Public concerns over plastic have risen in recent years. With European and US banks increasingly spurning the most polluting fossil fuel projects to help slow climate change, campaigners want lenders to take a similar approach to plastics by making loans conditional on measures to boost recycling.
LONDON — Banks have provided $1.7 trillion of finance to 40 companies in the plastics supply chain without imposing any requirements to tackle plastic pollution pouring into the world’s rivers and oceans, according to a report published on Thursday.
With European and US banks increasingly spurning the most polluting fossil fuel projects to help slow climate change, campaigners want lenders to take a similar approach to plastics by making loans conditional on measures to boost recycling.
“What the financial sector needs now is someone to step forward and say ‘okay, we’re going to take a look at plastics,’ and then others will follow,” said Robin Smale, director of Vivid Economics, a consultancy, which audited the report.
Compiled by Portfolio.earth, a research network, the report ranked Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. as the three biggest financiers of plastics between January 2015 and September 2019.
Each bank provided from $144 billion to $172 billion in loans and underwriting to companies from chemicals, packaging, and drinks manufacturers to retailers, the report found.
Barclays and HSBC were ranked as the largest plastics financiers among European peers, extending $118 billion and $96 billion respectively.
Citigroup referred Reuters to existing sustainability commitments. JPMorgan, Barclays, and HSBC declined to comment. Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Public concerns over plastic have risen in recent years, as scientists have discovered contamination in once pristine environments from ocean depths to the Arctic.
The report said none of 20 global banks that provided the bulk of financing for the plastic packaging industry had introduced any due diligence or exclusion criteria.
But banks could tackle plastic pollution by making loans contingent on ambitious re-use and recycling schemes, and by lobbying governments to support such measures, the report said. — Matthew Green/Reuters
None of the late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trials compared dose-sparing strategies or the effects of mixing vaccine types.
LONDON/CHICAGO — Britain and other nations are considering ways to stretch scarce supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, including by delaying second doses, reducing dose sizes, and switching vaccine types between the first and second shots.
The proposals have generated fierce debate among scientists. The following is the rationale behind, and criticism of, these alternative strategies:
WHY DELAY THE SECOND DOSE? In clinical trials, companies tested specific doses of their vaccines at precise time intervals to generate evidence showing how well they work. All COVID-19 vaccines approved, so far, are designed to teach the immune system to recognize and defend against the virus with a first dose, and then provide a second booster dose to reinforce that lesson.
Faced with surging pandemic and new, more transmissible coronavirus variants, some countries are hoping to broaden immunization by giving some protection to as many people as possible with a first dose, and delaying second doses.
Maximizing the number of people who have partial immunity “should reduce the number of severe COVID-19 cases and thus alleviate the burden on hospitals”, said Michael Head, a global health expert at Britain’s University of Southampton.
WHAT ABOUT SWITCHING BETWEEN COVID-19 VACCINES? Mixing or switching between COVID-19 vaccines is largely driven by the same aim—vaccinating as many people as possible as the pandemic still rages.
Giving a priming dose of one vaccine and a booster dose of another offers flexibility to offer whichever shots are available, rather than holding shots back so individuals always get both doses of the same vaccine.
HAVE THESE STRATEGIES BEEN TESTED IN RIGOROUS TRIALS? No.
None of the late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trials compared these dose-sparing strategies or the effects of mixing vaccine types, said Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
Officials have cited limited evidence from trials that the Pfizer/BioNTech, the Oxford University/AstraZeneca, and the Moderna vaccines all confer some protection against COVID-19 after the first dose.
Britain’s MHRA health regulator on Dec. 30 said it had found an 80% effectiveness rate for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine when two full doses are administered three months apart, higher than the average that the developers themselves had found.
A day later, the UK government’s vaccine advisory committee said the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine conferred 89% protection from two weeks after the first dose, and that for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine “the evidence shows that the initial dose … offers as much as 70% protection against the effects of the virus”. It did not give detailed data.
Moderna reported its vaccine was 80% protective after one dose, with efficacy peaking two weeks after the first shot.
There is no long-term evidence that any of these vaccines will offer lasting immunity based on just one dose, or how effective they will be if the second dose is delayed.
BioNTech and Pfizer warned on Monday they had no evidence their vaccine would continue to be protective if the second dose was given more than 21 days after the first.
