Baristas beware: this machine makes consistent espresso every time

August 11, 2022 | 12:02 am

WHEN we trooped off to the SMX Convention Center last week, we thought the Nespresso Iced Coffees Masterclass would take hours. But thanks to the new Nespresso machines, the whole thing wrapped up in 15 minutes.

Nespresso Philippines in-house Coffee Ambassador JR Abril said that he would be teaching us how to make Iced Hazelnut Lattes and Cold Caramel Cappuccinos. He placed ice in each glass, and into the Nespresso Momento Coffee and Milk machine, he added a flat capsule of Nespresso’s Ristretto Intenso. The espresso came out in mere seconds.

The Momento is the Nespresso professional line, which had been in the Philippines prior to the entry of their home use machines.

“What we can expect are dark, deep components,” said Mr. Abril about the coffee pods that he used, which are flattened and are used for the professional machines (the ones for home use are cylindrical). “We don’t want the milk and the other sweeteners to overpower the coffee.” The syrups were added first for the latte, then the milk, then poured over and stirred with the espresso shot. The cappuccino saw syrup first, then the coffee, then topped off with milk foam (Nespresso also offers the milk machines).

That literally looked like Steps 1, 2, and 3, and we wondered how Nespresso machines might affect a barista’s job. Mr. Abril said, “You still have to study the coffee, of course. But as far as the machine goes, it pretty much takes care of itself. You don’t need to put your time into that, but put your time into coffee.”

Asked about the things that can go wrong with using a traditional espresso machine which the Nespresso machine avoids, he answered: “With Nespresso, you don’t have to worry about the right grind size, the right tamp, the right pressure, the right temperature for your water — and also water hardness.” Mineral-rich water can affect the taste of your coffee, and leave mineral deposits behind that can clog up the machine. He said that getting one of those factors wrong when making a coffee can alter the taste, or the look. “Basically, it’s called a bad shot of espresso. When you use a Nespresso machine, it’s super-consistent.”

So, is there a chance of getting a bad shot from a Nespresso machine, ever? “None. There’s a bigger chance of this machine having a capsule lock (that is, the coffee pod discard clogging up the machine) than giving you a bad shot.” — JLG

BSP may raise rates by 125 bps more this year as inflation has yet to peak

August 11, 2022 | 12:02 am

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) may hike its key interest rates by another 125 basis points (bps) this year, beginning with a 50-bp hike next week, to curb stubborn inflation, Nomura Global Markets Research said.

Nomura said in a report authored by research analysts Euben Paracuelles and Rangga Cipta that with inflation yet to peak, the BSP may continue raising borrowing costs.

“Because of our forecast that CPI (consumer price index) inflation will stay above 6% before peaking by Q4, we expect BSP to follow up with a 50-bp hike at its next meeting this month, followed by three more 25-bp hikes, taking the policy rate to 4.50%,” Nomura said.

“Given the expected growth downturn next year, we still forecast a total of 50 bp of rate cuts in H2 2023,” it added.

Nomura expects inflation to average 5.1% this year, above the central bank’s 2-4% target and 5% forecast. It said inflation will be driven by high food and fuel prices.

“We also see core inflation picking up, with some signs of second-round effects and stronger demand for wage increases,” it said.

Rising prices may also affect the economy’s expansion, Nomura said.

“We maintain our 2022 GDP (gross domestic product) growth forecast of 6.6%, which is at the lower end of the latest official forecast range of 6.5-7.5% and reflects our more cautious view on surging domestic inflation that is likely to dampen household spending at a time when the labor market recovery is not yet complete,” Nomura said. “For 2023, we expect growth to slow sharply to 3.6%, well below official forecasts of 6.5-8% due to our view of a recession in the US and Europe.”

Besides inflation, it said the Philippines is “vulnerable” to tight global financial conditions due to its current account deficit, which it expects to widen to 4.9% of GDP in 2022 from 1.8% in 2021 and stay high at 4% next year.

