Pope thanks journalists for exposing scandals

November 14, 2021 | 5:53 pm

AERIAL VIEW of St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City — ALAN LIU-UNSPLASH

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Saturday thanked journalists for helping uncover the clerical sexual abuse scandals that the Roman Catholic Church initially tried to cover up.

The pope praised what he called the “mission” of journalism and said it was vital for reporters to get out of their newsrooms and discover what was happening in the outside world to counter misinformation often found online.

“(I) thank you for what you tell us about what is wrong in the Church, for helping us not to sweep it under the carpet, and for the voice you have given to the abuse victims,” the pope said.

Pope Francis was speaking at a ceremony to honor two veteran correspondents — Philip Pullella of Reuters and Valentina Alazraki of Mexico’s Noticieros Televisa — for their long careers spent covering the Vatican.

The sexual abuse scandals hit the headlines in 2002, when US daily The Boston Globe wrote a series of articles exposing a pattern of abuse of minors by clerics and a widespread culture of concealment within the Church.

Since then, scandals have rocked the Church in myriad countries, most recently France where a major investigation found in October that French clerics had sexually abused more than 200,000 children over the past 70 years.

Critics accused Pope Francis of responding too slowly to the scandals after he became Pontiff in 2013 and of believing the word of his fellow clergy over that of the abuse victims.

But in 2018 he tried to address past mistakes, publicly admitting he was wrong about a case in Chile and vowing that the Church would never again seek to cover up such wrongdoing. In 2019 he called for an “all-out battle” against a crime that should be “erased from the face of the earth.” Pope Francis on Saturday said journalists had a mission “to explain to the world, to make it less obscure, to make those who live in it less fear it.”

To do that, he said reporters needed to “escape the tyranny” of always being online. “Not everything can be told through email, the phone, or a screen,” he said. — Reuters

Shipowners make payoffs to free vessels held by Indonesian navy near Singapore

November 14, 2021 | 5:51 pm

Singapore-skyline-720p — A VIEW of the city skyline in Singapore, Dec. 31, 2020 — REUTERS

SINGAPORE — More than a dozen shipowners have made payments of about $300,000 apiece to release vessels detained by the Indonesian navy, which said they were anchored illegally in Indonesian waters near Singapore, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The dozen sources include shipowners, crew and maritime security sources all involved in the detentions and payments, which they say were either made in cash to naval officers or via bank transfer to intermediaries who told them they represented the Indonesian navy.

Reuters was not able to independently confirm that payments were made to naval officers or establish who the final recipients of the payments were.

The detentions and payments were first reported by Lloyd’s List Intelligence, an industry website.

Rear Admiral Arsyad Abdullah, the Indonesian naval fleet commander for the region, said in a written response to Reuters’ questions that no payments were made to the navy and also that it did not employ any intermediaries in legal cases.

“It is not true that the Indonesian navy received or asked for payment to release the ships,” Abdullah said.

He said there had been an increasing number of detentions of ships in the past three months for anchoring without permission in Indonesian waters, deviating from the sailing route or stopping mid-course for an unreasonable amount of time. All the detentions were in accordance with Indonesian law, Abdullah said.

The Singapore Strait, one of the busiest waterways in the world, is crowded with vessels waiting for days or weeks to dock at Singapore, a regional shipping hub where the COVID-19 pandemic has led to long delays. Ships have for years anchored in waters to the east of the Strait while they wait to port, believing they are in international waters and therefore not responsible for any port fees, two maritime analysts and two shipowners said.

The Indonesian navy says this area comes within its territorial waters and it intends to crack down harder on vessels anchoring there without a license.

A spokesperson for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, a government agency, declined to comment.

CRAMPED DETENTION
Around 30 ships, including tankers, bulk carriers and a pipeline layer, have been detained by the Indonesian navy in the last three months and the majority have since been released after making payments of $250,000 to $300,000, according to two shipowners and two maritime security sources involved.

