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Microsoft-backed Rubrik prices US IPO above range at $32/shr

NEW YORK – Rubrik, the cybersecurity software startup that counts Microsoft among its investors, on Wednesday priced its initial public offering at $32 per share, above its indicated price range.

Rubrik upsized its IPO to raise $752 million after selling 23.5 million shares, the company said in a statement. This confirmed an earlier Reuters report about the offering details.

The company priced its IPO above its previous target range of $28-$31, valuing the Palo Alto, California-based Rubrik at around $5.6 billion based on the outstanding shares listed in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Rubrik’s listing comes amid the US IPO market showing early signs of a rebound, after stock market launches froze up during most of 2022 and 2023.

Following the successful stock market flotations of social media platform Reddit and semiconductor connectivity firm Astera Labs, several companies including Cato Networks and Synechron have kicked off preparations to go public.

Founded in 2014 by venture capitalist Bipul Sinha, Rubrik makes cloud-based ransomware protection and data-backup software. The company serves more than 6,000 business customers, including Nvidia NVDA.O and Home Depot HD.N.

Rubrik’s subscription annual recurring revenue – which measures customers’ full contract values – grew 47% at the end of January from a year earlier, according to its IPO filing. It also disclosed a loss of $354 million on revenue of $628 million for the 12 months ended Jan. 31, compared with a loss of $278 million on revenue of $600 million a year earlier.

Rubrik will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “RBRK” on Thursday. Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are the lead underwriters for the offering. – Reuters

Blinken to meet businesses in Shanghai as he kicks off a tough China trip

U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN — PPA POOL/MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

SHANGHAI – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet business leaders in Shanghai on Thursday as ties between Washington and Beijing stabilize, pushing to resolve a raft of issues threatening the newly gained equilibrium between the rivals.

Mr. Blinken’s visit is the latest high-level contact between the two nations that, along with working groups on issues from global trade to military communication, have tempered the public acrimony that drove relations to historic lows early last year.

But Washington and Beijing have made little headway on curbing China’s supply of chemicals used to make fentanyl, the South China Sea remains a flashpoint, and strains are growing over China’s backing of Russia in its war in Ukraine.

Mr. Blinken, in a short video statement posted to X with the Shanghai skyline in the background late on Wednesday, said curbing the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl to the U.S. from China was one of several issues he was in China to work on.

In addition to business leaders, Mr. Blinken will also meet with local officials and students before heading to Beijing for talks on Friday with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and a likely meeting with President Xi Jinping.

Mr. Blinken also attended a basketball game and dined at a steamed bun restaurant Wednesday night with U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns, underscoring the importance to the U.S. of rebuilding personal connections with the Chinese people.

“Face to face diplomacy matters,” said Mr. Blinken in the short clip posted to X. “It is important for avoiding miscommunications and misperceptions, and to advance the interests of the American people.”

Mr. Blinken will press China to stop its firms from retooling and resupplying Russia’s defence industrial base. Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, just days after agreeing a “no limits” partnership with Beijing, and while China has steered clear of providing arms, U.S. officials warn Chinese companies are sending dual-use technology that helps Russia’s war effort.

A Chinese foreign ministry official quoted by state news agency Xinhua earlier this week said relations “have shown a trend of stopping decline and stabilizing,” since Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi met in San Francisco in November.

But the official criticized what they called Washington’s “stubborn strategy of containing China, and its erroneous words and deeds of interfering in China’s internal affairs, tarnishing China’s image and undermining China’s interests.” – Reuters

Portugal’s democracy turns 50: Thousands to commemorate Carnation Revolution

STOCK PHOTO | Image by Loyloy Thal from Pixabay

LISBON – Thousands are expected to take to the streets to celebrate the 50th anniversary on Thursday of Portugal’s “Carnation Revolution” that toppled the longest fascist dictatorship in Europe and ushered in democracy.

Antonio Oliveira Salazar ruled Portugal from 1932 to 1968, but the regime lasted for a further six years under successor Marcelo Caetano, only crumbling on April 25, 1974.

The almost bloodless revolution was conducted by a group of junior army officers who wanted democracy and to put an end to long-running wars against independence movements in the African colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.

