where we also have 126 MW. So SLTEC (South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp.) now is offset by all other renewables. Our wind projects in Indonesia and the Philippines and then our solar project more or less offset the SLTEC [capacity]. So we’re in a nice position,” he added.
The current figure is set to change when its big coal-fired power plant projects come online in the coming months and years.
“I’m actually proud of this. This is our objective for 2025 to be at least 50% renewables, we’re not far from that today in terms of actual operating assets, which is the great news,” Mr. Francia said.
“Now having said that, if we didn’t do anything active because of the power plants under construction once Kauswagan comes in next year, once Dinginin [comes in], imagine if we did not sell to Aboitiz, that’s where you get your 80% plus thermal 20% renewables and it’s gonna be hard to catch up,” he added.
Mr. Francia was referring to GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co., which is building in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte a clean pulverized coal-fired power generation facility with four units, each with a capacity of 138 MW or a total of 552 MW.
GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. is building two identical units of 668 MW coal-fired power plant in Sitio Dinginin in Mariveles, Bataan or a total of 1,336 MW.
In September this year, AC Energy announced that it had sold to Aboitiz Power Corp. up to 60% of its economic stake in AA Thermal, Inc., the Ayalas’ thermal platform in the Philippines.
The platform initially consists of its partnership interests in GNPower Dinginin and GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co., which has a capacity of 632-MW.
AC Energy has yet to find a partner for the Kauwagan project.
Mr. Francia said the selldown was meant to pre-empt coal’s greater dominance in the company’s portfolio mix.
“Before that happens let’s try to proactively manage it. Let’s accelerate our renewables that’s why we’re going big on Vietnam, going big on Australia. I wish we could go big on Philippines soon but it’s not practical for many reasons,” he said.
“So this selldown of AA Thermal to Aboitiz helps balance our portfolio and then you all know it’s been widely reported that there’s quiet a bit of interest in the balance of our portfolio, including Mindanao. So if and when that happens then hopefully we can sort of maintain this balance that we have now in 2018, we can maintain that all the way to 2025,” Mr. Francia said. — Victor V. Saulon

Higher same-store sales lift Puregold’s net income

EARNINGS of Puregold Price Club, Inc. improved by 9% in the third quarter of 2018, driven by higher consumer spending on account of higher take-home pay under the tax reform law.
In a regulatory filing, the Lucio L. Co-led firm said net income went up to P1.54 billion in the July to September period. This followed a 15.5% uptick in net sales to P35.79 billion in the same period.
On a nine-month basis, the listed firm recorded an 18% jump in earnings to P4.62 billion after system-wide net sales jumped 14% to P99.82 billion.
Puregold attributed the positive performance for the first nine months to strong same store sales growth (SSSG), which stood at 5.8% for its Puregold stores and 8.8% for S&R outlets.
“We are optimistic that we will be able to sustain our SSSG in the last quarter of 2018 to be driven by higher consumer spending fueled by higher levels of take-home pay as a result of the tax reform law,” the company said.
Aside from positive SSSG figures, it further noted that the new stores opened in 2017 were in full swing this year, contributing to the overall increase in net sales.
Given Puregold’s positive performance, its parent Cosco Capital, Inc. delivered a 17% increase in attributable profit to P1.31 billion during the third quarter. Net income attributable to the parent accordingly went up by 16% to P3.97 billion in the nine-month period.
Cosco reported a 27% increase in revenues to P42.94 billion in the three months ending September, pushing the nine-month figure to P119.27 billion, 17% higher year-on-year.
Aside from Puregold and S&R Membership Shopping Club, Cosco also has a liquor distribution business under its portfolio where it sells the Alfonso Light Brandy and Alfonso Brandy, among others. This segment generated a 40.4% increase in revenues to P5.7 billion, after posting a 42% increase in volume of cases sold.
Meanwhile, Liquigaz Philippines Corp., which handles its specialty retailing segment, saw its revenues rise by 38% to P12.4 billion. It cited the recovery in global LPG prices and higher sales volumes as the growth drivers for the period.
In October, Cosco divested its entire stake in Liquigaz.
Shares in Puregold ended flat at P42 each on Wednesday, while shares in Cosco were also unchanged at P7 apiece. — Arra B. Francia

Rebisco marks its 55th anniversary by going artistic with its cookie tin packaging

ROEL OBEMIO’s design for one of the four special edition Rebisco tins marking the company’s 55th anniversary.