Making these payments is cheaper than potentially losing out on revenue from ships carrying valuable cargo, like oil or grain, if they are tied up for months while a case is heard in Indonesian court, two shipowners said.

Two crew members of detained ships said armed navy sailors approached their vessels on warships, boarded them and escorted the ships to naval bases on Batam or Bintan, Indonesian islands south of Singapore, across the Strait.

The ship captains and often crew members were detained in cramped, sweltering rooms, sometimes for weeks, until shipowners organised cash to be delivered or a bank transfer was made to an intermediary of the navy, two detained crew members said.

Abdullah, the Indonesian naval officer, said ship crew members were not detained.

“During the legal process, all crew of the ships were on board their ships, except for questioning at the naval base. After the questioning, they were sent back to the ships,” he said.

Stephen Askins, a London-based maritime lawyer who has advised owners whose vessels have been detained in Indonesia, said the navy was entitled to protect its waters but if a ship was detained, then some form of prosecution should follow.

“In a situation where the Indonesian navy seems to be detaining vessels with an intention to extort money it is difficult to see how such a detention could be lawful,” Askins told Reuters in an email. He declined to give details about his clients.

Marine Lieutenant Colonel La Ode Muhamad Holib, an Indonesian navy spokesperson, told Reuters in a written response to questions that some vessels detained in the last three months had been released without charge due to insufficient evidence.

Five ship captains were being prosecuted and two others had been given short prison sentences and fined 100 million rupiah ($7,000) and 25 million rupiah, respectively, Holib said, declining to elaborate further on the specific cases. — Reuters

Duterte daughter to run for VP, allies herself with dictator’s son

November 13, 2021 | 3:20 pm

The daughter of Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte will run for vice-president next year in tandem with the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, ending months of speculation about her political ambition.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who dropped her reelection bid last week, has allied herself with Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., who is running for president , Victor D. Rodriguez, his lawyer and chief of staff, sad by telephone on Saturday.

The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, Mr. Marcos’s party, adopted Ms. Carpio, 43, as its vice-presidential bet for the May elections, according to a copy of a resolution passed by the party.

The presidential daughter, who had rejected calls for her to run for a national position, registered her candidacy for vice-president under the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) through a representative, party spokesman Ryan Ponce Pacpaco told reporters in a Viber message.

Ms. Carpio substituted for a party member who is a relative unknown. Substitution is allowed until Nov. 15.

She took her oath last week as a member of Lakas-CMD, which is led by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo — a known powerbroker in Philippine politics.
Political analysts have said Mr. Duterte could not afford to lose support from the Marcoses because their supporters backed his presidential bid in 2016.
Civic groups earlier asked the Commission on Elections to disqualify the younger Mr. Marcos from the presidential race after a trial court convicted him for tax evasion in the 1990s.

More than 70,000 people were jailed, about 34,000 were tortured and more than 3,000 people died
under his father’s martial rule, according to Amnesty International.

The dictator ended martial law in January 1981, but it wasn’t until five years later that he was toppled by a popular street uprising that sent him and his family into exile in the United States.

The younger Mr. Marcos was among the first to return to the Philippines from exile in 1991.
“Any Duterte run for the top executive posts, whether for president or vice-president, does not offer any comfort for those who have been violated by this administration,” human rights group Karapatan said in a statement.

“What is in the offing, together with a Marcos bid, are the dire threats to democracy and freedoms in the country, with these repressive and anti-people dynasties attempting to perpetuate their families’ power in the elections,” it added.

Analysts earlier said the ruling camp might be doing everything to remain in power to protect Mr. Duterte from potential lawsuits.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ordered an investigation of Mr. Duterte’s crackdown on illegal drugs that has killed thousands, saying crimes against humanity might have been committed. — with Norman P. Aquino

Philippines to offer P30B in retail treasury bonds

November 12, 2021 | 9:01 pm

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) will offer peso-denominated, five-and-a-half-year retail treasury bonds (RTB) in a minimum principal amount of P30 billion ($603 million), with a swap offer for bonds falling due in 2022, it said on Friday.

