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Never mind dialysis, I need my facials

YOUR FACE is your own permanent first impression. “Best foot forward” can be so passe; we all know it’s all about putting your best face forward now.
A laser skincare clinic in UP Town Center — Cara Laser Skincare — has seven machines in its stable capable of giving a client not a new face per se, but their old face back, before stress and pollution feasted on it. One machine employs lasers for hair removal, while another uses ultrasound to give one’s face a noninvasive lift. Another uses monopolar radio frequencies (according to Cara Operations Manager Kaycie Cadivida, one of the most powerful in the market) face and body contouring by inducing fat cell death.
One infuses the face with serums, while another does the same to a lesser extent, but also performs tasks like microdermabrasion, cleaning, and lifting.
The treatments can range from P3,000 to P60,000.
One of its advantages of non-invasive tratments such as these is the shortened downtime. According to Ms. Cadivida, a client can pop in during their lunch break, then return to work as if nothing had happened.
Cara has registered nurses as its skincare technicians, plus a supervising dermatologist ready to assist during a treatment.
Irene Cara Gatus, the owner, has a line-free face. Granted, she’s only a year shy of 32, but she already has 10 businesses under her belt, and two kids to boot. Her portfolio includes an HMO service, a diagnostics clinic, and a dialysis clinic.
“I really love going to [skin] clinics,” she said, and also has her own skincare equipment at home. She said, “Ang pangit naman kasi na makikipagusap ka sa tao tapos you look stressed (It doesn’t look nice when you talk to people and you look stressed).”
She opened a skincare clinic because she says that everybody’s into wellness these days, and perhaps as a way to tap into a desire to immediately fix what can be seen: never mind your internal organs, you need smaller pores.
This is not just conjecture: she talked about a client who was buying a dialysis machine from one of her companies who told her, “Ang mga pasyente sa dialysis, namamahalan magbayad ng P3,000, pero sa facials nila, okay lang (Dialysis patients balk at paying P3,000, but they’re fine paying that for a facial).”
Ms. Gatus added, “Whatever your status, it’s important for us to maintain good skin and good health.” — Joseph L. Garcia

China Bank to open 8-10 more branches

CHINA BANKING Corp. (China Bank) is set to open more branches this year amid its digital push and an ongoing rationalization of offices.
China Bank Deputy Group Head of Retail Banking Business Jose L. Osmeña, Jr. said in the text message on Sunday that the Sy-led lender set open eight to 10 more branches this year.
“[We have opened] eight branches so far and we will open eight to 10 branches more this year,” Mr. Osmeña said, adding the lender has allocated P8-10 million per branch.
Mary Ann R. Ducanes, China Bank’s marketing communication department head, said China Bank will be using the branch licenses of the banks they previously acquired.
“Right now, we’re using the licenses of the banks we acquired so we’ll be opening more branches for the rest of the year,” she told in an interview.
China Bank acquired Manila Bank owned by the Puyat family in 2007. It also bought Planters Development Bank, completing the takeover in 2014.
Currently, China Bank has 444 branches, according to Mr. Osmeña.
The lender is also mulling to put up trimmed down banking branches or “branch-lite” units.
“Our branch-lite units are still on the pipeline. We have no number [of branch-lite units we want to open] yet,” Ms. Ducanes added.
“There are areas that do not need a full-blown branch. So if you want to reach other areas in the country, banks are encouraged to open branch-lite units,” Ms. Ducanes said, adding that China Bank will “plan for that next year.”
“This year, we have actually tapered off the branch opening given the fact that we are more concentrating on digital banking drive as well as infrastructure improvement of China Bank,” China Bank Treasurer Benedict L. Chan said.
“We’re are now actually trying to rightsize it given the current market environment. There’s a rationalization that is going on in China Bank.”
Mr. Osmeña said the bank expects a pickup in the usage of its internet and mobile banking platforms following its revamped phone application.
China Bank’s net income went up 2% to P1.5 billion in the first quarter of the year.
Its shares went up 10 centavos or 0.30% to end at P33.30 apiece on Friday. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Grab says Philippine business is slowest growing in the region