They regarded those wars, which were killing thousands of young Portuguese conscripts, as unjust and unwinnable.

The military coup by the “April’s Captains” group touched off rapid decolonization, ending more than five centuries of Portuguese empire in Africa.

Lisbon University political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto said that while most Portuguese support democracy and are proud of the April 25 revolution, there would be “an elephant in the room” at this year’s celebrations with the recent surge in support for the populist, anti-immigration Chega party.

“Chega attracts those who have a revisionist view of history with the idea that colonialism and the empire were not bad, and that the glorious Portuguese past and its symbols should be valued,” Costa Pinto said.

A study published on Friday by Lisbon’s Institute of Social Sciences ICS and research university ISCTE found that 23% of respondents felt that if current political leaders followed the “ideals” of Salazar, Portugal might “regain its greatness”.

Chega makes frequent public use of Salazar’s motto “God, patriotism and family”, to which the party has added “work”.

Chega leader Andre Ventura has denied that he or his party is fascist, despite being anti-establishment and wanting to change Portugal’s constitution.

“I’m not a fascist, I was born after fascism…We never hide that we don’t like this system, this Constitution. But that doesn’t mean we don’t like democracy,” he said in 2021.

Founded in 2019, Chega is the third largest party in the European Union member state, having quadrupled its cohort of lawmakers to 50 in March’s election.

Chega has capitalized on the housing crisis unleashed by steadily rising rents as well as low wages, sagging health care and cases of alleged corruption involving the mainstream parties in Western Europe’s poorest country. – Reuters

Budget deficit narrows in March

The National Government’s budget deficit narrowed in March as revenue collections rose by 11%. -- Photo by Edd Gumban, The Philippine Star

By Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson, Reporter

THE National Government’s (NG) budget gap narrowed in March amid a dip in tax collection and muted spending, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported on Wednesday.

Data from the BTr showed the Philippines’ budget deficit shrank by 6.82% to P195.9 billion in March from P210.3 billion in the same month a year ago.

Month on month, the fiscal gap widened from the P164.7-billion deficit in February.

“The NG’s budget deficit for March narrowed on the back of 11.32% year-over-year revenue growth vis-à-vis a 3.18% increase in government spending,” the BTr said in a press release.

In March, revenue collections rose by 11.32% to P287.9 billion from P258.7 billion last year.

Tax revenues dipped by 0.23% year on year to P223.9 billion amid a decline in collections by the Bureau of Customs.

Customs revenues slumped by an annual 6.78% to P74.9 billion in March, which the BTr attributed to fewer working days. The Holy Week break fell in the last week of March.

On the other hand, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P145.3 billion in March, up 3.11% from P141 billion a year ago. Revenue from other offices jumped by 17.82% to P3.6 billion.

Nontax revenues climbed by an annual 86.94% to P64.1 billion in March, as Treasury revenues more than tripled to P49.1 billion.

“The significant increase for the month was primarily driven by higher dividend remittances, interest on advances from government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), specifically from the National Irrigation Administration and NG share from Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. income,” the BTr said.

Other offices saw a 22.71% decline in nontax revenues to P15 billion, “due to last year’s one-off return of P5.7 billion in unutilized unconditional cash transfer program (UCT) funds, as well as lower Malampaya proceeds for the period,” the BTr said.

Meanwhile, expenditures stood at P483.8 billion in March, up by 3.18% from P468.9 billion a year ago.

“While higher disbursements were recorded in departments/agencies, the growth of spending in March was weighed down by the lower subsidies to government corporations and transfers to local government units (LGUs), in particular the special shares of LGUs in the proceeds of national taxes,” the BTr said.

“The transfer of the P15-billion Coco Levy Funds to the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund for this year is still expected this April; whereas last year’s release was made in March,” it added.

Primary spending — which refers to total expenditures minus interest payments — inched up by 1.2% to P412.9 billion in March.

Interest payments rose by 16.5% to P70.9 billion, mainly attributed to “coupon payments for domestic securities and the downward adjustments to last year’s interest payments due to premia on re-issued bonds.”

Security Bank Corp. Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces said that the narrower fiscal deficit in March indicates a “positive development in fiscal management.”

