GLOBE Telecom, Inc. is ramping up utilization of frequencies acquired from San Miguel Corp. and has announced the deployment of more assets in Cebu as it expands its reach nationwide to improve its broadband and mobile connectivity.

The Ayala-led network said to improve mobile services in Cebu, it would continue to ramp deployment of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) sites using the 700 megahertz (MHz), 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands.

“In line with its vision of providing connectivity to two million homes in 2020, Globe… has started its aggressive rollout of facilities in major locations around the country. The province of Cebu is one of its key locations,” Globe said in a statement over the weekend.

Since the telecommunications company gained access to new spectrum assets in the middle of last year, it said close to 600 LTE sites had been activated in Cebu alone.

Globe is working closely with local government units, which help the network expand for its broadband connectivity to reach more homes.

In Cebu, Globe At Home Fibre sites are available in Dona Modesta Gaisano St.; Friendship Street; Justice St.; Wisdom St.; Freedom St.; Yakal St.; Mahogany St.; Obedience St.; A. Villalon Drive; Hacienda Salinas; Wilson St. corner Pasteur St.; Marconi St.; La Guardia St.; 1^st St.; Sanson Road; Sanson Road Extension; Sanjercas Ville Private Road; and Salinas Drive Extension.

Expansions in Mandaue City are also underway and will continue to reach more locations in Cebu and the rest of the country, Globe said.

The company is investing bulk of its $750-million capital expenditure this year in data-related projects, modernization of fixed line data infrastructure, and requirements for transmission facilities and for the deployment of more LTE and for rollout of data.

It plans to leverage on its additional spectrum from San Miguel’s telco assets, which it jointly acquired with PLDT, Inc. by investing heavily in LTE to improve both mobile data and fixed wireless broadband.

Globe plans to deploy around 1,800 LTE 700 sites and 1,000 LTE 2600 sites this year. It will also add 1,800 LTE 1800 sites “in order to boost LTE capacity and coverage.”

In the first three months of 2017, the company’s net income fell 13% to P3.761 billion from P4.335 billion during the same period a year ago, weighed down by higher interest and depreciation expenses, as well as charges related to its joint buyout of San Miguel’s telco assets.

Globe is looking at a 5% growth in revenue and a 40% EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) margin. — Imee Charlee C. Delavin

AN ILOILO-BASED microfinance company has lost an appeal to have its P282-million tax case reviewed at the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), which lacks jurisdiction in going over the dispute.

In a decision dated June 23, the Third Division of the CTA has dismissed Lifebank Foundation, Inc.’s petition for review on its taxes amounting to P282,055,951.22 for 2009.

“The Court has no jurisdiction to review the correctness of the assessment,” the decision reads.

Lifebank is a nonstock microfinance lending company based in Iloilo City. It is engaged in “creation and support of initiatives that advance comprehensive sustainable development in rural areas.”

The petitioner appealed to the court, arguing that the formal letter of demand (FLD) or the final assessment notice (FAN) issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Regional District Office (RDO) “cannot be considered as final notice which would warrant the collection of taxes.”

“Notice is premature; and that even assuming that the FLD/FAN can be considered as the final demand, the same is void for being issued in violation of petitioner’s right to due process considering that the FLD/FAN was prepared and issued even before the PAN (preliminary assessment notice) was received by petitioner,” Lifebank claimed.

But the court said the petitioner had failed to file an appeal within 30 days from its receipt of the assessment as prescribed by the National Internal Revenue Code, rendering the assessment final and executory.

The CTA noted that Lifebank received its FLD with attached FAN on Aug. 2, 2013, but did not file its protest.

“For failure to file a protest, the assessment has attained finality by mere lapse of time,” the CTA said.

“Petitioner itself knows for a fact that it did not file any protest to the FLD/FAN to initiate the process of reinvestigation of the assessment; hence, it is illogical for it to think that the reinvestigation arose from its protest to the FLD/FAN instead of from the PAN, to which it actually filed a reply.”

“Prudence dictates that petitioner should have filed the protest on or before Sept. 2, 2013, if only to protect its interest. Petitioner simply slept on its rights,” the court further held.

“[T]he Court hereby finds it has no jurisdiction over the case as no protest was filed within the prescriptive period, thus rendering the assessment final, executory and demandable,” the decision reads.

The 17-page decision was penned by Associate Justice Lovell R. Bautista. Concurring are Associate Justices Esperanza R. Fabon-Victorino and Ma. Belen M. Ringpis-Liban. — Kristine Joy V. Patag

EAGLE CEMENT Corp.’s decision whether to raise its public float will depend on the strength of the local bourse, as it prepares to comply with the looming implementation of a 20% minimum public ownership of listed companies.

Monica L. Ang, Eagle Cement chief financial officer, said the company will decide how to go about the increase once the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) releases the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the order.

“We are expecting that with the new IRR, we’ll be required to increase our public float to 15% as the first step and then 20% in two years time. With regard to schedule whether we’ll do the 20 right away or two step 15 and 20, it is still up for discussion. It depends on market conditions,” Ms. Ang said.

The Ramon S. Ang-led cement manufacturer listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange on May 29, bidding out only 11.5% of the company’s outstanding shares to the public, or just above the SEC’s current minimum of 10%.