The bond offer will be formally launched on Nov. 16 and follows the government’s first onshore retail dollar bond issue that raised $1.6 billion in September, helping boost funding for government programs to support the economy’s recovery.

The papers will be issued on Dec. 2 and will mature by 2027.

The BTr said they will suspend the auction of five-year and seven-year Treasury bonds on Nov. 16 and 23 to give way for the latest RTB offering.

This is the second RTB offering for the year following the three-year RTBs that were sold in February. The government raised P463.3 billion from the offering, which was the second-biggest RTB sale following the record P516.3 billion sold in five-year bonds in 2020.

The Treasury is offering these bonds targeted for small investors that want low-risk, higher-yielding savings instruments backed by the national government.

Minimum investments for the RTBs start at P5,000 and in multiples of P5,000 consequently.

A trader said he expects the upcoming RTB sales to be well-received.

“The tenor of 5.5 year is quite expected as the movement in the past week was pronounced on 5 to 7-year space,” he said in a Viber message.

Yields on the five and seven-year Treasury bonds increased by 24.34 and 12.89 basis points week on week to 4.1571% and 4.6372% on Nov. 12, based on PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates as of Nov. 5 published on the Philippine Dealing System’s website.

For 2021, the government wants to borrow P3 trillion from local and external sources to plug a budget deficit seen to hit 9.3% of the country’s gross domestic product. — Reuters with Luz Wendy T. Noble

Philippines to impose COVID-19 vaccine mandate for on-site workers

November 12, 2021 | 8:58 pm

workers-vaccine — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

The Philippine government will require employees, both public and private, doing on-site work to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but only in areas with a stable supply of vaccines.

Palace spokesman Herminio “Harry” L. Roque, Jr. said in a statement on Friday that the vaccine mandate will be implemented in areas with a stable supply of COVID-19 vaccine starting Dec. 1. He did not identify these areas.

“Eligible employees who remain to be unvaccinated may not be terminated but they shall be required to undergo regular RT-PCR testing, or antigen tests, at their own expense,” he said.

The vaccine mandate shall also apply to workers in public transportation, Mr. Roque said.

He said the national government also allows public and private establishments to deny service to individuals who are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated “despite being eligible for vaccination.”

“Frontline and emergency services, on the other hand, shall continue to render assistance to all persons, regardless of vaccination status,” he said.

Employees who will be vaccinated during working hours should not be considered absent upon sufficient proof of a confirmed vaccination schedule, Mr. Roque said. Only medical clearance issued by a government health office and birth certificate shall serve as sufficient and valid proof of ineligibility for vaccination.

“To ramp up demand for vaccination, local government units (LGUs) are strongly enjoined to issue orders or ordinances providing incentives for fully vaccinated individuals, and for business establishments to require proof of vaccination before individuals and/or entities may undertake or qualify for certain activities,” he said.

On Thursday, Mr. Roque said 66.8 million doses of coronavirus vaccines had been given out as of Nov. 10. Nearly 30.5 million people or 39.51% of adult Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, he added.

In the National Capital Region, 91.10% or 8.9 million out of the 9.8-million residents have been fully inoculated against COVID-19.

Business groups earlier urged the government to allow the private sector to impose stricter requirements on unvaccinated employees and patrons, and to decline unvaccinated job applicants.

George T. Barcelon, chairman of the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc, warned that the latest vaccination mandate may lead to a decrease in the country’s workforce.

“Certain sectors might see a decrease, but not so much. It might happen because some are asked not to come in to work,” he said by telephone.

Mr. Barcelon said company officials who are afraid of losing skilled workers may shoulder the costs of their unvaccinated employees’ coronavirus tests.

He said the government should consider subsidizing the COVID-19 tests since the number of people who refuse to be vaccinated has declined. “It must show a bit of heart.”

A poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations from Sept. 27 to 30 showed that 64% of adult Filipinos were now willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, up from 55% in June.