“While we have lowered our crude oil price assumption to USD106.2/bbl from USD111.3/bbl, surging global food prices will likely be an offset. Moreover, infrastructure spending remains a priority under President [Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.] as highlighted during his first State of the Nation Address, which should boost capital goods and raw material imports even into 2023,” Nomura added.

BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla last week said the central bank may hike rates by 50 bps at the Monetary Board’s Aug. 18 meeting after headline inflation accelerated further in July.

Headline inflation quickened to 6.4% year on year in July, its fastest pace since October 2018, mainly due to soaring prices of food and higher transport costs.

For the first seven months, inflation averaged 4.7%, faster than the 4% seen in the same period a year ago and the central bank’s 2-4% target, but lower than its 5% forecast for the year.

The Monetary Board has raised rates by a total of 125 bps since May, including a 75-bp off-cycle hike last month, amid sustained and broadening inflation pressures exacerbated by a weakening peso due to the US Federal Reserve’s aggressive tightening.

This brought the yield on the overnight reverse repurchase facility or the policy rate to 3.25%. The rate on the BSP’s overnight deposit and lending facilities were also increased by 75 bps, to 2.75% and 3.75%, respectively.

Meanwhile, Philippine GDP grew by 7.4% year on year in the April to June period, easing from the downward-revised 8.2% reading for the first quarter and the 12.1% expansion in the same period in 2021.

This brought the first semester average to 7.8%, faster than the 3.9% growth seen in the same period last year and well above the government’s 6.5-7.5% target for the year.

FISCAL DEFICIT
Meanwhile, Nomura Global Markets Research said the country may see its budget deficit narrow to 6.9% of GDP this year from 8.6% in 2021.

The forecast is “in part due to the Mandanas-Garcia ruling of the Supreme Court that increases fiscal transfers to local governments, which have weak absorptive capacity and therefore could underspend.”

The Mandanas-Garcia Ruling mandates the expansion of the income base for the computation of the national tax allocation for local government units (LGUs) to include not only internal revenue collections but also customs collections.

This assures LGUs with an additional 24% revenue share, aside from the 13.9% increase due to the increase in internal revenue collections.

“Despite his campaign pledges, which included some populist measures, President Marcos Jr. said he will target narrowing the fiscal deficit to 3% of GDP by 2028, helping shore up market sentiment for now,” Nomura said.

As of the first quarter, the budget deficit stood at 6.4% of GDP.

The government aims to reduce the deficit to 7.6% of GDP this year, and further to 6.1% in 2023, 5.1% in 2024, 4.1% in 2025, 3.5% in 2026, 3.2% in 2027, and 3% in 2028. — K.B. Ta-asan

Twitter says loading issues fixed after user complaints

August 11, 2022 | 12:02 am

TWITTER, Inc. said on Tuesday it had fixed issues after thousands of users reported that they were having trouble accessing the micro-blogging platform.

More than 27,000 users had reported outage of the service, according to Downdetector.com, a website which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources including user-submitted errors on its platform.

The outage started at 1:50 p.m. ET and had as many as 35,000 reports at its peak.

“We fixed it! We made an internal systems change that didn’t go as planned and have rolled it back. Twitter should now be loading as expected. Sorry about that!” Twitter said in a tweet.

This was the second outage in as many months.

The social media company is in a legal tussle with Tesla boss Elon Musk over his $44-billion takeover deal.

Last month, Twitter users faced a nearly three-hour outage in July, with the San Francisco-based company saying it had some trouble with its internal systems that impacted many globally.

Notorious for outages in its early years, Twitter was known for using its popular “Fail Whale” illustration, which showed a beluga whale being lifted by birds, during such incidents.

Twitter users took to Reddit to complain about the outage, with many users saying all they could see was the Twitter logo when they tried to log in.

“There is no Twitter to find out why Twitter isn’t working,” one user joked on a Reddit channel dedicated to Twitter.

Twitter had suffered another widespread outage in February that it blamed on a software glitch.