GRAB’s operations in the Philippines has become its slowest growing in Southeast Asia as the company remains in a complicated relationship with the government after a P10-million fine and a prohibition on adding new cars, its local official said.
Brian P. Cu, Grab Philippines country head, told reporters on Friday that the government’s “overregulation” of the company is the reason for its struggle to move forward.
“How can we grow, we can’t add cars? You can’t grow if you can’t add cars. So we’re the slowest growth. We’re zero growth,” he said. “Everyone else can add cars. So by virtue of us being able to add supply, we have zero growth.”
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), the regulatory body for transport network companies (TNCs) like Grab, has set a 65,000 cap for vehicles allowed to move around Metro Manila. This has limited Grab’s capability to accept new cars to add to its supply pool.
The LTFRB also suspended in April part of Grab’s charging matrix — the P2-per-minute waiting time component — which the company said significantly hit the income of its drivers. Issues with the charging scheme also led the LTFRB to impose a P10-million fine on the company last week, which Grab plans to appeal.
Mr. Cu noted that even with these problems, the Philippines continues to receive sufficient budget from its regional headquarters to fund its operations.
“Philippines is maybe 6% to 10% of our portfolio. So it’s an important piece of our portfolio,” he said. “But in terms of growth and the prospects, until the pricing is fixed, until supply is allowed to come back in, we’re in a tough spot.”
LTFRB Chairman Martin B. Delgra III was not able to pick up calls for comment on Sunday.
Mr. Cu said despite a jump in income when Grab acquired Uber Technologies, Inc. in March, it immediately flattened because of regulations that limit its success in the country.
“There’s still several [Grab units in other countries that are also struggling], but there are some that are profitable already,” he said.
The company expects to record a loss by the end of the year as it launched new services like GrabFood and GrabAssistant, and soon, GrabPay. Mr. Cu said in June that the losses for the next 12 to 18 months were within forecast.
“Grab has not made any net income for the past years since it entered the Philippine market… We are still in investment mode and are not expecting to make money anytime sooner,” he said.
Amid the challenges, Grab’s regional headquarters continue to grow its business with a plan to acquire another company that will boost its technology.
“We’re in talks with a lot of companies. We’re looking to acquire someone with certain assets, but there’s a lot of people with those assets. We’re just looking at what’s the best for us,” Mr. Cu said.
He said he expects the deal by the end of 2018 or the first quarter of next year, but declined to disclose the company’s name or the industry it is involved in.
He noted, however, that the company is not in the transportation sector and the acquisition is not as big as the Uber buyout. But the deal will surely affect Grab’s operations in the Philippines, he said.
“It’s a back-end provider. There’s several [companies we’re talking to]. There’s one back-end provider, the others we’ve spoken to are front-end providers,” Mr. Cu said.
“You know what we wanna do? We want to open a tech office, if there’s enough talent that we can find here. We have in several [locations already]. We have in Vietnam, Singapore, Seattle, Beijing. We want to be able to expand our technical presence,” he added. — Denise A. Valdez

Ecosystem Technologies targets to partner with urbanized cities for water recycling

By Anna Gabriela A. Mogato, Reporter
ECOSYSTEM Technologies International, Inc., a local specialty contractor for water solutions, is eyeing to expand its portfolio from purely commercial partnerships to larger private-public partnership(PPP) deals with local government units (LGU).
Michael C. Rubio, Ecosystem Technologies director for communications and corporate affairs, said in a press briefing on Friday that the company is targeting highly urbanized cities as its initial LGU partners.
“We’re in the city but we’re in the mall of the city, we’re in the estate of the city. We’re not in the city [per se]. We’re in Laguna, but we’re in Nuvali. It’s not Laguna, it’s not Santa Rosa,” he told reporters.
“We want to reach out to them in the next two years. We want to get ourselves in front of them in the next two years. Every major city in the Philippines is someone we want to talk to.”
One of the cities Mr. Rubio mentioned for a possible partnership is Puerto Princesa, having already submitted a proposal to the city officials.
The company also has a proposal to build a sewage treatment system in the island of Boracay, which has been closed for six months for rehabilitation.
Mr. Rubio said the Boracay issue changed the attitudes of potential clients, who saw the establishment of wastewater treatment facilities as a more urgent matter.
“We want to be everywhere. We want to help Cebu, we want to help Zamboanga City, we want to help Boracay, we want to help Puerto Princesa,” he added.
Considered as a technology firm, Ecosystem Technologies deals with sewage water treatment, which is embedded to fit in the design of an establishment. The company also works on water treatment and water reclamation.
The company has so far completed 600 projects, and won 900 projects.
Among its private-sector clients are SM Prime Holdings, Inc., Ortigas & Co., Ayala Land, Inc., Okada Manila, Wyeth Philippines, Inc.
Its locally made technology does not produce flammable by-products during the treatment process, allowing the wastewater treatment system to be placed under the ground of the establishment.
Ecosystem Technologies is a joint venture between Ecosystem Technologies, Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC). MPIC unit Metro Pacific Water owns 65% of the company.
MPIC is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co., Ltd., along with PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc. — a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. — maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Carlo Benetton, co-creator of ‘United Colors’ brand, 74