Ideally, “it is safest and most cautious” to use vaccines in conditions exactly matching those of their trials, Evans said, but added: “In the real world, this is never so.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN on Friday the United States was unlikely to delay giving second doses.
“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing,” he said.
Likewise, scientists have raised concerns over the idea of mixing two different types of vaccines. Some experts speculate that, because all of the vaccines target the same outer “spike” protein of the virus, they could work together to train the body to fight off the virus.
There is no evidence this approach will work.
“There is literally zero data. It has not been tested, or if it has been tested, the data have not been made available,” said John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.
WHAT ABOUT REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF VACCINE IN EACH DOSE? In the United States, some health officials are considering offering half doses of Moderna’s vaccine to individuals aged 18 to 55. There is some clinical trial data backing this strategy.
Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to the US Operation Warp Speed vaccine program, told CBS on Sunday that evidence from a Moderna trial showed the half dose induced an “identical immune response” to the higher 100 microgram dose in adults aged 55 and under. He said the U.S. government was discussing the issue with Moderna and regulators.
Mr. Slaoui said he believed injecting half of the volume of vaccine was “a more responsible approach that would be based on facts and data”.
Several US scientists agreed, but noted the data was not publicly available. “It’s very fuzzy. I want to see that data,” said Eric Topol, a genomics expert and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.
Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said on Tuesday he does not believe existing data from trials on the efficacy of a half-dose version would be sufficient to convince regulators, doctors or governments to approve such a move.
“That data has not been published yet. It will be soon,” Bancel said at a Goldman Sachs event.
“I don’t see a world where that data is enough to convince the medical community, the (Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee) and of course the agency (US Food and Drug Administration), to move to 50 micrograms at this stage,” he said.
SO ARE THESE STRATEGIES SAFE? AND WILL THEY WORK? It is not clear.
While there is no scientific evidence on the impact of delaying COVID-19 vaccine doses, some experts believe it could be safe to wait, and the potential payoff in protecting a larger swath of the population may be worth it.
Others are not so sure.
“There’s just no data,” said Ian Jones, a professor of virology at Britain’s Reading University.
The British Society of Immunology said in a statement on Monday that delaying a second dose by eight weeks “would be unlikely to have a negative effect on the overall immune response”. It added that it would not expect any extra safety risks from the delay beyond the potential increased risk of contracting the disease during the gap between doses.
Some scientists also said that while there was no evidence to support the strategy of mixing vaccine doses from different manufacturers—a method known as heterologous prime-boost— evidence from other vaccines provided some reassurance.
“Based on previous studies which combine different vaccine types, a combination of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines is likely to be safe,” said Helen Fletcher, a professor of immunology at LSHTM.
Mr. Topol, however, called the mix-and-match strategy “a big mistake” with “unpredictable” results—including the potential for adverse reactions or a significant dropoff in efficacy. “It makes no sense whatsoever,” he said.
Some worry about safety issues, particularly with delaying the second dose for several weeks. The gap could allow time for the virus to evolve and develop resistance to the vaccine.
Weak antibody protection could also increase the risk of an abnormal immune response—such as antibody-dependent enhancement—when people encounter the real virus, Mr. Topol said.
HOW PRACTICAL IS IT TO PROLONG DOSING SCHEDULES? Extending the interval poses adherence risks, raising the chance people may forget or fail to return for a second dose.
It also increases the length of time during which they are less than optimally protected. And it could make it harder for health authorities to keep track of who has had which vaccine, when, and how often.
Given these risks, immunology and public health experts say clear communication is imperative to ensure people understand that although dosing schedules may be subject to change, two COVID-19 vaccine doses are needed to give the best protection. — Kate Kelland and Julie Steenhuysen/Reuters
WASHINGTON — The head of a major US business group that represents 14,000 companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., Pfizer Inc., and Toyota Motor Corp. urged senior US officials to consider removing President Donald J. Trump from office after supporters of the outgoing president stormed the US Capitol.
National Association of Manufacturers Chief Executive Jay Timmons said Trump “incited violence in an attempt to retain power, and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy. … Vice President [Mike] Pence, who was evacuated from the Capitol, should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.”
Mr. Trump has 14 days remaining in office before President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is sworn in on Jan. 20.
The mayhem at the Capitol forced Congress to temporarily postpone a session to certify Mr. Biden’s victory.