“This reduction could be attributed to a variety of factors, such as increased government revenues from higher tax collections and improved economic activity, and/or decreased government spending,” he said in a Viber message.

Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc., said that the growth in revenues “bodes well” for the government’s fiscal consolidation plan.

“If revenue intake continues its uptick this year because of better economic performance, then it would not be a surprise that the fiscal consolidation plan is on track for this year,” he said in a Viber message.

WIDER Q1 DEFICIT

Meanwhile, the fiscal gap widened by 0.65% to P272.6 billion in the first quarter from P270.9 billion in the same period a year ago.

Data from the BTr showed revenues rose by 14.05% to P933.7 billion in the January-to-March period from P818.7 billion a year ago.

Tax revenues stood at P820.3 billion in the three-month period, higher by 12.83% from P727.1 billion.

BIR revenues climbed by 17.15% to P591.8 billion while Customs collections edged higher by 2.35% to P218.9 billion.

Nontax revenues jumped by 23.78% year on year to P113.4 billion, as BTr revenues surged by 85.26% to P72.3 billion. Revenue from other offices fell by 21.83% to P41.1 billion.

Meanwhile, government spending picked up by 10.72% to P1.206 trillion in the first three months from P1.09 trillion in the same period in 2023.

In the first quarter, primary spending rose by 6.94% to P1.013 trillion while interest payments jumped by 35.93% to P193 billion.

“The slight widening of the deficit in the first quarter by 0.65% to P272.6 billion from P270.9 billion indicates that while there has been a month of fiscal tightening, the overall quarter still saw a marginal increase in the deficit,” Mr. Roces said.

He also noted that the slightly wider deficit in the first quarter does not mean the country’s fiscal consolidation is off track.

“Fiscal consolidation is a gradual process, and the government’s ability to manage expenditures and boost revenues in the coming quarters will be crucial to staying aligned with the consolidation goals,” he added.

This year, the government has set a budget deficit ceiling of P1.48 trillion or equivalent to 5.6% of gross domestic product (GDP). It is aiming to reduce the deficit-to-GDP ratio to 3.7% by 2028.

Philippines’ main grids placed under red, yellow alerts

A power plant substation is seen in Malate, Manila on April 18. -- EDD GUMBAN, The Philippine Star

By Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES’ main grids on Wednesday experienced a shortfall of energy supply for the seventh time this month, with a yellow alert being raised over the Mindanao power grid for the first time in 2024.

In a statement, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) placed Mindanao under yellow alert status from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. after nine plants in the region went offline, while five have been running on derated capacities. This resulted in the unavailability of 673.98 megawatts (MW) to the grid.

NGCP said this is the first time Mindanao was placed under yellow alert status so far this year as the region usually has a power surplus. The yellow alert status in Mindanao was lifted at 3:09 p.m.

Yellow alerts are issued when the supply available to the grid falls below a designated safety threshold. If the supply-demand balance deteriorates further, a red alert is declared.

The Luzon and Visayas power grids were again placed under red and yellow alert status on Wednesday, the grid operator said.

Red alert status was raised over Luzon grid from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., while yellow alert was issued from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., NGCP said, adding that power demand in Luzon reached 14,016 MW against the available capacity of 14,249 MW.

Data provided by NGCP said Luzon hit a peak demand of 14,016 MW on Wednesday, the highest so far for the year. The previous high was recorded on Tuesday at 13,864 MW.

Four power plants went offline in Luzon while two are running on derated capacities, resulting in a total of 1,840.3 MW unavailable to the grid.

As of 4:05 p.m., the NGCP lifted the red alert over Luzon but the grid was still under yellow alert status from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Meanwhile, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said it had advised the participants of its Interruptible Load Program to be on standby. These are large power consumers that have their own generating facilities. These entities stop drawing power from the grid during times of unreliable supply, reducing the overall load on the grid.

“If necessary, we are ready to implement manual load dropping as part of our responsibility to manage the system,” Meralco said in a Viber statement.

The Visayas grid was placed under red alert status from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., while the yellow alert status was issued from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., and 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Three power plants were on forced outage in the Visayas grid, while eight plants were running on derated capacities for a total of 621.6 MW capacities unavailable to the grid.

