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Cathay Pacific bullish on Davao

DAVAO CITY — The Cathay Pacific Group, through its regional airline Cathay Dragon, flew in its maiden direct flight from Hong Kong to Davao on Oct. 28 with the goal of developing the service as the main Mindanao link for the long haul.
“The strategy is, let’s make Davao work, we know that some airlines have come and gone, we don’t want to do that. Focus on that, and that will take time, and then we’ll see (about other Mindanao destinations),” Cathay Pacific Country Manager Rob Bradshaw told BusinessWorld yesterday on the sidelines of a press briefing.
Flights using an A320 plane are initially on a four-times-a-week frequency, but Mr. Shaw said they are already working out a fifth flight for the “Christmas period” from early December to January.
Mr. Shaw noted there is strong passenger traffic, mainly from balikbayans (returning Filipinos). Cathay Pacific is targeting the tourist-business markets as well as the overseas Filipino migrants and workers from Mindanao who can use Hong Kong as a hub with Cathay Pacific’s network of more than 200 international destinations.
“A healthy mix is an equal mix of both. We will actively seek to grow the tourism sector and business sector, and the overseas foreign workers sector is also there,” Mr. Shaw said.
Davao City Vice-Mayor Bernard Al-ag, for his part, said the local government is ready to assist to ensure the sustainability of the new international route.
“It is our goal that we help every investor and businessman in the city, together with the national government, the Department of Transportation, we are here to make sure that your business will work and I am 100% sure that this new endeavor between Cathay Dragon and Davao City will really be sustained,” he said.
Ronald Lam, Cathay Pacific director for commercial and cargo, said Davao has been under consideration for several years, but the recent surge in economic activities in the country’s south has made it ready for a direct service.
Mr. Lam said the cargo business is “another part of the formula” for the flights, particularly for fresh products or perishables from Mindanao, which has a largely agriculture-based economy.
Cathay Pacific now operates more than 70 weekly flights between Hong Kong and four destinations in the Philippines, including Manila, Clark, and Cebu.
Jason C. Magnaye, external affairs head of Aboitiz Power Coal Business Unit, who was among those who took the maiden Davao-Hong Kong flight with his family, said the service opens opportunities for both tourism and trade.
“This is very convenient, especially for those traveling with children and senior citizens,” Mr. Magnaye said in an interview at the Davao International Airport.
“The challenge is for us to be able to bring tourists from Hong Kong to visit Davao. Bringing Davaoeños to Hong Kong does not take a lot of effort, but the more challenging is the inbound, both for tourism and business,” he added. — Marifi S. Jara with a report from Maya M. Padillo

Ely Buendia’s focus on vinyl

FORMER Eraserheads front man, Eleandre “Ely” Buendia, has formally launched his two-year-old independent music label Offshore Music — which focuses on creating vinyl albums — in a bid to give “artists who deserve to be heard that chance,” said Mr. Buendia.
“I wanted more control of my own music as well as a chance to make a difference in current landscape of music,” he said in an e-mail interview with BusinessWorld on Oct. 24.
Offshore Music — a label he founded and where he sits as chairman — currently has a stable of seven artists including Mr. Buendia’s own Apartel band, a big band focusing on soul music, according to a release; The Late Isabel, which started out as an “old school goth rock experiment”; rock guitarist Jun Lopito; One Click Straight, whose music has been described as a “fusion of melodic pop, indie rock and synth pop”; indie musician and producer Idris “Eyedress” Vicunia; EB X IW, a collaboration between Mr. Buendia and Itchyworms; and Ransom Collective, a six-piece indie-folk band.
Despite being two years-old, Offshore only had its formal launch — or “coming out party” as Mr. Buendia termed it — in early October.
And how does Offshore Music choose its artists? Well, Mr. Buendia said simply that they would to “like them as artists and as people.”
“My wish for them is to find their audience and thrive in their own art, without losing their identity and integrity,” Mr. Buendia explained.
Mr. Buendia recalls in the press release that the idea of having his own music label started with his love for vinyl and, together with his partners, they started signing bands who would record in a music studio which sits above his residence.
But this wasn’t Mr. Buendia’s first time on the other side of the music industry as he was once a label manager for the now defunct BMG Record (Pilipinas) Inc., which signed his former band — the Eraserheads — and produced the band’s albums including their debut album ultraelectromagneticpop! (1993) as well as Circus (1994), among others.
In the label’s two years, Mr. Buendia said that what counts as success is “getting respected artists and promising new ones to sign with us.”
He said that one of the things they’re proud of was Record Store Day — a record fair they organized together with Satchmi which included performances by live bands — at the UP Town Center in April.
The same event saw the launch of Offshore Music’s first compilation album, Offshore Music Vol. 1, which features unreleased songs from its roster of artists including “Imperial” by the Late Isabel and “Isa na Lang” by Apartel.
In the near-term, Mr. Buendia said the label will be getting more artists while they focus on their promise of being a “vinyl-only label” — this although Offshore’s music is also on streaming services. Mr. Buendia said the reason for this is that one of the metrics for success in this age includes “streams and sales… and charts.”
“‘Signing’ is a very loose term I use. I won’t name them, but we are in talks with a bunch of very interesting ones,” he said. — Zsarlene B. Chua