Other big technology companies have also been hit by outages in the past year, with a near six-hour disruption at Meta Platforms keeping WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger out of reach for billions of users in October. — Reuters

How minimum wages compared across regions in July

August 11, 2022 | 12:02 am

This infographic compares the current daily minimum wages set by the country’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board and the inﬂation-adjusted minimum wages as of July based on latest preliminary data by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). While the current minimum wages are determined at the regional level to account for factors such as companies’ capacity to pay and costs of living, real wages are obtained after factoring in the general price increases (i.e. inﬂation rates). Inﬂation-adjusted wages were 10.7%-16.9% lower in July than their respective current salaries.

D&L Industries’ income jumps 22% to P891M

August 11, 2022 | 12:02 am

D&L Industries, Inc. recorded a 22% increase in its net income to P851 million in the second quarter after booking higher sales due to eased mobility restrictions.

“We are on track to at least hit if not exceed [our] pre-Covid high, which was in 2018,” D&L Industries President and Chief Executive Officer Alvin D. Lao said in the company’s first half media briefing.

The company’s sales climbed by 79% to P12.33 billion in the second quarter.

Year to date, the company’s net income rose to P1.63 billion, 17% higher than the recorded net income in the first half of last year. Sales rose by 61% to P22.32 billion in the first half.

In 2018, the company registered a P1.53-billion net income in the first half, 7% lower than this year’s record.

In the first semester of 2022, exports contributed 34% of the company’s sales, higher by 1% than the level a year ago.

Oleochemicals made up 23% of D&L Industries’ exports while its food segment contributed 65% to the total.

Meanwhile, the company spent P660 million in capital expenditure (capex) in the second quarter and a total of P1.63 billion in the first half.

“We expect by this year [that] the capex will be lower than what we spent last year,” Mr. Lao said.

Capital spending last year reached P3.18 billion, which Mr. Lao described as the company’s peak, thus figures in succeeding years will be lower.

“It means that in a couple of years we will be back to that low capex level, so it means a lot of free cash flow will be released,” Mr. Lao said, pertaining to the company’s 2017 to 2018 spending budget.

He said that for the rest of the year, the company is expected to spend no more than P1 billion to P1.1 billion.

By January 2023, D&L Industries will open its biggest project, First Industrial Township in Tanauan, Batangas.

The expansion project will sit on a 26-hectare property at the special economic zone, and will house plant-specific buildings, machineries, and equipment.

D&L Industries’ principal business activities include manufacturing of customized food ingredients, specialty raw materials for plastics, and oleochemicals for personal and home care use.

On the stock market on Wednesday, shares in D&L Industries declined by 1.14% or P0.08 to P6.91 apiece. — Justine Irish DP. Tabile

CIMB Bank PH launches virtual card for users of credit product

August 11, 2022 | 12:01 am

CIMB Bank Philippines, Inc. has launched its virtual card powered by its revolving credit product REVI Credit to boost its digital banking services in the country.

Through the virtual card, REVI Credit users can shop online in any Visa-accepted online merchants. This includes e-commerce platforms, deliveries, travel bookings, and more, CIMB Bank PH said.

“When we launched REVI Credit, it was a revolutionary product that enabled Filipinos to get easy and flexible access to credit,” CIMB Bank PH Chief Executive Officer Vijay Manoharan said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The natural next step was for us to make REVI also available for online purchases and transactions, especially as a digital banking services provider. This is also in pursuit of our mission of driving greater digital adoption in the country, which has always been our goal since we started this journey in 2018,” Mr. Manoharan added.

There is no annual fee for the virtual card. The card is also supported by fraud monitoring and prevention tools and capabilities.

Clients can only access the card’s details after keying in their pin number on the CIMB Bank PH app.

“With the launch of our virtual card, REVI Credit users can do just that. They will be able to get the most out of their credit lines and ultimately, use it to fuel their life’s passions and purpose,” Mr. Manoharan said.