Mr. Roque has said lawmakers need to pass a law to make mandatory COVID-19 vaccination legal.

A bill seeking to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory is still pending at the House of Representatives.

Philippine health authorities have said compulsory COVID-19 vaccination would help the country achieve herd immunity. The Philippines targets to inoculate at least 50% of its adult population by yearend.

October dollar reserves inch up

November 12, 2021 | 8:53 pm

By Luz Wendy T. Noble, Reporter

The country’s foreign exchange buffers slightly increased as of end-October as the value of the central bank’s gold holdings rose.

Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Friday showed gross international reserves (GIR) went up by 1.3% to $107.946 billion as of end-October from $106.596 billion as of end-September.

It also jumped 4% from the $103.802 billion a year earlier.

“The month-on-month increase in the GIR level reflected mainly the National Government’s net foreign currency deposits with the BSP and upward adjustment in the value of the BSP’s gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market,” the central bank said in a statement.

The end-October GIR level is enough to cover 7.8 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.4 times based on residual maturity.

It is also equivalent to 10.8 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

An ample level of foreign exchange buffers safeguards an economy from market volatility and is an assurance of the country’s capability to pay debts in the event of an economic downturn.

The end-October GIR’s increase may have reflected the proceeds from the government’s retail dollar bonds (RDBs), Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

The two-week offering of the first-ever RDBs ended on Oct. 1. The government raised $1.593 billion (P80.91 billion) from the bond offering, which was sought to support the country’s widening budget deficit amid the pandemic.

GIR in the form of foreign investments jumped 1.74% to $91.272 billion as of end-October from $89.704 billion a month earlier and by 4.4% to $87.415 billion a year ago.

The BSP’s gold reserves was valued at $9.13 billion, 3.2% higher than the $8.848 billion as of end-September, but 21% lower than the $11.65 billion as of end-October 2020.

The Philippines’ reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also inched up 0.13% to $787.3 million as of end-October from 786.2 million a month ago, but lower by 1.36% than the $798.2 million in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the country’s special drawing rights — or the amount the country can tap from the IMF – was unchanged at $3.965 billion for the second straight month but more than three times bigger than the $1.206 billion a year earlier.

On the other hand, buffers in the form of foreign currency deposits fell 15% month on month to $2.792 billion from $3.292 billion, although it went up 2.23% from the $2.731 billion as of end-October 2020.

The ample level of GIR will be a safeguard in cases of currency volatility, ING Bank-NV Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said.

“Concerns about the sharp drawdown of GIR remain but so far the central bank has helped maintain a relatively stable currency as the peso moves along based on its current macroeconomic fundamentals,” he said in an email.

The peso has weakened versus the greenback over the past few months as imports have gradually recovered and with oil prices inching higher. However, the peso is expected to get stronger due to remittance inflows ahead of the holiday season.

At its close of P50.165 per dollar on Thursday, the peso has retreated by 4.46% from its P48.02 finish on Dec. 29, 2020.

Companies’ fund-raising activities as well as seasonal remittance uptick are expected to lift the country’s GIR in the last few months of 2021, Mr. Ricafort said.

The dollar buffers are expected to reach $117 billion by end-2021 before decreasing to $115 billion by end-2022, based on BSP projections.

Meralco rates to increase in November

November 12, 2021 | 8:50 pm

By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter

Residential customers of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will see an increase in their electric power bills in November as generation charges went up.

In a statement on Friday, Meralco said the overall rate for a typical household jumped by P0.3256 per kilowatt-hour (/kWh) to P9.4630/kWh in November compared to the P9.1374/kWh in October “due to higher generation charge.”

Residential households consuming 200 kWh will see a P65 increase in their monthly power bills, while those consuming 300 kWh, 400 kWh, and 500 kWh will see their bills go up by P98, P130, and P163, respectively.

According to Meralco, the generation charge for November increased by P0.2911/kWh to P5.3346/kWh due to the shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas facility.