“The reduced capacity exported by Mindanao to Visayas also aggravated the power situation in Visayas,” NGCP said.

NGCP said it had implemented manual load dropping or rotational brownout from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the province of Abra, parts of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, parts of Albay, and parts of Bataan and Batangas.

“In the ICSC (Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities) study, we assumed a 100-MW allowance in the forced outage for Mindanao, which is a conservative assumption based on the average historical outages of Mindanao. However, in (Wednesday’s) actual grid operations, we are seeing that the capacities in forced outage and derated operation have exceeded this assumption,” Jephraim C. Manansala, chief data scientist at the ICSC, said in a Viber message.

Mr. Manansala said hydroelectric power plants are expected to have lower output during the summer months especially with the El Niño weather phenomenon.

“However, the untimely unavailability and deration of other plants such as coal have made the situation alarming,” he said.

ICSC said the country is expected to experience a shortfall of power supply “indefinitely” for as long as power plants continue to run on derated capacities.

Philippines lags Southeast Asian neighbors in smart tourism index

People visit the Dolomite beach in Manila, Feb. 18. -- Photo by Edd Gumban, The Philippine Star

By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES lags behind some of its Southeast Asian neighbors in terms of readiness in developing smart tourism ecosystems, hampered by high internet costs and accessibility issues in rural areas, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

In a report entitled “Smart Tourism Ecosystem Development Readiness in Southeast Asia,” the Philippines received an average readiness score of 56. A score of 100 indicates a country’s ability to adopt an enabling environment for smart tourism.

Among six Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members in the index, the Philippines ranked fourth, behind Thailand (72), Vietnam (67) and Indonesia (66).

The Philippines was ahead of Laos (53) and Cambodia (50).

“Despite national tourism policies prioritizing digitalization backed by strong tourist and industry demand, smart tourism ecosystem development in Southeast Asia is constrained by insufficient finance and limited digital skills, urban-rural digital divides, and an evolving legal and digital policy environment,” the ADB said in the report.

Having an ecosystem that enables smart tourism boosts a country’s attractiveness as a tourist destination, the ADB said.

“The Philippines demonstrates strong gender equality, high average broadband internet and 4G coverage, and good transaction infrastructure supporting online access to finance. Additionally, the Philippines has high digital talent availability,” the ADB said in the report.

The index measured a country’s overall readiness based on two factors — enabling environment and technological readiness.

The Philippines received a score of 57 under enabling environment, which assesses a country’s tourism competitiveness and digital inclusiveness in the legal, financial, social, and geographic fronts.

The report noted Laos and the Philippines scored highest in terms of equality between men and women’s internet usage.

However, the Philippines scored the lowest among its regional neighbors in terms of the urban-rural digital divide. Digital gaps are “perpetuated by unreliable electricity and network coverage gaps, low literacy rates, unafforda-ble internet services, and language barriers,” ADB said.

The Philippines also scored below-average on tourism competitiveness, legal environment for businesses, and financing options for technological development.

The country also received a score of 55 in terms of technological readiness, second lowest among the six ASEAN members.

The Philippines received low scores in terms of average internet speed, percentage of rural households with internet access, percentage of households or businesses with a computer, mobile access affordability, and research and development for digital innovation.

Among ASEAN counterparts, the Philippines scored the lowest on broadband internet costs and availability of electronic visas (e-visa).

All six countries scored low on access to electronic payments, ADB added.

ADDRESSING ISSUES

The ADB said the Philippines needs to address the urban-rural digital divide, expand financing options, lower broadband costs, and launch an e-visa facility.

The ADB noted the Tourism department is working to close the urban-rural digital divide by allocating $2 million to local government units (LGUs) for smart tourism projects.

The Philippines also started offering e-visas to some countries in the latter part of 2023 and is working with development partners to improve its smart tourism ecosystem. The ADB recently approved funding for the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project, which will establish a smart transportation system in Davao.

Overall, the ADB said the six ASEAN members struggle over a lack of digital infrastructure investments, urban-rural gaps, and threats to data privacy and cybersecurity.