CLI, Archdiocese of Cebu sign lease agreement

CEBU Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) on Monday said it has signed a lease agreement with the Archdiocese of Cebu to redevelop the latter’s 6,670-square meter (sq.m.) property in downtown Cebu.
In a disclosure, the listed property developer said it is allocating P900 million for the redevelopment of the Patria de Cebu property into a mixed-use project.
Under the agreement, CLI will develop and operate the new Patria de Cebu property, located in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral Church, for 40 years.
CLI said the approved master plan includes retail and office buildings, as well as a hotel with a Rome-inspired plaza.
Groundbreaking for project is set for the first quarter of 2019. CLI targets to complete the project in 2021, which will mark the 500th year of Christianity in Cebu.
“We envision the new Patria de Cebu to be a center of culture that will celebrate Cebu’s history and heritage… The new Patria de Cebu will uplift the downtown area that is in need of a master-planned development that connects well to the city’s history while creating new practical functions to serve the community,” Jose R. Soberano III, president and chief executive officer of CLI, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Currently, CLI has 52 projects that are in different stages of development across eight cities in Visayas and Mindanao.
Shares of CLI dipped by three centavos or 0.68 % to close at P4.36 each on Monday. — V.M.P.Galang

Oda Sa Wala wins big at 6th QCinema film fest

THE story of an old maid whose luck changes when she comes across a mysterious corpse at her family owned funeral parlor, Dwein Baltazar’s Oda sa Wala bagged five awards at the 6th QCinema International Film Festival awards night, held on Oct. 26 at Novotel in Araneta Center, Quezon City.
It won Best Film, according to the organizers, “for its keen and artistic blending of the mundane and grotesque to sensitively examine the fragile mind, soul, and heart of a forlorn woman whose bizarre pursuit for a semblance of completeness renders her even more broken.”
The film also bagged the Pylon awards for Best Director, Screenplay, Actress, and the Artistic Achievement Award.
Ms. Baltazar, who was both director and screenwriter for Oda, leaves it up to her audience to appreciate the film. “Their in for a ride,” she told BusinessWorld, shortly after the program.
The Circle Competition Audience Choice Award went to Hintayan ng Langit by Dan Villegas, while Billie and Emma by Samantha Lee bagged the Gender Sensitivity award.
Meanwhile, Dog Days by Timmy Harn won the Circle Competition NETPAC Jury Prize “for his imaginative take on the strange world that is ours,” according to the citation given during the awards night.
Film program manager Hock Doong Ho; film critic and historian Max Tessier; curator, researcher and writer Samuel Ho; film critic Oggs Cruz; and Singapore Films Commission director Joachim Ng served as jurors for the Circle Competition. Filmmaker Paolo Villaluna; producer and writer Bianca Balbuena; and film curator and scholar Dr. Anne Démy-Geroe served as jurors for the Asian Next Wave section while Cambodian International Film Festival programmer Sung Ho Park, film director Jay Altarejos, and filmmaker Paolo Villaluna served as jurors for the Rainbow QC section.
Festival director Eduardo J. Lejano, Jr. told BusinessWorld shortly after the program that they hope to be able to produce short films, documentaries, and full-length feature films all in one year in the future. Currently the festival produces short films and documentaries on alternate years.
Mr. Lejano also said that the festival hopes to increase the budget given for the film entries, and target international co-productions.
Today is the final day of the 6th QCinema International Film Festival, with films showing at the Gateway Mall (Cineplex 10), Robinsons Galleria (Robinsons Movieworld), and Ayala Malls Cinemas in TriNoma, UP Town Center, SM Fairview, SM Megamall, SM Manila, and SM Southmall.
Some of the entries are expected to get commercial runs in the future. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