“The shutdown resulted in higher costs of power from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs). The Malampaya facility maintenance shutdown from October 2 to 25 resulted to lesser available supply in the WESM,” Meralco said.

With this, Meralco said the tight supply in the Luzon Grid kept WESM prices high and triggered the secondary price cap on Sept. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 21 and 22, which made up 8.39% of the October supply month.

“The Luzon grid was also put on Yellow Alert on Oct. 20 due to forced outages of several power plants. As a result, WESM charges went up by P1.7073 per kWh. Charges from IPPs also increased by P0.8186/kWh,” Meralco said.

In contrast, charges from power supply agreements (PSA) declined by P0.2841/kWh as a result of higher excess energy deliveries.

“For October supply, WESM, IPPs and PSAs accounted for 13.9, 37.4, and 48.7 percent, respectively, of Meralco’s energy requirement,” the utility giant said.

Meralco said the transmission charge for residential customers slipped by P0.0403/kWh as a result of lower ancillary service and power delivery service charges.

The utility giant added that taxes, system loss, and other charges increased by P0.0748/kWh.

“The collection of the universal charge-environmental charge amounting to P0.0025/kWh remains suspended, as directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). Distribution, supply, and metering charges which are the only costs that go to Meralco have remained unchanged for 76 months, after registering a reduction back in July 2015,” the utility giant said.

STAGGERED INCREASE

Meanwhile, Meralco said the generation charge increase for November could have been higher, but was reduced in a bid to soften the impact to consumers.

“The distribution utility coordinated with some of its suppliers to defer collection of portions of their generation costs. These deferred charges will subsequently be billed on a staggered basis over the next four months as directed by the ERC,” Meralco said.

Lawrence S. Fernandez, Meralco vice president and head of utility economics, said in a virtual briefing that the increase in generation charge should have been 81 centavos/kWh but was reduced by 52 centavos to 29 centavos/kWh instead.

Mr. Fernandez said the 52 centavos/kWh supposed to be charged for November will be divided into the next four monthly power bills of customers, with an increase of 13 centavos/kWh per month from Dec. 2021 until March 2022.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Ayala Logistics to acquire 60% stake in Air21 Group

November 12, 2021 | 8:46 pm

Ayala Logistics Holdings Corp. (AC Logistics) is acquiring a 60% stake in Air 21 Holdings, Inc. (AHI), a company owned by former Customs chief Alberto D. Lina, for P6 billion.

Ayala Corp. told the stock exchange on Friday that its subsidiary signed the investment agreement for the 60% interest in AHI with Mr. Lina, the latter’s founder and chairman.

AC Logistics is a new subsidiary created by Ayala Corp. for its investments in the logistics sector.

“The supply chain disruptions and lockdowns we faced in 2020 strengthened our conviction in investing in the logistics sector, which we started back in 2017. More than ever, logistics is a critical component of trade, particularly as we recover from the effects of the pandemic,” Rene D. Almendras, president of AC Logistics, said in a separate statement.

AC Logistics will subscribe to AHI’s primary shares and secondary shares, totaling over 2.6 billion shares.

Mr. Lina is set to consolidate his equity interest in Airfreight 2100, Inc., Air 2100, Inc., U-Freight Phils., Inc., U-Ocean, Inc., Cargohaus, Inc., LGC Logistics, Inc., Waste & Resources Management, Inc., and Integrated Waste Management, Inc. under AHI.

The eight companies under offer logistics services such as door-to-door service deliveries, international and domestic freight forwarding, and warehousing and waste logistics management.

“To achieve the financial close, there are conditions precedents that Mr. Lina will need to fulfill which includes the completion of the consolidation of Mr. Lina’s equity interest in the operating companies in AHI, completion of due diligence with results satisfactory to AC Logistics, and getting regulatory approvals,” AC said in its disclosure.

The Ayala-led logistics firm “aspires to become a world-class logistics player.”