Leonardo A. Lanzona, an economics professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, said the Philippines must differentiate its tourism sector from its ASEAN neighbors to boost its share of the global market.

“The current digital transformation makes this more difficult since now we need more technologically savvy tourism workers, if not a more educated workforce, to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new technology,” Mr. Lanzona said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Sherwin E. Ona, a former associate dean at the De La Salle University College of Computer Studies, said the Philippine government must adopt smart tourism policies.

“Smart tourism should adopt platforms that can capture and aggregate customer needs and demands and at the same time link supply chains. An example of this is having a single online access point for tourism destination per region or province. These smart tourism portals can link the sites, together with accommodations, dining, shopping, and transportation sites that tourists can avail,” he said in a Viber chat.

The Philippines attracted 5.45 million tourists in 2023 and is targeting 7.7 million tourist arrivals this year.

To compare, 23 million international tourists visited Thailand in 2023, while 12.6 million and 11.68 million tourists visited Vietnam and Indonesia, respectively.

Q1 GDP growth may miss target

Motorists drive amid a sudden downpour along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, April 24. -- PHOTO BY MIGUEL DE GUZMAN, The Philippine Star

THE PHILIPPINE economy likely continued its growth momentum in the first quarter, although this may fall short of the government’s target, GlobalSource Partners said.

“The first quarter is likely to sustain positive economic growth which may not necessarily approximate the official target of 6-7% for at least the first quarter of 2024 due to the downside risks to economic growth including the prolonged dry spell and rising trend of inflation,” GlobalSource country analysts Diwa C. Guinigundo and Wilhelmina Mañalac said in a report.

The local statistics authority is set to release first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data on May 9.

The GlobalSource report also discussed the results of the central bank’s latest consumer and business expectation surveys, which can be used as an indicator for actual output.

“Consumption spending may receive an additional boost from better consumer sentiment but businesses’ less optimistic expectations may partially hold it back,” GlobalSource said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) survey showed that consumer sentiment was less pessimistic in the first quarter amid expectations of improved employment and income. Private consumption accounts for about three-fourths of the economy.

On the other hand, businesses were less bullish amid persistent inflation, the impact from the El Niño weather event and sluggish post-holiday demand.

Inflation averaged 3.3% in the first quarter, still within the 2-4% target band. The BSP expects inflation to average 3.8% this year.

Latest data from the Agriculture department showed that agricultural damage from the El Niño has reached P3.94 billion, affecting 73,713 farmers and fisherfolk.

John Paolo R. Rivera, president and chief economist at Oikonomia Advisory & Research, Inc., expects GDP to have expanded by 6.1% in the first quarter.

This would be within the government’s target and faster than the 5.5% GDP growth in the fourth quarter but slower than the 6.4% expansion in the first quarter of 2023.

Mr. Rivera said that growth in the first quarter was likely driven by increased government spending on infrastructure, more public-private partnerships, the recovery of the tourism industry and improvements in exports.

For the first two months of the year, infrastructure spending rose by 6.7% to P120.5 billion, data from the Budget department showed.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said GDP likely grew by 6% in the first quarter. His full-year forecast is 6.3%.

“Philippine GDP growth could normalize to around 5.5%-6.5% in 2024 and beyond,” he said in a Viber message.

This year, economic growth will also be supported by infrastructure spending, strong remittances, and further reopening of the economy, he added. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson

OceanaGold PHL sets final IPO price at P13.33

OCEANAGOLD Philippines, Inc. (OGPI) announced on Wednesday the final offer price for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) at P13.33 per share, falling below the upper estimate of P17.28 per share projected by its parent company OceanaGold Corp.

The IPO will consist of 456 million secondary common shares, with the company setting May 13 as the listing date for its IPO.

OGPI operates the Didipio gold and copper mine in Nueva Vizcaya.

The Philippine Stock Exchange recently approved OGPI’s listing of 2.8 billion shares for its IPO under the bourse’s main board.

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. President Eduardo V. Francisco stated during SM Investments Corp.’s annual stockholders meeting on Wednesday that OGPI’s final IPO price of P13.33 per share translates to a dividend yield of 13% over the next five years, based on a gold price of $1,855 per ounce.