CIMB Bank PH launched REVI Credit for all its customers in December 2021.

The service gives clients access to higher credit limits of up to P250,000 and interest rates as low as 1% with no annual fees. It also allows clients to convert a portion of their credit lines into cash or a term loan at any time, making it ideal for emergency needs.

Through REVI Credit, the bank has extended a cumulative credit limit of P4.3 billion since the product’s launch.

REVI Credit users can activate their virtual cards on the CIMB Bank PH app. Clients will also get zero interest on transactions made using their virtual cards when they pay on time this month.

CIMB Bank PH has over 5.7 million clients in the Philippines to date and over one million lending customers.

The commercial bank provides mobile-first digital banking solutions and services. Its total assets as of March stood at P23.191 billion, based on central bank data. — Keisha B. Ta-asan

Dining In/Out (08/11/22)

August 11, 2022 | 12:01 am

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Wednesday is Taste Teasers Day

WEDNESDAY is Taste Teaser Day at Sheraton Manila Bay’s Unspoken bar as the hotel’s bartenders and mixologist create cocktails and unique beverage concoctions for guests and diners to taste test for free. Held every Wednesday evening at 6:30 and 7 p.m., try the complimentary samplers and mixes ranging from signature cocktail drinks to bite-size bar chow. The selection varies every week and is available for a limited time only. After 7 p.m., indulge in Happy Hour daily until 10 p.m. for P550++ and enjoy any two of the bar’s best-selling cocktails (Gin Basil Smash, Old Manila, Aperol Spritz, Sangria de Malate, Gin & Tonic, Margarita, Mojito, Negroni, and Martini) complemented with the chef’s special pica-pica platter. The evening features live entertainment and acoustic performances from duo Sonny and Sunshine and Franco and Catherine every Friday and Saturday. The Unspoken bar is located at the Main Lobby, Sheraton Manila Bay, M. Adriatico cor. Gen Malvar Streets. Malate, Manila. It is open from 3 p.m. to midnight.

Jollibee Group to relaunch Yoshinoya in PHL

THE JOLLIBEE Group is relaunching the Yoshinoya in the Philippines with the re-opening this August of the Glorietta 1 Mall branch in Makati. The relaunched Yoshinoya will offer a beefed-up menu bannered by the brand’s world-famous bestseller, the gyudon or beef bowl. Featuring thin strips of tender beef, slowly simmered in the brand’s signature gyudon sauce, the gyudon bowl can be enjoyed in many ways, including adding togarashi, red ginger, green onions, and even cheese toppings. Yoshinoya Philippines also offers onsen egg or the traditional Japanese slow-cooked egg with custardy egg white and egg yolk, as an optional topping. Also on the menu are tempura, chicken karaage, chicken teriyaki, and beef yakiniku. These dishes are served over steamed Japanese rice. Yoshinoya will also offer ramen and other side dishes such as gyoza, kani salad, and miso soup, among others. For dessert, customers can enjoy the brand’s Matcha Mochi Ice Cream and Coffee Jelly. To complete the dining experience, all Yoshinoya stores in the Philippines will be redesigned with a contemporary and casual Japanese style that exudes an authentic, light, and welcoming feel. The opening of the new Yoshinoya store officially seals the Jollibee Group’s first foray into Japanese food. The Jollibee Group recently formed a joint venture with Yoshinoya International Philippines, Inc. to establish the Yoshinoya Jollibee Foods, Inc., which will operate the Yoshinoya stores in the country, with plans to expand to 50 stores in the long term.