CPG to open P1-B office building in December

ASIAN Century Center is compliant with the United States’ Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

CENTURY Properties Group, Inc. (CPG) will open a new office building in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in December, expecting the project to generate around P468 million in revenues annually once fully leased out.
In a statement issued Monday, the Antonio-led property developer said the P1-billion Asian Century Center will offer a total of 26,913 square meters.
Located along 27th Street on the corner of 3rd and 4th Avenues of BGC, the building has been accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), granting locators with tax perks. It is also compliant with the United States’ Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
The tower was developed in partnership with Asian Carmakers, Corp., the exclusive distributor and importer of BMW vehicles in the Philippines. CPG earlier said the 21-storey tower will house the largest BMW showroom in the country.
“CPG is consciously improving its developments to not only conform with modern specifications but also green and sustainable design. Asian Century Center is CPG’s proud addition to its office leasing portfolio as it provides great value to its locators through its superior features, PEZA accreditation and LEED compliance,” CPG Chief Operating Officer Marco R. Antonio said in a statement.
CPG engaged real estate brokerage services firm Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) as the exclusive leasing manager for the tower.
The company’s development of the Asian Century Center forms part of its efforts to diversify its portfolio to include affordable horizontal housing, leisure and tourism, and for-lease properties, in addition to its core high-rise condominium developments.
For its office segment, CPG has also partnered with Mitsubishi Corp. for the development of the 35-storey Century Diamond Tower in Makati City. It has tapped LPC to manage the property, which is set to contribute P844 million worth of annual revenues to the company. The tower will be opened next year. — Arra B. Francia

Winners of the 6th QCinema International Film Festival

• Circle Competition Audience Choice Award: Hintayan ng Langit by Dan Villegas
• Circle Competition NETPAC Jury Prize: Dog Days by Timmy Harn
• Circle Competition Best Film: Oda sa Wala by Dwein Baltazar
• Best Artistic Achievement Award: Neil Daza for Oda sa Wala
• Best Supporting Actress: Cielo Aquino for Billie & Emma
• Best Supporting Actor: Marcus Adoro for Dog Days
• Best Screenplay: Dwein Baltazar for Oda sa Wala
• Best Actress: Marietta Subong for Oda sa Wala
• Best Actor: Eddie Garcia for Hintayan ng Langit
• Best Director: Dwein Baltazar for Oda sa Wala
• Gender Sensitivity Award: Billie & Emma by Samantha Lee
• Rainbow QC Jury Prize: Hard Paint by Felipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon
• Rainbow QC Best Film: Sorry Angel by Christophe Honoré
• Asian Next Wave Jury Prize: The Seen and Unseen by Kamila Andini
• Asian Next Wave Best Film: A Land Imagined by Yeo Siew Hua