For his part, AP Securities, Inc. Research Head Alfred Benjamin R. Garcia said in a Viber message that OGPI’s IPO will be attractive to a certain class of investors.

“It’s the first mining IPO in a while and OGPI produces gold and copper, both of which are very hot at the moment. Although it seems less attractive when you consider that the offer is all secondary shares, which means that none of the proceeds will go towards growing the company and will instead line the pockets of the selling shareholder,” he said.

“At the max offer price of P17.28, it was priced at 26.2x fiscal year 2023 price to earnings ratio. I think the current state of the market had a big role in the reduction of the share price. However, at P13.33, it’s still priced at 20.2x fiscal year 2023 price to earnings,” he added.

China Bank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo E. Colet said separately that the IPO’s price dropped due to market conditions.

“They had to significantly discount the IPO price because of challenging equity market conditions. It is very likely that investors demanded a lower price to boost potential returns. The final offer price translates to an estimated dividend yield of around 12.2%, which is very attractive,” he said.

The IPO’s proceeds will go to OceanaGold Philippines Holdings, Inc. (OGPHI), a wholly owned unit of the Australian-Canadian miner.

The Securities and Exchange Commission gave the green light for the IPO on March 12.

OceanaGold selected BDO Capital & Investment Corp. as the domestic underwriter and bookrunner for the offer, while CLSA Ltd. will be the international underwriter.

Last month, OceanaGold Chief Executive Officer Gerard M. Bond said the company was searching for another mining site in the Philippines.

He also said that OceanaGold was looking to spend $5 million to $7 million on drilling and exploration this year.

OceanaGold aims to produce 120,000 to 135,000 ounces of gold and 12,000 to 14,000 tons of copper at its Didipio mine this year. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Asialink Finance plans IPO by 2028

ASIALINK Finance Corp. (Asialink) is gearing up to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) by 2028, its chief executive officer said on Wednesday.

In preparation for this milestone, the finance company is working to strengthen its financial standing, Asialink Chief Executive Officer Robert B. Jordan, Jr. said during a briefing.

“We aim to raise as much capital as possible to support our goals. By 2028, our projections suggest our capital should reach around P30 billion,” he said.

“There is still a lot in the country that we need to do, but we are constrained by the limited capital that we have,” he added.

The total capital of Asialink increased to P12 billion on Wednesday from P8 billion at the end of 2023, spurred by a P4 billion investment from equity firm Creador.

Mr. Jordan said that this investment deal opens up opportunities for Asialink to secure funding from multilateral lenders such as the Asian Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation.

He added that the deal will prompt the restructuring of the three companies under Asialink, with Asialink now owning 100% of Global Dominion Financing, Inc. and 60% of South Asialink Finance Corp.

The three companies will remain independent and will have separate operations, he noted.

“With a P4 billion infusion, we probably can grow to as much as a 3.5% debt-to-equity ratio, which means we can potentially leverage as much as P30 billion in additional credit facilities,” Mr. Jordan said.

“Right now, our existing creditors are limiting us to about 2.7%. We have an existing governance that says that we are limited up to 2.75% of our capital. So we’re trying to change that,” he added.

Asialink is also targeting to disburse a combined amount of upwards of P40 billion in loans this year to small- and medium-sized businesses. It aims to double its loans disbursed this year to P24 billion for Asialink from P12 billion in 2023.

Asialink aims to disburse over P40 billion in loans to small- and medium-sized businesses this year.

“For Global, we’re looking to disburse P13 billion. And for South Asialink, we’re looking to disburse about P8 billion,” Mr. Jordan said.

The company also aims to double its active customer base next year from the current 100,000. — Aaron Michael C. Sy

PXP narrows Q1 losses with higher crude oil sales

PXP Energy Corp. saw its attributable net loss for the first quarter (Q1) narrow to P2.61 million from P6.08 million last year, driven by higher crude oil sales, the upstream oil and gas company said on Wednesday.

The company’s combined revenues for the first quarter expanded by 47.2% to P26.3 million from P17.87 million, PXP said in a stock exchange disclosure.