“The partnership with AHI gives AC Logistics an end-to-end logistics platform that is capable of serving the diverse supply chain requirements of high-growth industries and complements Ayala’s initial foray in logistics through Entrego,” Ayala Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said in a statement.

For his part, Mr. Lina said the Air21 Group’s partnership with AC Logistics will be “transformative” for the industry.

“Ayala’s businesses have proven leadership in their respective industries. The management expertise from the Ayala group combined with our extensive experience in logistics will be transformative not just for our group, but for the industry as well,” Mr. Lina said. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Ayala Corp. nets P9 billion in Q3

November 12, 2021 | 8:43 pm

Ayala Corp. booked a third-quarter net income of P9 billion, which got a boost from the divestment of thermal assets and Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc.’s (AC Health) acquisition of a hospital operator.

In a statement, the listed conglomerate said core net income went up

27% year-on-year to P6 billion, fueled by higher contributions from its property, telecommunications, energy, and healthcare businesses.

Quarter on quarter, Ayala’s core net income went down by two percent as more stringent quarantine restrictions were imposed in August.

For the first nine months, Ayala’s reported net income surged 70% to P19.4 billion, lifted by AC Health’s acquisition of Qualimed Health Network and P3.5 billion proceeds from the sale of its stake in the GN Power Kauswagan coal facility in September.

Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Globe Telecom, Inc., and AC Energy, “posted better results” in the January-to-September period.

“The improving business environment demonstrates how organizations have adapted and readjusted themselves more than a year into the pandemic,” Ayala President and Chief Executive Officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said in a statement on Friday.

“With the pace of inoculation ramping up, we look forward to a further reopening of the economy and sustaining this positive trajectory,” he added.

Ayala Corp. reported its nine-month core profit, which also excludes divestment gains, higher loan loss provisions, remeasurement loss, and the net retroactive effect of corporate tax incentives, was flat at P19.3 billion.

“Likewise netting out divestment gains incurred in 2019, core net income translates to 83% of Ayala’s pre-pandemic level,” the company said.

Revenues for the period went up by 19% to P182.5 billion on the back of improved topline results of ALI, Globe, AC Energy, and AC Industrial Technology Holdings, Inc. (AC Industrials).

ALI’s nine-month profit rose 35% to P8.59 billion, as revenues jumped 15% to P72.6 billion.

BPI reported its net income went up by 1.8% to P17.5 billion, owing to lower loss provisions.

Globe booked a 13% higher profit at P18 billion due to increased gross service revenue and lower non-operating charges.

AC Energy’s net income improved by 22% to P4.3 billion, which was driven by additional operating capacity and recovering power demand.

Manila Water Co.’s net income also went up by 6% to P3.4 billion as it no longer recognized account provisions and adjustments, both of which were accounted for in the same period last year.

AC Industrials, on the other hand, slashed its net loss to P1.2 billion from last year’s P2.1 billion as it recorded better results in its subsidiaries. Listed Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc. saw better utilization in its plants and recovering markets, cutting its net loss to $5.3 million from $11.8 million.

AREIT

In a separate statement, the conglomerate’s real estate investment trust (REIT), AREIT, Inc., reported a 49% net income growth to P1.49 billion, while revenues improved by 46% to P2.12 billion.

AREIT attributed its positive performance in the first nine months to stable rental escalations and the income contributions of its new properties. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

LT Group books P6B profit in 3rd quarter

November 12, 2021 | 8:40 pm

LT Group, Inc. (LTG) saw its third quarter attributable net income improve by 2.3% to P6.22 billion year-on-year, despite a dip in revenues.

In a regulatory filing on Friday, the conglomerate owned by tycoon Lucio Tan reported its gross revenues went down to P22.8 billion from P22.85 billion a year ago.

For the first nine months, LTG’s net attributable income slumped by 38% to P9.95 billion from P16.10 billion a year ago, due to the higher credit losses provisioning of its banking arm and its unrecognized gain from transferring real estate assets.