The chaotic scenes unfolded after Mr. Trump, who before the election refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost, addressed thousands of supporters near the White House, repeating unfounded claims that the election was stolen from him due to widespread fraud and irregularities.
Other business groups issued strong statements but did not go as far as the manufacturers’ group. Under the amendment’s Section 4, never invoked, the vice president and a majority of either Cabinet officials or “such other body as Congress may by law provide” may declare in writing that the president “is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
Several Democratic lawmakers in Congress also urged Mr. Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump.
The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executives of some of America’s biggest companies, said that “the chaos unfolding in the nation’s capital is the result of unlawful efforts to overturn the legitimate results of a democratic election.”
They called on Trump “and all relevant officials to put an end to the chaos and to facilitate the peaceful transition of power,” the group said in a statement.
‘TIME TO COME TOGETHER’
Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook said “those responsible for this insurrection should be held to account, and we must complete the transition to President-elect Biden’s administration.”
JPMorgan Chase Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said: “Our elected leaders have a responsibility to call for an end to the violence, accept the results, and, as our democracy has for hundreds of years, support the peaceful transition of power. Now is the time to come together to strengthen our exceptional union.”
Blackstone Group Chief Executive Steve Schwarzman, a Trump ally, said in a statement: “The insurrection that followed the President’s remarks today is appalling and an affront to the democratic values we hold dear as Americans. I am shocked and horrified by this mob’s attempt to undermine our constitution.”
Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in an internal message reported earlier by Axios and confirmed by a company official that “we need our political leaders to lead by example and put the nation first. … We removed the recent video of President Trump’s remarks expressing support for the people causing the violence. We are treating this situation as an emergency.”
General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra said on Twitter that “the violence at the US Capitol does not reflect who we are as a nation. It’s imperative that we come together as a country and reinforce the values and ideals that unite us.”
The head of the US Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business lobby based near the White House, said that “attacks against our nation’s Capitol Building and our democracy must end now.”
“The Congress of the United States must gather again this evening to conclude their Constitutional responsibility to accept the report of the Electoral College,” Thomas Donohue, CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.
Lawmakers reconvened shortly after 8 p.m. to resume the election certification.
“To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today—you did not win,” Mr. Pence said as the session resumed. “Let’s get back to work,” he said. — David Shepardson and Diane Bartz/Reuters
Elon Musk, the outspoken entrepreneur behind Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, kicked off the new year by homing in on a characteristically audacious title: the richest person on the planet.
A 2.8% rally in the electric carmaker’s share price Wednesday boosted Musk to within $3 billion of Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, who currently occupies the top spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 wealthiest people.
The South Africa-born engineer’s net worth was $181.1 billion on Wednesday, just shy of Mr. Bezos, who has held the top spot since October 2017. As chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, Mr. Musk is also a rival to Mr. Bezos, owner of Blue Origin LLC, in the private space race.
The milestone caps an extraordinary 12 months for Mr. Musk. Over the past year his net worth soared by more than $150 billion in possibly the fastest bout of wealth creation in history. Fueling his rise was an unprecedented rally in Tesla’s share price, which surged 743% last year on the back of consistent profits, inclusion in the S&P 500 Index, and enthusiasm from Wall Street and retail investors alike.
Wednesday’s jump in Tesla’s stock price further inflates a valuation light-years apart from other automakers on numerous metrics. Tesla produced just over half-a-million cars last year, a fraction of the output of Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. The company is poised for further near-term gains as Democrats appear on the verge of capturing both Georgia Senate seats and handing control of Congress to the party that’s advocated for quicker adoption of electric vehicles.
STOCK OPTIONS
Mr. Musk, 49, has benefited from Tesla’s stratospheric rise in more than one way. In addition to his 20% stake in the automaker, he’s sitting on about $40 billion of unrealized paper gains on vested stock options. Those securities come from two grants he received in 2012 and 2018, the latter of which was the largest pay deal ever struck between a CEO and a corporate board.
Despite his astronomical gains, Mr. Musk has said he has little interest in material things and has few assets outside his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX. He told Axel Springer in an interview last month that the main purpose of his wealth is to accelerate humanity’s evolution into a spacefaring civilization.
“I want to be able to contribute as much as possible to the city on Mars,” Mr. Musk said. “That means just a lot of capital.”
The world’s 500 richest people added a record $1.8 trillion to their combined net worth last year, equivalent to a 31% increase. The gains were disproportionately at the top, where five individuals hold fortunes in excess of $100 billion and another 20 are worth at least $50 billion.