JUST ABOUT every Filipino is introduced to Rebisco products at a young age — from finding the snacks in their school lunch bag to receiving a can of assorted biscuits from relatives during special occasions. This year, the company marks its 55th year with the launch of special edition designer biscuit tins.
In 1963, Republic Biscuit Corp. (Rebisco) began in a neighborhood bakeshop in old San Juan as the England Biscuit Factory. It came with brands such as Crema (cream biscuits) and Sodatine (plain soda crackers). It was in 1972, after it moved to a bigger factory in Quezon city, that it became to be known as Rebisco.
“Every Pinoy family has a story to tell and through the years, we make these stories come to life through our products. Rebisco’s Special Edition Designer Cans support local not only through taste, but through art,” Lulu dela Peña, marketing communications head of Rebisco, said in a press release. “We at Rebisco believe that life is a constant journey of growing and refining who we are. Thus, we find a new twist to an old product to rekindle interest for it while continuing our tradition to let the tin can serve as an art canvas that tells the stories and values of Filipino families.”
These cans have a life in a household long after the cookies have been consumed. “Sometimes, even when the contents [of the can] are finished, we see it in the household [used] as rice containers and flower pots. It has taken an important part in our life,” Ms. Dela Peña told BusinessWorld at last week’s launch in Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.
The food company collaborated with four artists — Migs Villanueva, Aris Bagtas, Roel Obemio, and Joseph Bañez — for the designs of the special edition cans.
All the artworks depict family-themed images. Villanueva’s artwork depicts togetherness through a family storytelling session; Bagtas’ work focuses on a family get together); Obemio’s signature chubby characters are engaged in outdoor activities; and Bañez’s work features Filipino games.
“We put so much value on family. We put the consumers right in the center of what we do,” Ms. Dela Peña said.
The special edition cans contain an assortment of nine Rebisco cookies, crackers, and wafers including the Rebisco lemon sandwich, Rebisco crackers, Choco Mucho cookies, and Hansel crackers.
The Rebisco special edition designer cans are available nationwide at Robinsons, Puregold, Waltermart, Rustan’s, and Shopwise supermarkets for P175. They will be available for order online at www.honestbee.ph starting Nov. 15. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Metrobank Q3 income up on core business’ strength

METROPOLITAN Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) saw its net income grow in the third quarter on the back of the strong performance of its core businesses.
In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the Ty-led Metrobank said it posted P5.7 billion in net earnings in the July-September period, 55% higher than the P3.7 billion recorded in the same period last year.
This brought Metrobank’s nine-month income to P16.8 billion, up 27% year-on-year.
The bank attributed the robust growth to the “solid performance of the core business” as margins were lifted higher by the double-digit growth in loans and current and savings account (CASA) ratio, while keeping the increase in operating expenses at a manageable level.
Metrobank’s net interest income was at P51 billion in the first nine months of the year, accounting for bulk of the bank’s total revenue of P68.4 billion.
Its loan portfolio stood at P1.3 trillion as of end-September, growing by 15% from the year-ago level. This was led by the commercial segment at 17%, driven by the “consistent” performance by its corporate accounts, middle market and small business segments.
“Demand continues to be positive in the manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and real estate sectors,” according the bank’s disclosure to the local bourse.
On the funding side, total deposits grew to P1.5 trillion as of end-September, inching up by 5%. Meanwhile, the bank’s CASA ratio was maintained at 62%.
Meanwhile, non-interest income rose 4% to P17.4 billion, supported mainly by the P10.2 billion in service fees and commissions as well as income from trust operations, up 11%.
Net trading and foreign exchange gains as well as miscellaneous income also contributed to Metrobank’s non-interest income at P2.1 billion and P5.1 billion, respectively.
“Fee-related revenues benefitted from steady customer-driven flows and boosted by the large corporate deals that were booked in the early part of the year,” Metrobank noted.
Operating expenses was kept within the bank’s guidance at P33 billion, up 10%. Manpower-related costs grew 12% to P16 billion, while the balance was spent for Metrobank’s continuous efforts to improve its system and processes.
Meanwhile, expenses for taxes and licenses stood at P6.3 billion, which included the new requirements under the new tax regime implemented this year.
Asset quality metrics remained healthy and above industry average, as Metrobank’s non-performing loans (NPL) ratio was “relatively flat” at 1.2% from 1.1% in the previous quarter, with NPL cover maintained at 110%.
The bank also set aside P5.2 billion in provisions for credit and impairment losses due to the impact of Philippine Financial Reporting Standards 9 adopted this year.
Metrobank’s net interest margin for the nine-month period stood at 3.88%, higher by nine basis points than the year-ago level. It was also higher than the 3.77% recorded in the first half of the year.
The bank’s assets totalled P2.1 trillion, with equity at P277.5 billion. Total capital adequacy ratio was at 17.8%, while its common equity Tier 1 ratio at 15.2%.
In the statement, Metrobank Chairman Arthur V. Ty said the lender’s strong performance during the nine-month period is “very encouraging” amid inflation concerns and rising interest rates.
“Credit demand remains healthy and the bank continues to grow cautiously its consumer, business and infrastructure-related loan portfolio without incurring unnecessary risks to asset quality and profitability,” Mr. Ty was quoted as saying. “We will continue to be a key player in the country’s economic development, anchored on our long-term strategy of growth, good governance and sustainability.”
Last week, the bank raised P10 billion in fresh funds through fixed-rate bonds, which is part of its P100-billion bond and commercial paper program.
The issuance, which carry an interest rate of 7.15% and a two-year tenor, was the first by a local bank since the monetary authority allowed lenders to tap the capital market as a funding source without having to secure its approval.
Metrobank shares closed Wednesday’s session at P67 apiece, up P2.20 or 3.4%. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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