MILAN — Carlo Benetton, the youngest of the siblings behind the famed United Colors of Benetton brand, died aged 74, the company said last week.
Benetton, a father of four, died in his home in the northern Italian city of Treviso.
With his brothers Luciano and Gilberto and his sister Giuliana, Carlo Benetton founded United Colors of Benetton in 1965 in Ponzano Veneto, a village in Italy’s northeast.
Their signature soft wool jumpers made in a variety of colors quickly seduced the masses.
The company went from strength to strength especially between 1982 and 2000 — its fame fueled by daring ad campaigns by Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani such as a 1989 poster which featured a black woman breastfeeding a white baby.
But for over a decade the brand has been hit by dwindling sales.
In 2017, following heavy losses, the 83-year-old Luciano Benetton announced he was coming out of retirement to retake the reins of the company.
In an interview in November 2017 with Italian daily La Repubblica, Luciano Benetton said that witnessing the downfall of the United Colors of Benetton was “an intolerable pain.”
He cited straying too far from the company’s signature look as one of the reasons for the company’s woes and vowed to relaunch the brand to its former glory. — AFP

DA to propose letting commercial boats inside 15-kilometer limit

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said they will propose adjustments to improve fishing yields, including permitting commercial boats to operate in municipal fishing waters.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said that the government agencies will be meeting with fisheries stakeholders soon to discuss the industry’s preferences while presenting their own suggestions.
Mr. Piñol said the catch has not improved due to the 15-kilometer fishing limit that prevents commercial boats from operating closer to shore, in municipal waters.
“It has been established that the reason behind the decline in the catch of our fishermen [is] the 15-kilometer limit,” he said.
While the closed fishing season the DA has imposed has led to a decline in fisheries output in the first quarter, Mr. Piñol said that he expects yields to rise starting with the second quarter.
He said one option is to have local government units (LGU) adjust the definition of municipal waters, as allowed by the law.
Other amendments will be studied by the department’s lawyers.
“LGUs are allowed to modify their municipal waters. For example, in Davao, instead of 15 [km.] , they are now allowing commercial boats to fish between 10.1 [km.] to 15 km. from shore to catch fish,” he added.
BFAR Director Eduardo B. Gongona noted that Republic Act (RA) no. 10654, which amended the Fisheries Code, affected commercial fishermen by preventing them from entering municipal waters.
According to BFAR, there has been 20% to 22% decrease in the catch since RA No. 10654 was implemented. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

BSP net income surges to P17.55B at end-April

THE CENTRAL BANK saw its net profit surge nearly sixfold in April as it collected bigger interest incomes and trimmed operating costs.
Latest available data showed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) made a P17.55-billion net income as of end-April, more than five times the P3.37 billion booked during the same period last year.
Revenues posted a 30.2% rise to hit P25.64 billion, well above the P19.69 billion reported during the first four months of 2017. This came after interest income collections reached P22.96 billion, growing from P17.84 billion last year.
Miscellaneous income drawn from fees and penalties also picked up to hit P2.67 billion from P1.85 billion previously, according to central bank data.
On the other hand, the BSP was able to cut down its expenses to P16.92 billion, a fifth lower than the 21.54 billion in operating costs incurred last year.
Gains from foreign currency trading also bolstered the central bank’s bottom line by P8.84 billion, around 70% higher than the P5.22 billion generated a year ago.
The BSP observes “tactical intervention” during daily peso-dollar trading in keeping with its mandate of price and financial stability. This is to smoothen out any sharp swings may cause a sudden appreciation or depreciation of the peso.
Central bank officials have said that a weaker peso meant gains for the BSP, as a lot of its investments are expressed in dollars.
The peso averaged P52.0986 versus the greenback in May, versus the P49.8626 exchange rate in April 2017.
The central bank appears on track to remain in the black this year, coming after the record P22.85 billion net income posted in 2017. The BSP has recovered from six straight years of a net loss when it posted a P17.81 billion profit in 2016.
The BSP has been lobbying for a proposed law that will infuse P150 billion as additional capital for the central bank in order to boost its operations. The measure has been approved on second reading by the House of Representatives. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