Flavors of Asia at Happy 8

TRADITIONAL and classic Southeast Asian fare take the spotlight at Newport World Resorts’ new signature restaurant, Happy 8, at the Newport Garden Wing’s 3F Gaming Area. Surrounded by the Newport Club, the restaurant can seat up to 100 dining guests for a family-style dining experience. The modern Asian restaurant’s diverse menu is filled with traditional and classic recipes with a twist, carefully created by its own team of award-winning chefs. Among its wide range of dishes are a selection of dimsum, noodle dishes, and Asian-style stews. These include Steamed Shrimps Dumplings with Charcoal Skin, Stir Fried Malaysian-style Noodles Mamak Mee, Baked Lemongrass Chicken, Slow-cooked Beef with spices and Coconut Milk Beef Rendang, and Wok Fried Pork Belly with Dark Soy Sauce. Happy 8 also offers a selection of fresh seafood dishes. The signature Stir Fried “4 Heavenly Kings” with Scallop is popular among patrons, along with the Deep-Fried Prawn with Salted Egg Yolk. Meals end with the restaurant’s own take on the Steamed Glutinous Rice balls with Peanut Masachi. For the month of August, Happy 8 is serving up an extravagant whole fried Pompano with Cashew Nuts until Aug. 31 for P1,188 net. For more information on Happy 8 and other Newport World Resorts offers visit www.newportworldresorts.com and follow @newportworldresorts on Facebook and Instagram, and @nwresorts on Twitter.

M&S holds food and wine pairing webinar

MARKS AND SPENCER (M&S) will be hosting the “This Is… A TOAST! Anytime, Anywhere” live wine webinar for aspiring wine connoisseurs on Aug. 27, 4-6 p.m. To join, purchase any bottle of M&S wine for as low as P375 in stores or on marksandspencer.com.ph from July 27-Aug. 23. Keep the receipt or order confirmation e-mail and register on thisisatoast.com to receive the webinar link once validated. Join in the Q&As and expect some surprises at the webinar. The webinar highlights Marks & Spencer’s This Is Wine range, a collection of great quality wines with exceptional value, and a wide variety of options ranging from spicy reds to blushing rosé and tropical whites. The live wine webinar is hosted by Hazel Aguilon, and facilitated by certified sommelier Gigi Varua. Recognized as one of the “Must-Know Sommeliers” by Tatler Asia and certified through the Court of Master Sommelier Americas, Ms. Varua has curated a list of M&S wines she will discuss in the webinar. Customers can buy these wines at 20% off until Aug. 23 to more fully experience the wine tasting webinar.

Lula Café to open in Tagaytay

DON TIM Development Corp. (DTDC), in partnership with the group behind Burrow Cafe, announces the launch of its latest endeavor, Lula Café in Tagaytay City. Lula Café is a mountain-view café establishment inside the village clubhouse of Monte Vista Subdivision along the Calamba-Tagaytay Road. The village is a destination in itself, thanks to the spectacular view its location offers. According to co-owner Andie Gamboa, the name of Lula Café is inspired by the view it would offer guests — something she describes as exhilarating or, in Filipino, “nakaka-lula.” Lula Café’s menu is a combination of popular comfort food, healthy options, and main dishes for all types of tastes and palates. Menu items include Ceviche of the Day, Poutine with steak cut fitters, smoked bacon, and seared mushrooms for starters; an array of pizza and sandwiches; and the freshest salads. Its All-Day Breakfast menu includes Filipino and international classics such as Tender Beef Tapa, Eggs Benedict, Smoked Salmon Hash, and French Toast Brioche. The mains range from Pan-Roasted Salmon Fillet with Squid Ink Black Rice Risotto to US Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom and Blue Cheese, Potato Gratin, and Peppercorn House, and Vegetarian Lasagna, among others. For dessert, it has Lula Cheesecake, Calamansi Pie, Kalabasa Cake, Davao Chocolate Cake, and Suman, Mangga, Kasuy. Lula Café is created by the same team that created the popular Burrow Café at Antipolo Beehouse, an underground café that aims to bring guests closer to nature through its lush surroundings. Lula Café is open six days a week except Tuesdays, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is open for reservations via e-mail at lulacafeph@gmail.com.