PXP’s improved top line was brought about by higher output sold for the period despite lower average price at $79.95 per barrel from the previous $81.36 per barrel, the company said

In the three months to March, PXP recorded a 44.6% increase in output sold, totaling 196,826 barrels compared to 136,087 barrels sold in the same period last year.

The listed oil and gas company said cost and expenses for the first quarter went up by 30% to P27.1 million from P22.4 million previously.

For 2024, PXP and its subsidiary Forum Energy Ltd. plan to continue their oil and gas exploration projects in the country, specifically in service contracts (SC) 72, 75, and 40.

PXP holds a 50% interest in SC 75 located in northwest Palawan. Its subsidiary, Forum Energy, in which PXP holds a direct and indirect interest of 79.13%, has a 70% participating interest in SC 72, also in northwest Palawan, through its wholly owned subsidiary Forum (GSEC 101).

The SC 72 covers the Recto Bank, within its block is the Sampaguita gas discovery, which is estimated to contain about 2.6 trillion cubic feet of contingent gas resources.

“Exploration work in SC 40 will be pursued. Meanwhile, PXP will assess and study other oil and gas projects within the Philippines,” the company said.

SC 40, located in the North Cebu Block of the Visayan Basin is said to be among the most prospective petroleum producers next to Northwest Palawan Basin. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

Keeping your cool with halo-halo

By Waya Araos-Wijangco

IN THE sweltering metropolis, one of the best ways to cool down is to indulge in an icy traditional summer treat — the halo-halo.

Halo-halo (Filipino for “mixed”) is, well, a mix of crushed or shaved ice, local sweets, and milk. Sometimes it is made “special” with a scoop of ice cream. The variations are endless, and a halo-halo can be as simple or as complex as one wants.

Chef Waya Araos-Wijangco has taken it upon herself, in this summer’s extreme heat, to try as many kinds of halo-halo as she can for as long as the heat is on. Over the past couple of weeks, the executive chef and owner of GypsyBaguio by Chef Waya, tried X number and this is what she thought of the traditional summer coolers as per her Facebook posts.

*For those unfamiliar with the ingredients mentioned, here is a simple glossary: bilo-bilo (small glutinous rice balls), buco (immature coconut, can refer to both its meat and juice), camote (sweet potato), gulaman (jel-ly), kaong (sugar palm fruit), langka (jackfruit), leche flan (a flan), macapuno (coconut sport), monggo (mung beans), nata (coconut gel), pinipig (flattened immature glutinous rice grains), saba (a cooking banana), sago (tapioca-like balls made of sago palm flour), tocino del cielo (a Spanish dessert made of egg yolks, sugar, and water), ube (purple yam), ube halaya (a dessert made of purple yam, coconut milk, and butter).

** The posts were edited for length and clarity.

VICTORINO’S

Took shelter from the sweltering heat in the cool, comforting confines of Victorino’s and had the best halo-halo of the season. Made with two kinds of camote, saba, langka, bilo-bilo, chunky macapuno, leche flan, cheese, and topped with a ridiculously indulgent tocino del cielo. This halo-halo is perfection!

DIMPY’S

Dimpy’s became famous for their frozen brazo de mercedes (still good, by the way). They started in Dasmariñas Village in Makati and opened an outpost in BF Parañaque. I heard they had halo-halo so off I went to try. The Dimpy’s version wins in color-blocking. Very pretty presentation. It doesn’t have a lot of stuff in it but what they put in made sense together — gulaman, kaong, saba, langka, and a huge chunk of leche flan and their housemade ube gelato. My favorite part of it is their shaved ice. So finely shaved it contributed to the creaminess of the halo-halo.

LOTUSPOD

Halo-halo served in the shell of the buco used to be popular, but the rising cost of fresh coconut in the city rendered it difficult to execute in restaurants. So I was so happy to find it in the gem of a resort in Bay, Laguna called @Lotuspod. The sinkers are classic: red bean, saba, langka, nata de coco, kaong. It is topped with leche flan, ube ice cream and cornflakes. What makes it special is that while you are eating it, you are scraping the buco meat from the sides of the shell and including a piece of coconut in every bite. And because they harvest the coconuts right at the resort, you get it fresh and sweet and at the level of maturity you want. You can even request to have the buco water on the side! Nothing beats this combination after a dip in the pool!