New malls expand Megaworld retail space portfolio

MEGAWORLD Corp. recently opened three new community malls in Makati City and Alabang, adding 26,500 square meters (sq.m.) of retail spaces to its portfolio.
In a statement issued over the weekend, the listed property developer said San Lorenzo Place and Three Central in Makati City, and The Village Square in Alabang are now operational. The new malls are touted as “neighborhood commercial centers” that supply the needs of residents who live nearby.
“Smaller than the usual full-scale malls, our community malls still bear the signature brand of our Megaworld Lifestyle Malls. They primarily cater to the surrounding communities of each location, providing accessibility to a variety of dining, shopping, wellness and service options,” Megaworld Senior Vice-President and Head of Lifestyle Malls Kevin Andrew L. Tan said in a statement.
San Lorenzo Place, located along EDSA Corner Chino Roces Avenue in Makati City stands two stories tall, and has Shopwise Express as its supermarket operator. The mall also houses National Book Store, The Medical City Clinic, restaurants, coffee shops, health and wellness stores, and laundry shops, among other tenants.
Also located in Makati is Three Central, at the podium area of the Three Central residential condominium along Valero Street in Salcedo Village. The two-storey mall’s locators include the Marketplace by Rustan’s Supermarket, restaurants, coffee shops and health and wellness shops targeted toward residential and office communities within the area.
Meanwhile, The Village Square Alabang houses SM Supermarket, DIY Store, and a number of restaurants and fastfood chains. The two-level mall is connected to a 12-storey business process outsourcing (BPO) office tower and a four-level parking facility.
With the new mall openings, Megaworld now has 17 full-scale and community malls under the Megaworld Lifestyle Malls brand. Its most recent full-scale mall opening was the Festive Walk Mall in Iloilo Business Park. The company’s first full-scale mall outside Luzon spans 90,000 sq.m. of retail and commercial spaces.
The property firm of tycoon Andrew L. Tan targets to end the year with a total of 18 shopping malls, keeping it on track to hit 28 malls by 2020. Megaworld earlier said it plans to put up malls in all its townships, alongside some smaller properties across the country.
This will support Megaworld’s goal of generating P20 billion in recurring income by 2020, by which time total rental space will have reached 2.5 million sq.m.
Megaworld is included under Mr. Tan’s Alliance Global Group, Inc., which also has core interests in liquor, gaming, and quick- service restaurants.
The company’s attributable profit climbed 11% to P3.2 billion in the first quarter of 2018, following a 10% increase in revenues to P13.1 billion for the period. — Arra B. Francia

Aetrex: 70 years of focusing on keeping feet healthy

PEOPLE who consider the comfort of their feet important may want to check out the products and services offered by Aetrex.
A global leader when it comes to comfort and wellness footwear products, Aetrex, which was officially launched in the country in February, seeks to cater to Filipinos who are working on having a well-rounded lifestyle juggling work and play, but not at the expense of proper foot health.
Boasting of its landmark and medically oriented arch supports, Aetrex, founded in 1946 in the United States, is offering an extensive collection of products including insoles, flips and slides, and sandals.
For those who are looking to enhance their performance during rigorous activities in and beyond the gym, Aetrex offers the Lynco Compete insoles to avoid injuries during intense exercises thanks to its superior cushioning, shock absorption, and arch support. It has a CopperGuard top cover which helps prevent the proliferation of bacteria, fungi, and odor for a healthy foot environment.
The Lynco Speed insoles, meanwhile, were specifically created for runners. With its unique ExoFoam layer, the Lynco Speed is guaranteed to promote high-energy return and maximized peak performance in every step. Another key feature is its strategically placed arch support that will biomechanically align one’s body and help prevent common injuries such as plantar fasciitis, arch pain, and metatarsalgia. Lightweight and anti-microbial, the Lynco Speed also serves to keep one’s feet healthy, clean, and protected without compromising one’s performance.
And then there are the Lynco Casual insoles which boast of a soft memory foam layer and anti-bacterial copper technology to help keep one’s feet comfortable, healthy, and clean without cramping one’s style in and out of the work place. It also uses the same arch support features to help avoid common foot ailments.
The flips, slides, and sandals also share the comfort and healthy features that Aetrex has become known for while, at the same time, incorporating fashion-forward styles.
ISTEP TECHNOLOGY
To help one in selecting the Lynco Orthotic variety that is most appropriate for a person’s foot health needs, Aetrex has the iStep foot scanning system available for free in shops and kiosks where its products are available.
The iStep accurately determines one’s foot size, arch type, and pressure points in a matter of seconds.
Once the iStep has provided all the necessary information, customers simply have to choose which type of Lynco Orthotic they prefer.
“Aetrex has an APMA (American Podiatric Medical Association) seal. It can help in back pains, heel pains, and proper posture. It has been in existence for seven decades now and has partnered with other big brands as well like New Balance and Rockport for their insoles,” Kim Catungal, brand senior officer of Primer Group (which is handling Aetrex in the country) told BusinessWorld in an interview.
“Since February, Aetrex has been doing well, which is why we have decided to make it available to more stores and areas,” she added.
Aetrex products are available at kiosks in TriNoma, Glorietta 3, Alabang Town Center, and selected Res|Toe|Run stores.
For more information, follow Aetrex Philippines on Facebook and @aetrexph on Instagram. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Urban farmer pushes for regular training to help reduce waste