Only six days into the new year the rankings have already been upended by extraordinary rallies. China’s Zhong Shanshan has vaulted past Warren Buffett to claim the sixth slot after shares of his bottled-water company surged, adding $15.2 billion to his fortune. — Devon Pendleton and Dana Hull/Bloomberg
Orbital Exploration Technologies, Inc. (OrbitX), the country’s first commercial space venture, is targeting 2023–2024 for its first launch. Its rocket, the Haribon SLS-1, will be propelled by two of the company’s other innovations: the Tamaraw Rocket Engine and RP-2 fuel, a renewable rocket fuel derived from plastics.
Haribon SLS-1 is in Technology Readiness Level 4, or the level in which components are validated in a laboratory environment, and can carry approximately 200 kilograms in low earth orbit (an orbit with altitude ranging from 200–300 kilometers to 1,600 kilometers).
SPACE ACCESS BENEFITS LIFE ON EARTH
Sustaining earth and accessing space are two of the problems OrbitX tackles. Founded in 2019, the venture aims to be a major provider of affordable, green, and sustainable space access to developing countries while taking care of the environment. Its founder and chief executive officer, Dexter Baño Jr., said that the benefits of outer space ventures are here on terra firma.
“The real benefit of having access to space is all on earth. Having access to space would allow us to attain better telecommunications, defense technologies, geopositioning services, and meteorological technologies,” he said in an interview with BusinessWorld. “For example, cancer research and farming could be improved if we have access to space. We can also protect our security as a nation because of better defense infrastructures that are only possible in space.”
Space science can help fight cancer by allowing researchers to study cell behavior that’s normally masked by responses to gravity. The gravity experienced in low-earth orbit, for instance, is 10,000 to one million times less powerful than that felt on earth’s surface. In microgravity, cells can be studied “in a state more closely resembling cells in the body.”
Other applications of space technology include: earth observation satellites that monitor greenhouse gases and possible natural calamities such as typhoons; global positioning system (GPS) navigation tools that allow for better mobility and prompt response during search and rescue missions; and microwaves and solar panels that started out as part of space projects but are now part of everyday living.
SEEKING SUPPORT AND COLLABORATION
Funders of the deep-tech startup’s project include several private individuals and Genix Ventures, a firm focused on investing and accelerating early-stage technology companies in Southeast Asia. Amazon Web Services has also given it a product grant for research worth $6,500 for two years of use.
A crowdfunding campaign is underway too for those who want to pitch in their support; the general public can choose among packages that include incentives such as a space ticket and an exclusive Haribon SLS-1 launch day seat.
While seeking support, OrbitX discovered that most of the interest came from Indians across Europe and Asia. One such supporter, Abhishek Raju, himself a space industry professional, paved the way for connecting the company with the Indian Space Research Organization. Mr. Baño Jr. said he will be meeting the Indian ambassador to the Philippines soon to discuss a possible diplomatic collaboration between the Philippines and India.
“India is the most logical ally because, like the Philippines, they started at a very minimal budget to establish an extremely reliable space agency,” he added. “We have similarities in our socio-economic status as countries. We also have a knowledge economy like India, but we are not yet utilizing it properly.”
OrbitX sends the Philippine Space Agency regular updates on its project developments, although it is not affiliated with—nor has it received any funding from—the said agency.
THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has granted a fresh P540-billion loan to the National Government to boost pandemic relief funds.
“We just approved it last Dec. 28. [It is a] done deal,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said in an online forum on Wednesday.
This is the third time the National Government has received support from the central bank, which has extended advances of P300 billion in March and P540 billion in October.
The National Government had made the request for a new loan from the BSP after it repaid its previous P540-billion loan on Dec. 17.
Mr. Diokno said they allowed another direct advance “because the National Government needs it” at a time when revenues are down while expenditures are on the rise.
“I call it bridge financing. In the meantime that they do not have the taxes and the cash to pay for the COVID-related programs, then we lend them P540 billion,” Mr. Diokno said.
He said the direct advance will be a “non-interest bearing loan” with the same terms as the previous advance — payable within three months and extendable for settlement for another three months.
Under Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, the central bank is authorized to lend the National Government an equivalent of 30% of its average revenue or P850 billion. The previous cap was set at 20% of its average annual revenue.