Calum Scott live in Manila


By Michelle Anne P. Soliman, Reporter
BRITISH singer Calum Scott arrived at a press conference Monday at Marco Polo Ortigas Manila unaware that his debut album Only Human, which was released in March, has turned two times platinum in the Philippines.
“These things do still blow me away,” the singer said after receiving the platinum award plaque at the press conference.
Mr. Scott auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent in 2015 with the song “Dancing On My Own” (originally by Swedish singer Robyn). The popularity of his renditon gave him the opportunity to launch his career as a musician.
Mr. Scott released the song as the lead single in his debut album.
The track has had more than 6.5 million worldwide sales, reached five times platinum in Australia, and earned a Brit Award nomination for British Single of the Year.
Mr. Scott is in Manila for his first concert under the Only Human Asia Tour at the New Frontier Theater (formerly Kia Theater) in Quezon City on Oct. 30.
“I am so excited. I would like to go there (the concert venue) now and start singing already,” Mr. Scott told the press.
“I’m so happy to be back in the Philippines. I had such an amazing crowd the last time when we played at the shopping center,” he said, referring to a mall show he performed in March this year, “and to come and play my very own show, to have the opportunity is just a dream come true.”
Mr. Scott said that the show will be his first concert with his band, and that he will be playing songs from the album and songs that are yet to be released.
“I am definitely inspired by life. That means there’s ups, there’s downs, there’s romance, and heartbreak. I’m inspired by all these events,” Mr. Scott said about the inspiration for his first album.
“My wish is to do this for the rest of my life… My wish would be to make people smile, to relate to people,” Mr. Scott said of his hopes for his career.
“When somebody puts their earphones in, and they play a Calum song, I would love to feel connected to them in a way that they can connect to their friends and family. I want to have that relationship with my fans for the rest of my career,” he said.
Mr. Scott is set to release a special edition of Only Human in November.
For concert tickets, visit ticketnet.com.ph or call (911-5555 or 02-532-8883).

FamilyMart to upgrade stores

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
THE local operator of FamilyMart convenience stores refurbished the very first store it opened in the country, as it plans to upgrade 14 more outlets next year.
Philippine FamilyMart CVS, Inc. relaunched on Monday its store at the ground level of Glorietta 3 in Makati City, featuring its new Generation 2 design. The relaunch comes five years after the store opened in April 2013.
“We really find it a good time to reopen this store and introduce the Generation 2 concept. The changes you’ll see here is the food that we offer…. We have close to 200 to 300 products that cater to anyone who needs a food fix,” FamilyMart General Manager Roald Johann L. Yap said in an interview during the store’s reopening.
The Generation 2 store will offer new products such as Japan’s crispy chicken fillet brand Fami-Chicky, hotdog sandwiches, Japanese treats, and Filipino merienda treats.
“We’re trying to provide more food-for-now and food-for-later for our customer…. We want to provide them a wider selection of food offerings which they can either consume in store… or they can take it in the bus with them and then eat it along the way,” FamilyMart President Henry Albert R. Fadullon said in a separate interview.
Mr. Fadullon also noted that they will be able to cater to commuters, since the store stands next to the station for point-to-point bus services.
Aside from more food choices, the store will also feature expanded dining areas and new service crew uniforms designed by renowned Filipino designer Rajo Laurel.
Mr. Yap said they target to refurbish 14 more stores next year, upgrading them to the Generation 2 design.
“We want them to know that we’re investing in them, we’re investing in the brand, and that they can be really proud of the Family Mart brand,” Mr. Yap said.
FamilyMart currently operates 71 outlets in Luzon. The operator of the Japan-based convenience store was purchased by businessman Dennis A. Uy’s Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. last year.
The brand was originally brought to the country by SIAL CVS Retailers, Inc., a joint venture between Ayala Land, Inc.’s ALI Capital Corp. and SSI Group, Inc., along with Japanese partners FamilyMart Co., Ltd., and Itochu Corp.
Phoenix Petroleum’s acquisition is seen to fast-track FamilyMart’s expansion in the country, as it could complement the growing number of the independent oil firm’s stations nationwide. By end-June, the company operated a total of 545 stations in the country.
FamilyMart registered a seven percent average daily sales growth during the first six months of the year. Phoenix Petroleum earlier said it is working on making the business profitable by 2019.

Movie reviews of QCinema films

Twisted sister

Movie Review
Oda sa Wala
Directed by Dwein Baltazar
THIS IS the realism of dreams, not of mundane reality. In the humble life of Sonya (Marietta Subong a.k.a. Pokwang) these fears, desires, longing, and rage which make up the human condition are oddly manifest: she is bereft of her parents’ love, without friends, unworthy of anyone’s lust.
Sonya makes a sparse living running a discount mortuary all by her lonesome in her moldering ancestral home. Her busy hands also cook for her distant father Mang Rudy (Joonee Gamboa) who ignores her. She might as well be dead to her father and to the rest of the world as well. It has passed her by, an apathetic spectator at her window, seeing but unseen.
Marietta Subong gives a tour de force performance, self-aware of how painfully ridiculous Sonya is, but imbuing her with innate dignity nonetheless. When the object of her unrequited affections, Elmer (Anthony Falcon) the magtataho turns his back and walks away from her, Sonya’s bravely insistent but futile cries of Taho! fail to bring him back. It is pathos without bathos, a very hard thing to do, but Subong manages to do this and much more throughout the film.
The coming of a nameless old woman’s corpse is transformative. Sonya finds companionship. Mang Rudy rouses himself to enshrine the strange visitor with her place of honor at the head of their dining table then talks to his daughter once more.
In Sonya’s psychic stew of mixed emotions we sense bits and pieces of our selves or of those whom we know too. What could be more terrible and yet more usual, than to have the ones whom you love and who love you best die on you? That’s life, but then, there’s death too. It’s enough to drive one mad, and yet it is what makes us most fully human. We can relate to Sonya. She could be us. We could be her. She is family.— Menchu Aquino Sarmiento