DAVAO CITY — An urban farming advocate is pushing for regular training sessions in the city not just to promote home gardening but to help reduce trash by turning biodegradable wastes into fertilizers.
Perfecto B. Rom, author of UCG A Home Farming Manual-With an Introduction to Household-based Waste Management and Food Security System, said he hopes to have a permanent learning garden with satellite sites in the communities, especially those that will be affected by the coastal road project.
“With gardening, you are not only solving the problem of waste but the food security and health and nutrition as well,” said Mr. Rom, who organized an Urban Container Gardening (UCG) Hands-On Seminar Workshop on July 14-15.
The concept involves teaching households to grow vegetables for their consumption and produce organic fertilizer, with the surplus to be collected and sold to commercial farmers.
By reducing garbage collected at the household level, the city might be able to delay the plan to build a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant to replace the existing sanitary landfill that is expected to be at full capacity in two years.
It is not yet time for a WTE, Mr. Rom said. “This is my opinion, food is a form of energy, biodegradable waste is a form of energy. If we keep burning that, we keep burning the energy to produce energy?… Why don’t we compost that and use micro-organisms to degrade that and bring that back to the mountains where those came from.”
Mr. Rom is referring to the proposed WTE project, which can accommodate about 600 metric tons of waste daily. The project is eyed as a joint venture between Nippon Steel, the city government, and Japan’s Kitakyusho City, which already uses the system.
“The reduction of waste is equivalent to the reduction of budget because with every one liter of waste collected, 50 centavos is thrown away,” said Mr. Rom, an agriculture degree graduate from Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro, with a major in crop science.
His UCG training covers container preparation and designing, a basic guide to sustainable home farming, organic bio-solid/liquid fertilizer and pesticide preparation, physical and chemical soil composition, planting/transplanting techniques, home farm planning exercises, and crop care and maintenance.
“We are excited to share to others the benefits of urban gardening… We will simplify sciences that are related to this urban container gardening.” — Maya M. Padillo