The BSP chief said the National Government can make another request for direct advances given it is within the provision of the law.
“They have to pay first, whatever we lent them. And then, we consider another request,” Mr. Diokno said.
The National Government’s gross borrowings in the first 11 months of 2020 reached P3.048 trillion. In November alone, gross borrowings skyrocketed 764% to P124 billion from P14.346 trillion. This year, the government targets to borrow P3 trillion.
The budget deficit swelled to P108.2 billion in November, surging by 148.29% from the P43.6-billion gap a year earlier, as revenues dropped alongside a rise in government expenditures.
Aside from its direct advances to the Bureau of the Treasury, Mr. Diokno has said they have been purchasing government securities in the secondary market.
“This is part of BSP’s immediate monetary policy response to help shore up domestic liquidity, and restore market players’ confidence to continue participating in primary auctions,” Mr. Diokno said.
A World Bank report released on Monday stressed the need to coordinate conventional and unconventional monetary policies.
“Monetary policy alone cannot prevent rising concerns over solvency associated with elevated government borrowing yields,” the report said.
While non-conventional policies were instrumental in restoring market functioning following the instability caused by the COVID-19, World Bank said their medium- and long-term effects in emerging and developing economies have yet to be fully assessed.
“Structural, financial, and fiscal reforms are needed to reduce the risk of debt distress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic over the longer-term,” it added. — withBeatrice M. Laforga
THE government’s outstanding debt further rose to P10.13 trillion as of end-November as it continued to raise much-needed funds for its efforts to respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) on Wednesday reported the total outstanding debt of P10.13 trillion was 1.1% higher than the P10.02-trillion debt as of end-October, due to higher borrowings from domestic lenders.
“From the start of the year, the NG (National Government) debt stock has grown by P2.40 trillion or 31.1% owing to higher funding requirements to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and other socio-economic measures,” the BTr said in a statement.
The end-November tally represents 99.7% of the government’s projected P10.16-trillion debt stock by the end of 2020.
Around 71% of the total were from domestic sources while the rest were sourced offshore.
Domestic debt stood at P7.192 trillion as of end-November, up 1.6% from the P7.077-trillion level the month prior and 40% higher than the P5.115 trillion a year ago.
The increase was mainly due to the issuance of domestic government securities which went up by 1.8% to P6.65 trillion from the month prior and 30% year on year.
Outstanding external debt slipped by 0.3% month on month to P2.942 trillion as of end-November.
The BTr said the decline was due to the continued appreciation of the peso versus dollar in November, which resulted in P10.74 billion in net effect of currency adjustments. This more than offset the government’s net foreign loan availments worth P2.55 billion, the BTr said.
Year on year, the external debt jumped by 13.4% from P2.594 trillion in November 2019.
Outstanding external debt is composed of loans worth P1.288 trillion and global bonds issued last year worth P1.653 trillion.
The Republic of the Philippines tapped the foreign capital markets three times in 2020 to raise more funds for its pandemic response.
Total government guaranteed obligations, meanwhile, fell by 1.1% month on month to P442.83 billion after the net repayments worth P4.26 billion were made to both local and foreign guarantees. The peso’s appreciation against the greenback also reduced the value of external guarantees by P1.4 billion, which more than offset the P630- million effect of third-currency appreciation on external guarantees.
Year on year, total guarantees went down by 5.3% from P228.1 billion.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a note to journalists on Wednesday that they expect state borrowings to increase further over the coming months as the government borrows more to prop up the economy and fund its mass vaccination drive.
“The Philippines’ external debt-to-GDP ratio is much lower at 25.3% as of 3Q 2020, relatively lower compared to similarly rated countries, thereby also giving the government greater leeway to increase foreign borrowings while managing foreign exchange risks that may entail,” Mr. Ricafort added.
This year, the total debt stock is seen rising further to P11.982 trillion by end-December or 58.3% of GDP as the state borrows more to plug its budget deficit. — Beatrice M. Laforga
THE much-awaited implementation of short selling may face challenges, as the local stock market is still “very illiquid” and remains small compared with other markets, experts said.
COL Financial Group, Inc. Chairman and Founder Edward K. Lee said short selling may be difficult since the local market is not yet fully developed and the number of investors is still small.
“The volume of the Philippine market is still very illiquid. If it is illiquid, it is very difficult to short sell,” Mr. Lee said in a mobile phone interview.
PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Monzon earlier said the exchange is looking forward to implementing the short-selling program this year. However, he said the PSE will still have to address concerns by foreign investors on the securities borrowing and lending (SBL) program rules.
Short selling is the sale of a stock that is not owned by the investor, but will be settled by the delivery of a borrowed stock. An investor can generate a profit by selling the borrowed stock, and then buying it back when the price declines.
“When you are shorting markets, it is a different ball game. You can have unlimited losses,” Mr. Lee added.
A risk in selling short is that one can lose more than the original investment. A short seller’s loss potential is unlimited since there is no cap on how much the stock price can rise.
“In short selling, you are not in control. Short selling is more volatile. You have to be more careful,” Harry G. Liu, Summit Securities, Inc. president, said in a phone interview.
Mr. Liu said it is important to have safeguards in place.
“The person who sold has to have the guarantee that he can buy back and pay for the difference. There should be safeguards on short selling in terms of the ability to buy back at a certain time. Because of the volatility of the price, hindi mo masabi – if you short one million, and the market is very thin, you might not be able to cover the whole thing immediately, di ba? The ability to cover is very important,” he said.
However, Mr. Liu said short selling has its role and can be very helpful for the local bourse.
“Short selling will prevent the market from crashing very fast because the person who sold will have to buy back (the shares). It can be a mechanism to be able to create buying support,” he said.
Meanwhile, Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said the introduction of short selling will help stimulate investor demand.
“New products mean new avenues for investment and more diversification,” Mr. Limlingan said in a mobile phone message.
For Timson Securities, Inc. Head of Online Trading Darren Blaine T. Pangan, short selling would be beneficial to investors since it allows them “to hedge the risk that naturally comes with a ‘long-only’ portfolio, especially when market downturns come into the story.”
“Similar to going long, shorting stocks also requires careful research and due diligence as it may also work against traders and investors,” Mr. Pangan said in a mobile phone message.
Before implementing short selling, PSE’s Mr. Monzon said there are three items that need regulatory clearance, namely: SEC’s approval of the Philippine Depository and Trust Corp. (PDTC) as a lending agent; the SEC’s approval of identified offshore assets as collateral for foreign SBL participants; and the go signal from the BIR for the use of Global Master Securities Lending Agreement (MSLA) for foreign participants instead of the local MSLA.
“While there are no more pending items on the short selling program, it has a lot of dependency on the SBL program,” Mr. Monzon said.
The Philippines is one of the worst-hit economies in East Asia, according to the World Bank. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS
THE WORLD BANK said the Philippine economy likely saw the second-worst slump in the developing East Asia and the Pacific region last year, due to the extended lockdowns and a prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.
In its Global Economics Prospects report published on Wednesday, the Washington-based multilateral lender kept its 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) forecast of an 8.1% contraction for the Philippine economy.
This is the second-steepest contraction among 14 developing economies in East Asia and the Pacific in the World Bank report, only better than Fiji’s estimated 19% GDP decline.
However, the World Bank forecast is smaller than the 8.5-9.5% slump expected by the Philippine government.
If realized, the World Bank’s estimate would be the biggest full-year economic contraction in Philippine history, after the 7% GDP contraction in 1984, based on available official data dating back to 1947.
The World Bank noted the Philippines is among the “worst-hit” economies in the region, which had “extended periods of lockdown combined with large domestic outbreaks.”
“Restrictions on economic activity to stem the pandemic have largely eased across the region, and goods exports have started to recover. Although the spread of the pandemic appears to have slowed in much of the region, infection rates remain elevated in Indonesia and the Philippines and have been increasing recently in Malaysia,” the report read.
The Health department reported 1,047 new COVID-19 infections bringing the overall tally to 480,737 as of Wednesday. This is the second highest in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia which had 788,402 COVID-19 infections as of Wednesday.
The World Bank also kept its Philippine growth forecast at 5.9% this year and 6% in 2022. This is below the Philippine government’s 6.5-7.5% growth target this year and 8-10% in 2022.
Meanwhile, the World Bank said the emerging East Asia and the Pacific region likely inched up by an average of 0.9% last year, before growing by 7.4% and 5.2% this year and next year.
Economic recovery this year is likely to be led by China which is seen growing by 7.9%, while the rest of the region could see a more prolonged recovery. — B.M.Laforga
AREIT, Inc. has acquired 9.8 hectares of land owned by Technopark Land, Inc. (TLI) in a move that could help boost its income generation capabilities.