LTG said its tobacco business accounted for 33% of its total attributable income at P13.27 billion, while Tanduay Distillers, Inc. (TDI) made up 10% with P998 million.

Asia Brewery, Inc. (ABI) and Eton Properties Philippines Inc. contributed 4% of the total, with ABI accounting for P411 million and Eton Properties for P366 million. LTG’s 30.9% stake in Victorias Milling Company, Inc. accounted for 2% with P169 million.

LTG said listed Philippine National Bank (PNB) had P5.21 billion loss contribution after a P33.6-billion gain from the transfer of real estate properties into PNB Holdings, Corp. was not recognized at the consolidated parent level.

However, the transfer of properties was taken into account under the pooling method, leading PNB to report a nine-month income of P24.43 billion. PNB’s net interest income, however, inched down by 1% to P25.76 billion.

Meanwhile, its tobacco business reported a net income of P13.32 billion in the first nine months, up 9% from last year’s P12.17 billion.

TDI’s net income posted an 8% decline to P1 billion from P1.09 billion in the same period last year due to higher production costs and operating expenses, coupled with lower selling prices for bioethanol.

ABI, on the other hand, saw its net income surge to P411 million from last year’s P4 million. LTG said ABI no longer posted losses from the AB Heineken joint venture, as ABI will begin to brew and distribute Heineken and Tiger beers in the country.

Meanwhile, Eton Properties recorded a 42% profit drop to P367 million from P633 million last year as residential unit sales and leasing income declined.

Shares of LTG at the stock exchange went up by 2.11% or 21 centavos to close at P10.18 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

JG Summit swings to loss in Q3

November 12, 2021 | 8:38 pm

JG Summit Holdings, Inc. slumped back into the red in the third quarter, as its businesses were affected by the reimposed strict lockdowns and higher costs.

In a regulatory filing, the Gokongwei-led conglomerate reported a P3.38-billion net loss attributable to equity holders of the parent company in the July to September period, a reversal of the P844.1 million income a year ago.

However, revenues grew by 9% to P50.41 billion in the third quarter.

“Amid the reimplementation of stricter lockdown given the Delta variant, the company’s pace of recovery decelerated from a 24% year-on-year registered growth in 2Q21, which came from a low base given the onset of the pandemic last year,” the company said in a separate statement.

JG Summit said “record-breaking cost inflation” affected Cebu Air, Inc., JG Summit Petrochemicals Group (JGSPG), and Universal Robina Corp. (URC), which led to narrower margins in the third quarter.

“Our margins will be affected by inflationary pressures driven by higher oil and input prices as well as the devaluation of the peso. Our plan is to manage these headwinds through better pricing and cost management measures,” Lance Y. Gokongwei, president and chief executive officer of JG Summit, said in the statement.

In the first nine months, JG Summit reported a net loss of P2.44 billion, a reversal of the P123.85-million attributable income a year ago.

Year-to-date, JG Summit’s consolidated revenues grew by 9% to P167.9 billion.

“The topline growth was mainly driven by expanded capacity and improved utilization rates of its petrochemical plants, the contribution from its Chengdu real estate project, higher earnings from its core investments in Meralco and PLDT, and the resilient topline of its food, banking, and office segments,” the company said.

It noted all subsidiaries recorded growth except for Cebu Air, which operates budget carrier Cebu Pacific. Commercial passenger flights remained limited for most of the nine-month period.

URC ended the nine-month period with a 40% increase in net income to P10.5 billion due to the sale of “idle land” and the impact of the government’s corporate tax incentives. Meanwhile, its revenues inched up by 1% to P85.8 billion, driven by sales from its international segment and the commodities group.

Robinsons Land Corp.’s (RLC) income surged 44% to P6.3 billion, thanks to a 39% rise in revenues to P30.1 billion.

Meanwhile, Cebu Air incurred a net loss of P22 billion due to soaring fuel prices, increased expenses on maintenance, higher interest and accretion expense worth P1.8 billion. It also incurred a P1.8-billion foreign exchange loss.