Yields on gov’t debt climb

YIELDS on government securities (GS) traded in the secondary market went up slightly last week over Philippine and US inflation results and “lingering” trade tensions between the United States and China.
On average, GS yields — which move opposite to prices — rose 9.16 basis points (bp), data from the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. as of July 13 showed.
“GS yields increased overall, despite some downward bias mid-week, as upbeat US inflation data [last Thursday] kept the US Federal Reserve on track to raising policy rates again in September this year,” said Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) market economist Guian Angelo S. Dumalagan.
“The rise in yields was capped by safe-haven buying amid lingering US-China trade tension,” he added.
A bond trader concurred: “Local GS yields rose, tracking the move of Treasury yields in reaction to higher inflation rates in the United States and fading fears for a trade war between the United States and China.”
Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at UnionBank of the Philippines, said: “There was demand on shorter-term bonds. This still indicates the general cautiousness brought about by the lingering uncertainty of trade protectionism espoused by US President Trump and China’s consequent response.”
Mr. Asuncion added this may also be related to the higher-than-expected inflation data and the possibility of further rate hikes by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Michael L. Ricafort, economics and industry research division head at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), said expectations of further rate hikes here after the release of June inflation results caused upward adjustments in interest rates.
“Furthermore, the USD/peso exchange rate lingering among 12-year highs this week that could still lead to higher import prices and overall inflation, as well as increase the odds of further hike/s in local policy rates, have also caused the latest increase in local interest rates,” Mr. Ricafort added.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said prices of widely used goods rose 5.2% in June, the highest in at least five years. Year-to-date, headline inflation averaged 4.3%, exceeding the BSP’s 2-4% target for the year.
Meanwhile, US inflation was recorded at 2.9% in June — the highest since February 2012 — data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.
At the secondary market on Friday, in the short end of the curve, the 91-day and 182-day Treasury bills (T-bills) went up by 1.38 bps and 18.31 bps to 3.2777% and 4.0085%, respectively. The 364-day paper also increased by 7.02 bps to 4.6327%.
In the belly, yields on the two-, five-, and seven-year Treasury bonds rose by 31.02 bps, 22.07 bps and 5.82 bps to 5.1161%, 6.0107% and 6.3490%. Meanwhile, the rates of the three-, and four-year bonds lost 1.18 bps (4.9648%) and 1.61 bps (5.6375%), respectively.
At the long end, 10-year T-bond saw its yield go up by 9.13 bps to 6.4461% while yield on the 20-year tenor was slightly down by 0.36 bps to 7.3589%.
Looking forward, RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort said: “Local interest rates could move sideways to slightly higher [this] week, especially if the USD/Peso exchange rate continues to hover among 12-year highs.”
“I expect more of the same [this] week, but I would like to anticipate the brewing trade war to result to a return to negotiations and finding a better way to address the US demands of China,” UnionBank’s Mr. Asuncion said.
For LANDBANK’s Mr. Dumalagan, “GS yields are still expected to move with an upward bias amid continued expectations of more US rate hikes ahead. Likely higher inflation readings from the Eurozone and Japan may also push yields higher by fuelling hawkish policy expectations.”
“The increase in yields might be capped by possibly mixed US economic data on retail sales and housing as well as continued safe-haven buying amid persistent trade war concerns,” Mr. Dumalagan added. — Christine Joyce S. Castañeda

SMIC ‘extremely strong’ debt rating retained

LOCAL DEBT watcher Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings) retained its PRS Aaa rating for SM Investment Corp. (SMIC)’s outstanding bonds worth P47.3 billion.
The rating is the highest on PhilRatings’ credit scale, indicating that SMIC has an “extremely strong” capacity to meet its financial commitment. The debt watcher also gave the rating a stable outlook, which means that it is unlikely to change in the next 12 months.
PhilRatings took into account SMIC’s solid financial profile, leading market position in its core businesses, and progressive growth strategy, among others, in coming up with the ratings.
SMIC is the holding firm of the country’s richest man Henry Sy, Sr., with core interests in property, retail, and banking.
SM Prime Holdings, Inc., which handles the group’s interest in malls, residences, offices, hotels and convention centers, operates the most number of malls in the country at 67 covering over eight million square meters (sq.m.) by the end of 2017. SM Prime also has seven malls in China with a gross floor area (GFA) of 1.3 million sq.m.
The company is slated to end the year with 73 malls in the Philippines, with all the new ones to be built in the provinces, namely SM Center Imus in Cavite, SM City Urdaneta Central in Pangasinan, SM City Legazpi in Albay, SM City Ormoc, and SM City Dagupan.
Combined with the seven malls in China, SM Prime expects to end the year with a GFA of 9.7 million sq.m.
SMIC is also the leading player in the domestic retail market through SM Retail, with a total of 1,674 stores under its portfolio by the end of March 2018. The store network includes 59 SM Stores, 53 SM Supermarkets, 186 SaveMore stores, 47 SM Hypermarkets, 46 Walter Mart stores, and 1,283 specialty stores such as Miniso, Pet Express, Watsons, and Surplus.
The company noted that around 80% of the new stores under SM Retail are located outside Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, the Sy group’s banking unit, BDO Unibank, Inc., is considered the largest bank in the country in terms of consolidated resources, customer loans, deposits, assets under management and capital, as well as branch and ATM network. — Arra B. Francia

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