Read the full review here.

Second chances

Movie review
Hintayan ng Langit
Directed by Dan Villegas
THE HOLLYWOOD film genre of the too-soon departed and basically decent soul, on a temporary reprieve to take care of unfinished business back on earth is a favorite since many of us pass on with an uncertain peace. Closely allied to this, is the deux ex mundi (not machina) variant where God or guardian angels (even Santa Claus) take on ordinary human form and mingle with mere mortals for the express purpose of helping out a deserving but clueless individual with a celestial fix that guarantees a miraculously happy ending.
Its latest local iteration is Hintayan ng Langit, an adaptation by Juan Miguel Severo of his award-winning 45-minute one-act play with two characters, the former lovers: Lisang and Manolo.
Lisang is a potty-mouthed, prickly, snarky, snarly Gina Pareño whose many mild misbehaviors have caused her to remain stranded in the Hintayan — it is a welcome conceit that the waiting area for heaven is wonderfully, cheesily secular — where her punishment requires her to serve refreshments at support group meetings to help the newly deceased adjust to being dead. Eddie Garcia as a lumbering Manolo reprises his familiar “manay” shtick.
Pareño’s pacing is staccato while Garcia is adagio molto. Although they are former lovers who’ve supposedly kept the fires burning for decades, their continuous back and forth grows tiresome after the third repetition. There is a surprising lack of sexual frisson now that they share a room. Their respective, reliable spouses are only known to the audience as invisible, inaudible phone callers. Perhaps this is why the choices they make at the film’s end, have little emotional resonance. — Menchu Aquino Sarmiento
Read the full review here.

Rainbow bright

Movie Review
Billie and Emma
Directed by Samantha Lee
HOW refreshing it is to encounter a coming of age film without the usual adolescent angst and anger! More so when the teen protagonists, both high school seniors, are one committed butch lesbian (Billie, played by Zar Donato) and the bi-curious, and very accomplished flirt Emma (Gabby Padilla) who cope with their respective personal crisis with humor and grace.
Billie has been exiled to provincial San Isidro, until the minor scandal in her old school in Manila, and her father’s subsequent rejection of her, blow over. She is temporarily under the care of her maternal aunt Kate Castro (Cielo Aquino), the religion teacher at an exclusive girls’ school where Billie is now a transferee. This creates the opportunity for snarkily pointed classroom exchanges, more like a gay rights debate, between the aunt and her headstrong niece about Gospel teachings on homosexuality and the like.
Filmmaker Samantha Lee wears her queer advocacy with pride. Niece and aunt end up bonding over a seminal lesbian text, with the closeted having an epiphany about acknowledging her own queerness, and her niece’s as well, which deepens their familial bond. Even her classmates’ anxiety over Billie’s lesbianism being contagious is only annoying, even amusing, rather than threatening.
The book-smart Emma and her feckless teenage boyfriend Miguel (Ryle Santiago) are too dumb to use condoms, the most easily available contraceptive device, or even to practice natural contraception. Emma is the only child of a teenage mother (Beauty Gonzales) who cares more about using her daughter to sell lip gloss than making sure she doesn’t make the same mistakes. If this is the film’s way of conveying the message that becoming a teenage mother is plain stupid, then this mother and daughter tandem succeed. Then the mother has the “brilliant” idea of subjecting her young daughter to the dubious pampa-regla (abortifacient) herbal remedies available in Quiapo. The film ends with them on a bus bound for Manila.
Given the film’s worthy advocacy of the right to determine one’s own sexuality and to be left in peace, it is unfortunate that the opportunity was not taken to present a much needed, sobering view of the very real problems which it also depicts, of teen pregnancy, and unprotected sex — both matters which have definitely unfunny consequences. — Menchu Aquino Sarmiento
Read the full review here.