Based on a draft memorandum released by the SEC in June, companies applying to list on the bourse starting July will be required to have a minimum public float of 20%. Firms already listed but with a float of less than 15% will have until the end of 2018 to reach this floor, before ultimately reaching 20% by 2020.

Eagle Cement President and Chief Executive Officer John Paul L. Ang noted that the capital raised while the company complies with the SEC’s minimum requirement will be used for expansion, particularly for the acquisitions and the construction of factories.

“The plan will always be to put up something new… If we build Cebu and whatever factories we plan in the near term, we see na viable ang mga projects na ’yon (that these projects are viable),” Mr. Ang said, referring to the ongoing construction of the company’s fourth production line in Cebu, which targeted to be operational by 2020.

Ms. Ang said for an acquisition to qualify, “the area must be close to a strategic market.”

“It should also have the proper permits. It should have good standing at the compliance stage, and also the valuation — how much the owners right now are selling to us,” she said.

Eagle Cement is constructing its third production line in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, which will add 2 million metric tons (MT) to its capacity by 2018. It targets to end 2020 with a total capacity of 9.1 million MT, after finishing the construction of the fourth line in Cebu.

The company’s expansion comes amid the Duterte administration’s push for a massive P8-trillion infrastructure program.

In the first quarter of 2017, Eagle Cement booked a 30% year-on-year increase in its net income to P1.03 billion, driven by a 19% uptick in net sales to P3.17 billion. — Arra B. Francia

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Friday, June 30, 2017.

DEL Monte Pacific Ltd. said earnings fell 57% in the year to April, after one-time gains in the year earlier set a high comparative base.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Friday, the company reported a net profit of $24.4 million, well off the year-earlier result of $57 million.

It said it incurred non-recurring writeoffs of $21.1 million after the closure of its North Carolina plant and a deferred tax write-off.

Del Monte also posted a net one-time gain of $31.7 million in the year to April 2016 from the amendment of the retirement plan of its US subsidiary Del Monte Foods, Inc. and the adjustment of working capital during the period for the North Carolina plant.

Excluding these one-off items, Del Monte said recurring profit was $45.5 million, which would have represented an 80% rise year-on-year.

Sales amounted to $2.3 billion, down 0.9% due to lower sales volumes recorded in the United States. The weak US performance was offset by robust sales in Asia, including the Philippines.

“Our business in Asia sustaines its strong momentum in the fourth quarter driven by S&W’s significant growth in North Asia and higher food service sales in the Philippines,” DMPL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Joselito D. Campos, Jr. was quoted as saying in a statement.

The executive noted that this was also driven by the implementation of an e-commerce channel in China through JD.com. DMPL also opened a branch in Tokyo, while eyeing the opening of stores in Shanghai and Seoul.

“Investments in new products and brand-building will continue in response to consumer demand and to secure a long term growing and profitable business. As a result, profitability in the US is likely to be impacted,” Mr. Campos said.

The company said it looks to book a profit in the current fiscal year but it did not provide a detailed estimate.

In April, the company raised around $200 million through the sale of dollar-denominated preferred shares — the first of their kind in the Philippines. Net proceeds were used to refinance the firm’s $350 million loan from BDO Unibank, Inc.

DMPL’s Philippine shares rose 10 centavos or 0.83% to P11.98 on Friday. — Arra B. Francia

ILOILO CITY — Negros Occidental Electric Cooperative Inc. (NOCECO) yesterday signed a 22-month power purchase agreement with Panay Power Corp. (PPC), a subsidiary of Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC), for a 12-megawatt (MW) peak load supply.

Jonas F. Discaya, NOCECO general manager, said the additional supply will mostly run during peak hours from 6-8 p.m.

“But our contract is flexible so we can get from them earlier or after if the need arises,” said Mr. Discaya after yesterday’s signing ceremony.

PPC won the bid with a price of P6.37 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), lower than its competitor’s P6.55/kWh offer.

NOCECO and PPC will soon file their purchase agreement before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for approval. It will immediately take effect upon ERC’s issuance of a provisional authority.

NOCECO has about 150,000 customers in its franchise area covering the 4th, 5th and 6th districts of Negros Occidental, including the cities of Kabankalan, La Carlota and Sipalay, which are tourist destinations. Negros Occidental is also a major sugar-producing region.

Mr. Discaya said the additional power will address the growing demand in fast-developing Kabankalan, as well as ensure stable rates for consumers.

“The rate from the (power) market is very volatile, so getting power from GBPC would provide us reasonable rates,” he said.

Petronilo R. Madrid, GBPC first vice president for Panay, said the agreement marks an entry into the Negros electricity market.

“GBP has established its name in the Visayas, particularly in Central and Western Visayas. We have dreamt of reaching out to the people of Negros. And now we have gained access to another region in the country, which is the Negros Island Region,” Mr. Madrid said.

GBPC President Jaime T. Azurin, for his part, said: “We are guided as the province gears up for more infrastructure development. Infrastructure development spurs business growth, which would increase demand for electricity,” he said.

PPC operates a 72-MW diesel plant in Iloilo City, part of GBPC’s aggregate capacity of 854 MW from generation facilities in Aklan, Cebu, Iloilo, and Oriental Mindoro.

GBPC is majority-owned by Beacon PowerGen Holdings, Inc. with a 56% share, with JG Summit Holdings, Inc. holding 30%, and Meralco PowerGen Corp., 14%. — Louine Hope U. Conserva