Chef JP Anglo takes on PAL in-flight meals

STARTING this August, Business Class passengers on board Philippine Airlines (PAL) flights to North America can now taste the best of Filipino food, courtesy of Filipino chef JP Anglo. The Philippine flag carrier is offering Mr. Anglo’s dishes on its nonstop flights from Manila to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, and Toronto. Mr. Anglo is the chef behind the restaurants Sarsa in Makati, and Kooya in Dubai. To launch his special collaboration with PAL, the chef flew from Manila to Los Angeles, and during the flight he prepared and served his signature dishes, Chicken Inasal and Bangus ala Pobre. PAL flies from Manila to Los Angeles twice daily using state-of-the-art B777-300ER aircraft. PAL’s Business Class service offers pre-flight concierge, full-flat beds, and food and beverage selections designed by renowned chefs.

McDonald’s adds lettuce and tomatoes to burgers

MCDONALD’S now serves Fresh ‘N Tasty Burgers — McDonald’s burgers with slices of tomato and lettuce. The Fresh ‘N Tasty Burgers — which include Burger McDo, Cheesy Burger McDo, Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Double Cheeseburger, and Quarter Pounder with Cheese — are now available at McDonald’s branches via dine-in, take-out, drive-through, and McDelivery.

Johnnie Walker introduces limited edition whisky glass gift set

SCOTCH whisky brand Johnnie Walker teams up with urban artist TAXA and glassmaker Dartington Crystal for the Johnnie Walker Blue Label x TAKA Limited Edition Whisky Glass Gift Set, just in time for gifting during the Mid-Autumn Festival. When customizing the artwork for the gift box, award-winning Japanese artist TAXA specifically sought to incorporate the elements of both family reunion and festive gifts. “The pattern of the circle is used extensively, such as the circle at the center embodying the full moon and mirroring the shape of a whisky glass. This represents family reunion and the joy of sharing, mid-autumn mooncakes, and the circular motion of dragon dances. This is a continuation of the meaning behind my previous gift box — an artistic representation of a gift that comes from the heart,” said TAXA in a statement.

Singapore-based crypto lender Hodlnaut suspends withdrawals

August 11, 2022 | 12:01 am

HONG KONG — Hodlnaut, a Singapore-based crypto currency lender and borrower, has suspended withdrawals, swaps and deposits, the company said on Monday, the latest sign of stress in the cryptocurrency industry.

The crypto lender also said it would withdraw its application for a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to provide digital token payment services, for which it received in principle approval in March.

An MAS spokesperson said it had rescinded the approval following the request.

Hodlnaut said the move was “due to recent market conditions” and was “to focus on stabilizing our liquidity and preserving assets.”

The company is the latest in a string of crypto players globally to run into difficulties following a sharp sell-off in markets that started in May with the collapse of two paired tokens, Luna and TerraUSD.

Other high profile failures include US crypto lender Celsius, and Singapore-based fund Three Arrows Capital, both of which filed for bankruptcy last month.

Hodlnaut was named as one of Celsius’ institutional clients, according to court filings.

Singapore, a major center for crypto and blockchain in Asia, has seen several crypto companies run into difficulties in recent months.

Vauld, a Singapore-based crypto lending and trading platform, suspended withdrawals in early July. Later that month, Zipmex, a Southeast Asia-focused crypto exchange, suspended withdrawals, though has since resumed them for some products.

“Digital payment token service providers licensed by MAS under the (Payment Services) Act are regulated for money laundering and terrorism financing risks as well as technology risks. They are not subject to risk-based capital or liquidity requirements, nor are they required to safeguard customer monies or digital tokens from insolvency risk,” said an MAS spokesperson.

They said this was a reason why “MAS has been continually reminding the general public that dealing in cryptocurrency is highly hazardous,” and added spillover to Singapore’s domestic financial system from the recent turmoil in the cryptocurrency market has been “very limited.”

Hodlnaut did not respond to a request for comment. — Reuters

Net foreign direct investments

August 11, 2022 | 12:01 am

NET INFLOWS of foreign direct investments (FDIs) increased 64% in May, as investors adopted a wait-and-see attitude after the presidential elections. Read the full story.