Chelsea Parkplace brings NYC feel to Pampanga township

By Mark Louis F. Ferrolino
Special Features Writer
MEGAWORLD Corp. has officially launched Chelsea Parkplace, its first residential project within its Pampanga township, as part of the company’s plan to bring the live-work-play lifestyle to northern Luzon.
The 12-storey Chelsea Parkplace is a condominium development inspired by the distinctive Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City.
The residential project is set to rise on a 1,858-square-meter (sq.m) lot in Capital Town — Megaworld’s 35.6-hectare integrated urban township in San Fernando City.
Eugene Em Lozano, Megaworld Pampanga’s first vice-president for sales and marketing, said Chelsea Parkplace will be ideally located in the center of the township.
“As a future resident of Chelsea Parkplace, one has the front row seat advantage of seeing the growth and development in this area,” Mr. Lozano said in a press briefing last week.
The condominium has a total of 193 units, all designed with a balcony to give residents a view of the township. At present, nearly 30% of the units have been sold.
Studio units are sized from 29 sq.m to 31 sq.m, while one-bedroom units range from 41 sq.m to 45.5 sq.m, and two-bedroom units span from 67 sq.m to 88 sq.m. The rate per square meter is at P140,000.
Amenities include a retail area on the upper ground floor, swimming pool, events hall, daycare, and fitness center. It will also have a first-of-its-kind speakeasy bar, “The Other Room,” which will serve as an ideal venue for residents to celebrate special occasions.
The Andrew L. Tan-led company is targeting working professionals in their mid-30s to mid-40s as the primary market for this residential project.
“Most of them are based in Makati but they have roots in Pampanga, and also those who live within the Pampanga but wanted to explore different kind of lifestyle. We are bringing a unique lifestyle concept that is not available yet in Central Luzon,” Mr. Lozano said.
“I think we are offering something unique du’n sa mga anak ng mga families na nandu’n sa Pampanga, so they might consider staying there other than living abroad or working in Metro Manila,” he added.

Chelsea Park Place 2
An artist’s rendering of a condo unit at Chelsea Parkplace. — MEGAWORLD CORP.

Megaworld expects to complete the project by 2022. The company might launch another tower next year, depending on the market’s demand.
Mr. Lozano said that living in Chelsea Parkplace, located within Capital Town, will bring the convenience of having well-suited amenities, recreational spaces, unique dining destinations, world-class retail establishments, prime working hubs, and an overall safe and dynamic neighborhood within reach.
Across the condominium will rise the Central Square, where the Casa de Emperador and BPO offices will be located.
A few blocks down will be the Shophouse District, a six-hectare retail space set to become the center of the city’s entrepreneurial ventures.
Megaworld started selling shophouse lots a year ago, and has already sold 99%, according to Mr. Lozano.
“The lots are set to be turned over next year. And we expect the property prices to soar even higher once we are near the completion of the Shophouse District,” Mr. Lozano said.
Events trade hall, outdoor amphitheater, museum, mall, cinema complex, and transportation hub are also set to rise within the township.
Anticipating Capital Town to be a busy township, a 30-meter wide San Fernando Boulevard will be built. This main township road will be equivalent to six lanes, traversing Capitol Boulevard all the way to Jose Abad Santos Avenue (Olongapo-Gapan Road).
Mr. Lozano said that land developments within Capital Town already started last year and construction is already in full swing.
Last year, Megaworld said that it will be investing around P30 billion over the next 10 years to develop the township.