In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the company said it purchased TLI’s land that consists of four parcels of land and is being leased by Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc. (IMI) for the next seven years.
AREIT said the land is situated in Laguna Technopark, and was bought via a deed of sale amounting to P1.1 billion, inclusive of value added tax.
“The acquisition of this land will directly contribute to AREIT’s income starting this month, adding to the earnings generated by the company’s existing buildings,” the disclosure said.
“This will increase the distributable income to its shareholders, demonstrate AREIT’s ability to deliver stable and regular dividends, and strengthen its potential for capital appreciation,” it added.
According to the disclosure, Laguna Technopark is an industrial park that spans 471 hectares. It covers portions of Biñan and Santa Rosa in Laguna, and is managed by AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp., a subsidiary of Ayala Land, Inc.
AREIT said that together with its acquisition of The 30th in Pasig last October, its portfolio will reach 344,000 square meters of leasable space, higher than the current figure of 171,000 square meters. It also puts the company’s total property value to P37 billion.
“Aside from being value-accretive to investors, AREIT’s assets promote job creation for Filipinos. AREIT’s office buildings are home to top local and global companies that employ over 50,000 Filipino workers, including this newly acquired land where over 5,000 jobs are generated,” AREIT President and Chief Executive Officer Carol Torres-Mills said.
In August last year, AREIT had its P12.33-billion initial public offering (IPO), which marked the first real estate investment trust (REIT) listing in the country. Under REIT guidelines, AREIT must reinvest its offer proceeds in the Philippines within a year from its IPO.
On Wednesday, shares in AREIT at the stock exchange fell 0.17% or five centavos to close at P28.95 per piece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
GMA NETWORK, Inc. has allocated more than P20 billion for capital expenditures (capex) and content cost in 2021 until 2023, it said on Wednesday.
In an e-mailed statement, the listed media company said the three-year capex budget covers the construction of a new building in Quezon City, continuing expansion of its digital terrestrial television reach, and several regional projects.
A “huge portion” of the budget is allocated for content production and post-production, it added.
GMA Network also said it plans to launch “early this year” a mobile digital TV receiver.
The product will enable viewers to watch TV “on the go for free with bonus interactive features,” it said.
The media giant had set aside a capex of P1.22 billion last year. In July, GMA Network Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Felipe L. Gozon said the network would defer 30% of its capex budget for the year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The company saw its attributable net income for the third quarter of 2020 jump 199.62% to P2.49 billion from the previous year’s P832.64 million.
The network’s third quarter revenues grew 37.20% to P5.91 billion.
GMA Network currently offers a variety of content through its digital channels aside from its programs on GMA-7 and GMA News TV.
“Further diversifying its programming, GMA is the new home of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for Season 96 to 101 — including the centennial year of the Philippines’ first athletic league in 2024,” the network also said.
GMA Network shares on Wednesday closed 2.18% lower at P5.82 apiece. — Arjay L. Balinbin
CONVERGE ICT Solutions, Inc. announced on Wednesday an improvement in its network, saying it now has a better ability to address outages.
In an e-mailed statement, the fiber internet service provider said it had deployed a third core node to further improve its customers’ internet experience.
“A third core backbone node will enable a robust and redundant traffic routing in the network, making it more fault tolerant,” Converge ICT said.
“Previously, the main network backbone of Converge was connected to two core nodes located in Metro Manila and Pampanga. With the completion of a third core network backbone node last December, the Converge end-to-end pure fiber network becomes stronger and more resilient with a more efficient network traffic distribution and better ability to address outages,” it explained.
The company had experienced “power-related” issues in its data center in November affecting its subscribers nationwide. Converge Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Anthony H. Uy said the company would put up another data center to address outages.
Mr. Uy said on Wednesday that Converge’s expansion efforts have been running at an “unprecedented pace.”
“We know that network capabilities need to be more, so we can serve everyone as best as we could,” he noted.
Converge recently deployed 34 broadband remote access server systems throughout Luzon to “help enhance customer internet experience as it increases reliability and decreases latency,” the company said. “Having installed in a geographically distributed architecture enables avoiding a single point of failure.”
The company announced in December that its subscribers had reached one million.
Converge ICT shares on Wednesday closed 0.80% lower at P14.84 apiece. — Arjay L. Balinbin