COCONUT HOUSE BUCO HALO

I first came across the Coconut House Buco Halo in 2018. I remember that summer when we would order from their Quezon Circle branch almost three times a week. They closed the Quezon Circle in the pandemic and they are now available at Gyud Food, Diliman, QC. The ice they use is finely shaved buco water, so the halo-halo flavor does not get watered down as it melts. The sinkers are saba, buco, sago, and topped with leche flan, buco ice cream and coconut cream. It feels light and refreshing from the buco water and it has just enough fillings for chew but does not overwhelm. This one is the best one I had by far.

LITTLE QUIAPO

Midway into my halo-halo journey, I find that part of the joy of eating it is that it triggers memories of halo-halo from summers and vacations and places I have been to… Today’s halo-halo was a sentimental choice. As a student in UP Diliman we would head out to Little Quiapo (LQ), then on Matalino Street for palabok (a noodle dish) and halo-halo. When we were running for student council, LQ was a regular dinner option after a long day of dorm-to-dorm campaigning. The LQ halo-halo is classic, sinkers (finally found the right term!) include nata de coco, langka, banana, kamote, red monggo and buco. Toppers are leche flan, ube ice cream, and pinipig.

NATHANIEL’S

Was busy at work today and had no time to go out to eat. But I am committed to the halo-halo mission so I looked for a delivery option. Went with @nathanielsph located in BF Parañaque. Nathaniel’s is a Pampanga institution famous for their buko pandan (a dessert made with young coconut, pandan leaves, and sago pearls. — Ed.) and puto pao (a rice cake with meat filling. — Ed.) Their halo-halo arrived still frozen, with the milk and cornflakes topping thoughtfully packed separately. You could see that almost a third of the glass was generously filled with the “toppings.” It had all the classics, banana, langka, red and white beans, gulaman, nata, really good leche flan and ube ha-laya, and a big scoop of ube ice cream. The ice was not finely shaved [as Dimpy’s was] but I realized I also like ice with a pleasant crunch.

SABLAN

The Sablan, Benguet halo-halo is made with sweetened saba, gulaman, and, wait for it, marshmallows. For a while there I thought even the gummy bears would make it into the mix. Served with a wide smile and consumed with empathy and grace.

SMIC allots up to P115 billion for 2024 expansion plans

THE SY family’s SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) has allocated up to P115 billion for its capital expenditure (capex) budget this year to support the conglomerate’s expansion plans.

“Our spent capex in 2023 was about P80 billion. The projection this year for the group, that excludes the banks, it’s around P110 to P115 billion (in capex) more or less,” SMIC Senior Vice-President for Finance Franklin C. Gomez said dur-ing a briefing on Wednesday.

“The biggest driver of that is clearly SM Prime Holdings, Inc. They’ve been very public with their intention to spend around P100 billion this year. They will be the biggest component of our capex,” he added.

SMIC President and Chief Executive Officer Frederic C. DyBuncio said the conglomerate maintains a cautiously optimistic outlook for 2024.

“We will continue to invest in growth in the Philippines and we are committed to being a catalyst for responsible development. We have a young, dynamic, higher-earning population who will help support and drive economic activity,” he said.

“Our strategy is to continue to expand coverage nationwide to create new markets that improve access to these sector and provide more opportunities for underserved areas,” he added.

SM Prime is opening four new malls this year, one in Metro Manila and three in provincial areas.

SM Development Corp. is eyeing to roll out 8,000 to 10,000 residential units this year in the northern part of the Philippines and across Visayas and Mindanao.

The conglomerate’s minimart grocery format Alfamart is also eyeing to add at least 400 stores this year.

Meanwhile, SMIC’s banking unit, BDO Unibank, Inc., is aiming to expand coverage, with BDO and BDO Network Bank planning to increase branches by a combined 100 to 120 this year.

The conglomerate is also eyeing to expand its portfolio investments.

After its acquisition of the Philippine Geothermal Production Co., SMIC is set to explore new steam fields in Northern and Southern Luzon to double the company’s current steam production of 300 megawatts within the medium term.

On Wednesday, SMIC shares rose by 0.42% or P4 to P947 per share. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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