Robinsons Retail posts flat Q3 income

ROBINSONS Retail Holdings, Inc. (RRHI) recorded flat earnings for the third quarter of 2018, amid a double-digit growth in sales during the period.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, the Gokongwei-led retail operator said net income attributable to equity holders of the parent stood at P1.21 billion for the July to September period, just 0.1% higher than what it generated in the same period a year ago.
The company’s net sales delivered a 13.2% increase to P31.36 billion for the quarter, while operating income rose by 7.9% to P1.63 billion.
On a nine-month basis, RRHI’s attributable profit went up by 9.8% to P3.83 billion, following a 10.2% increase in operating income to P4.66 billion during the period.
The company also improved its net sales by 13.1% to P91.82 billion. RRHI’s supermarket segment accounted for bulk of the consolidated net sales at 46.5%, after recording a same-store sales growth (SSSG) of 8.6%.
It noted that SSSG for the entire group was above target at 6.6% by end-September. The specialty stores segment booked an SSSG of 7.8%, do-it-yourself (DIY) segment at 6.1%, convenience stores at 4.5%, drugstores at 2.9%, and department stores at 2.4%.
SSSG measures the growth of a company’s existing stores, and serves as a guide for investors to make sure that the firm’s growth is not solely driven by the opening of new stores.
RRHI attributed the sales growth to the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, which in part increased Filipinos’ disposable income.
“High consumption was sustained through the first nine months of 2018, coming from the rise in take-home pay among salaried workers with the TRAIN Law’s implementation at the beginning of the year,” RRHI said.
The company ended the first nine months of the year with a total of 1,778 stores, excluding the franchised branches of The Generics Pharmacy. Of this, 158 were supermarkets, 51 were department stores, 206 were DIY stores, 496 were convenience stores, 499 were drugstores, and 368 were specialty stores.
RRHI’s portfolio includes Robinson’s Supermarket, Robinson’s Department Store, Handyman Do It Best, True Value, Toys R Us, Ministop, Daiso Japan, Costa Coffee, Savers Appliances, and South Star Drug.
The company’s footprint spanned around 1.2 million square meters by end-September, nine percent higher year-on-year.
Shares in RRHI jumped 0.64% or 50 centavos to close at P78.50 each at the stock exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

Hilton Manila highlights sustainable practices

NEWLY-OPENED Hilton Manila is implementing sustainable practices in its operations, as part of the global hospitality company’s commitment to reduce its environmental footprint.
“We are really directed now to reduce our impact on the planet,” Paul Hutton, vice president for operations in South East Asia at Hilton, told reporters at the sidelines of the Hilton Manila’s formal opening last Oct. 24.
To reduce waste, Hilton Manila is limiting the use of plastics in its operations. Instead of plastic straws, the hotel will provide customers with paper straws or metal straws.
Guests are also provided with water in glass bottles, not plastic. The hotel will also have an in-house water facility that will help them promote the reuse of the glass bottles.
Also, the Do-Not-Disturb and Make-Up-Room signs are already electrically installed in each room. Guests would just have to press the switch for either of these.
“There are a lot of usable commodities that we are very conscious of. …We have taken out nearly every piece of plastic that we can… there are glass bottles in the room and certainly are far more recyclable and friendly products… and within weeks we will start bottling our water… This is a pilot program that Hilton is running within the Southeast Asian region to ultimately remove the small plastic amenity,” Simon McGrath, general manager of Hilton Manila, told reporters at the same event.
Hilton Manila still uses some plastic items, such as the Nespresso machine capsules and toiletry items.
Also, Hilton Manila is looking into recycling used hotel soap, in partnership with Don Bosco.
“The soap that we use in hotel rooms that we use once and then we check out… We are about to kick off a program… with Don Bosco… in regards with working with them on soap recycling. Providing them with the used soap, which is then cleaned and repurposed,” Mr. McGrath said.
Hilton Manila, located within Resorts World Manila, formally opened last week, marking the global company’s entry in the Philippines.
The hotel has 357 guest rooms and suites, with sizes ranging from 40 square meter (sq.m.) to the 180 sq.m. suite. Rooms will have Hilton’s signature Serenity bed, and a digital key “direct-to-room” technology that allows guests to use their devices as their room key, exclusive for Hilton Honors members.
Hilton Manila also has three dining outlets, two bars, meetings and events spaces, ballroom, resort-style free-form pool, fitness center, and a kids’ play area.
The said eco-friendly hotel was developed by Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc., a joint venture of Andrew L. Tan’s Alliance Global Group, Inc. and Genting Hong Kong Limited. Travellers International is the owner and operator of Resorts World Manila. — V.M.P. Galang

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