Robinsons Land’s income grows 42% to P3.6B

August 11, 2022 | 12:01 am

Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) reported a 42% increase in its consolidated net income to P3.63 billion in the second quarter driven by the recovery of its investment portfolio and revenues from its China project.

“With the economy moving towards full reopening, we sustain our upward trajectory and exceed pre-pandemic earnings,” RLC President and Chief Executive Officer Frederick D. Go said in a press release on Wednesday.

In the first half, the company recorded profits of P5.36 billion. It said the figure already surpassed pre-pandemic values by 34%. Its top line rose by 29% to P10.35 billion.

Its property development portfolio contributed P17.14 billion in realized revenues in the first half mainly driven by its Chengdu Ban Bian Jie project in China and improved sales in its domestic residential projects.

RLC recognized revenues of P12.67 billion from the second phase of its project in China in the first half, higher by 21% than revenues recognized from the first phase last year.

The company recently added another 24,000 square meters (sq.m.) to its mall portfolio via its Robinsons Place Antipolo expansion, bringing total mall leasable space to 1.58 million sqm.

Meanwhile, Robinsons Offices registered a 12% increase in its revenues to P3.56 billion in the first six months of the year.

“Its stable topline performance is driven by rental escalations and the success of the Company’s leasing activities for new buildings,” RLC said.

Robinsons Hotels and Resorts showed improvement in revenues with a 53% growth to P806 million in the first half.

In the first half, RLC completed three new hotels: Go Hotels Naga, Go Hotels Tuguegarao, and Summit Hotel Naga.

Robinsons Logistics and Industrial Facilities’ leasing revenues in the first half surged by 111% to P269 million.

To date, it has seven industrial facilities with 167,000 sq.m. of total gross leasable space.

Meanwhile, Robinsons Integrated Developments posted P266 million in revenues “from a portion of deferred gain on sale of land to joint venture entities.”

Realized revenues of RLC Residences and Robinsons Homes rose by 97% to P2.79 billion while its net sales increased by 7% to P3.1 billion.

“We remain upbeat on our future growth prospects anchored on improved business environment and the country’s stable macroeconomic fundamentals,” Mr. Go added.

On the stock market on Wednesday, shares of RLC went down by 14 centavos or 0.78% to P17.74 apiece. — Justine Irish DP. Tabile

How PSEi member stocks performed — August 10, 2022

August 11, 2022 | 12:00 am

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Wednesday, August 10, 2022.

Peso weakens as market awaits US CPI report

August 10, 2022 | 9:00 pm

THE PESO weakened versus the dollar on Wednesday ahead of the release of US inflation data.

The local unit closed at P55.665 against the greenback on Wednesday, losing seven centavos from its P55.595 finish on Tuesday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.

The peso opened at P55.67 versus the dollar on Wednesday. Its weakest showing was at P55.85, while its intraday best was at P55.65 against the greenback.

Dollars exchanged declined to $871.6 million on Wednesday from $1.36 billion on Tuesday.

“The peso depreciated amid elevated market expectations ahead of the US consumer inflation report for July 2022,” a trader said in an e-mail.

The July US consumer price index report was scheduled to be released overnight. US inflation in June stood at a 40-year high of 9.1%.

The peso also weakened a day after the release of softer second-quarter economic growth data that could lead to less aggressive rate hikes this year, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said.

Preliminary data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority showed gross domestic product grew by 7.4% year on year in the April to June period, slower than the 12.1% expansion in the same period last year and the revised 8.2% growth in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, offsetting positive factors for the peso include gains on the local stock market and stronger foreign direct investments data, Mr. Ricafort said.

“The local currency might remain weak on similar expectations from the producer inflation report,” the trader said.

For Thursday, the trader expects the local unit to move within P55.55 to P55.80 per dollar, while Mr. Ricafort gave a forecast range of P55.55 to P55.75. — K.B. Ta-asan