JGSPG, meanwhile, narrowed its net loss to P423 million in the first nine months from last year’s P1.9 billion as revenues surged 88% to P27.2 billion.

Robinsons Bank Corp. saw a 20% increase in net income to P942 million, while revenues “remained stable” at P6.9 billion.

Meanwhile, for its core investments, JG Summit said its equity earnings in Manila Electric Co. amounted to P4.7 billion, P1 billion from equity net earnings in Singapore Land Group. PLDT, Inc. also increased its dividends to P82 per share, letting JG Summit receive a total of P2 billion in dividends.

“Although [the third quarter] presented challenges to some of our subsidiaries, we have seen green shoots in the market and recovery in consumer demand for products and services as vaccination rollouts accelerate and mobility restrictions ease starting November,” Mr. Gokongwei said.

“We anticipate these developments to positively impact our airline, hotels, malls, and food segments,” he added.

Mr. Gokongwei added that JG Summit “remains optimistic” on the developments and trusts that the company’s diversified portfolio will lead its recovery in 2022 and its pre-pandemic levels by 2023.

Shares of JG Summit on Friday rose 1.61% or 95 centavos to close at P60 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

CLI on track to exceed earnings growth target

November 12, 2021 | 8:35 pm

Cebu Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) posted an attributable income of P535.96 million in the third quarter, bringing the nine-month figure to P1.85 billion.

In a statement, CLI said its nine-month net attributable income has already surpassed its full-year income of P1.845 billion. For the period ending September, the profit was 23% higher than the P1.5 billion posted during the same period in 2020.

Consolidated revenues grew 34% to P7.66 billion as of end-September.

In a separate statement, the company said the higher revenues was attributed to “robust sales” and rapid construction progress of its projects as sites are operating at 100%.

CLI said majority of its third quarter revenues were attributed to its Casa Mira brand at 44%, while the mid-market Garden Series accounted for 30%, and its high-end Premier Masters accounted for 24%.

“We are poised to exceed the yearend earnings guidance [of] 15% to 20% that we gave earlier this year,” CLI Chief Operating Officer Jose Franco B. Soberano said in a briefing on Thursday. CLI previously said that they want to exceed the P8.3 billion consolidated revenues reported in 2020.

The company said gross profit margins are “under a little bit of pressure” due to input costs from the higher price of raw materials but this has been offset by its sales.

“We have not pushed out price increases to the buyers but it is something that we are looking at very carefully in order to preserve our sales momentum as well,” CLI Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Beauregard Grant L. Cheng said during the briefing.

The company sold out 74% of all of seven project launches in 2021, which are collectively worth P12 billion.

Meanwhile, in all of its projects, the company said it already sold out 90% of its inventory.

For the fourth quarter, CLI will be launching over five more projects collectively worth P7.2 billion with 2,541 units.

In Davao, CLI is looking to launch P1.5-billion Velmiro Heights, which will add 362 units to its inventory. It will also open Casa Mira Homes, worth P2.3 billion with 837 units.

The company will also launch a P1.3-billion Casa Mira Towers condominium in Bacolod, which will have 723 units.

Over in Cebu, the company aims to launch 325-unit BL Ramos condo worth P1.1 billion. It also said it plans to introduce its first beachfront condominium project, Costa Mira Mactan Cebu, worth P1 billion with 294 units.

CLI said it has so far spent P8.7 billion in capital expenditures, P1.2 billion of which were spent for land acquisitions.

CLI’s CFO Mr. Cheng said they are looking at earmarking P13 billion to P14 billion for 2022, which is in line with the company’s plans for project launches and strategic landbanking activities.

In total, the company has 105 hectares in its landbank so far, after buying 40 more hectares during the period. CLI said it is in talks to acquire an additional 70 hectares.

CLI shares at the stock exchange went up by 2.44% or seven centavos to close at P2.94 apiece on Friday.

1...7,2717,2727,273...14,285 Page 7,272 of 14,285