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ABIC settles 2nd payment for PNB’s nonlife arm

ALLIED BANKERS Insurance Corp. (ABIC) has settled its second payment for its purchase of Philippine National Bank’s (PNB) nonlife insurance arm PNB General Insurers Co., Inc. (PNBGen).

The Tan-led bank told the local stock exchange on Monday that it received P450.7 million for the second installment payment from ABIC for the bank’s 65.75% stake in its nonlife insurance arm PNBGen.

The payment will be completed in three tranches, with the last one worth P450.7 million due on June 21.

“The sale of PNBGen shares is consistent with the bank’s objective to exit the nonlife insurance business being a non-core undertaking,” PNB said in the disclosure.

“The bank will remain in the bancassurance space to support its strategic growth plans and at the same time eliminate insurance underwriting risk,” it added.

PNB said proceeds of the transaction will be used for general business purposes.

PNBGen is the Tan-led bank’s nonlife insurance arm that offers coverage for fire and allied perils, marine, motor car, aviation, surety, engineering, and accident insurance, among others.

Meanwhile, ABIC is the non-life insurance arm of LT Group, Inc. The move to sell PBGen is part of LT Group’s efforts to consolidate its nonlife insurance businesses.

The share purchase agreement worth P1.523 billion was finalized on Dec. 29. The initial payment worth P521.8 million was also settled that day, followed by the first installment worth P100.156 million in January.

Based on net premiums written, PNBGen ranked 24th (P623.89 million) in 2019 while the ABIC placed 28th (P473 million), according to data from the Insurance Commission.

PNB saw its net income slump by 73% year on year to P2.6 billion in 2020 after increasing its loan loss reserves to P16.9 billion, five times higher than the year-ago level. It said it allocated loan loss reserves for the worst-hit sectors during the pandemic, including real estate, transportation, wholesale and retail trade to manage risk exposures.

Shares in PNB went down by 40 centavos to close at P22.85 each on Monday. — B.M. Laforga

FPH buys 712 million Lopez Holdings shares

SOME 712.2 million common shares or 15.68% of Lopez Holdings Corp.’s total issued and outstanding common shares were tendered and bought by First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH) through a block sale at the exchange on March 18.

FPH has submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission its fourth amended final tender offer report on its acquisition of common shares from parent company Lopez Holdings.

The transaction amounted to P2.74 billion. FPH purchased the shares at the tender offer price of P3.85 apiece.

FPH waived the tender offer minimum prerequisite of 908.46 million issued and outstanding common shares, which is 20% of the total issued and outstanding offer shares of Lopez Holdings.

“Originally, there were other prerequisites pertaining to the delisting of the common shares of [Lopez Holdings]. Since the voluntary delisting of the common shares will no longer be pursued, these prerequisites will no longer be imposed by [FPH],” FPH said.

Lopez Holdings backed out of its plan to voluntarily delist from the exchange in January after FPH amended its tender offer.

The delisting of Lopez Holdings was dependent on the number of shares FPH will acquire.

Lopez Holdings planned to voluntarily delist if FPH acquired 45.56% of its total issued and outstanding shares. There was also a possibility of Lopez Holdings involuntary delisting if it falls below the minimum public ownership requirement of 10%.

The Lopez family’s Lopez Holdings is the holding firm for investments in broadcasting and cable, telecommunications, power generation and distribution, and banking. FPH is the parent firm for energy investments.

FPH shares at the stock exchange declined by 2.54% on Monday to close at P69.05 from P70.85 apiece, while shares of Lopez Holdings inched down by 0.29% or P0.01 to end at P3.39. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Lemcon PHL moves to ALogis warehouse

LEMCON (PHILIPPINES), Inc. signed a deal with AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp. (ALLHC) to take up 17,000 square meters (sq.m.) of gross leasable space in ALogis Biñan, Laguna Technopark.

The asset management solutions company will occupy 10 units of ready-built facilities for exclusive storage of infrastructure equipment for a telecommunications company. Lemcon is currently preparing the facilities for its workshops and warehouse space.

With an initial 11,000 sq.m., Lemcon is targeting to begin operations in April. Turnover of the remaining 6,000 sq.m. of the ready-built facilities is expected to be completed by July 2021.

“In our pursuit for excellence and client satisfaction, we needed to upgrade our warehouse facilities. Hence, we chose ALogis Biñan. A bright warehouse space, the facilities are located within an ideal industrial estate, with outstanding utilities and convenient access to major transport routes. Complemented with a clear and fair contract, we’re convinced that the move to ALogis Biñan in Laguna Technopark will be helpful for our sales organization and other long-term objectives,” Harsyl R. Tan, vice-president of finance at Lemcon (Philippines), said.

Laguna Technopark, which is owned and managed by ALLHC, expects 160 workers to be hired after Lemcon completes its relocation.

Other ALogis sites are located in Naic, Porac, Calamba, and Manila. ALogis Naic broke ground earlier this year.

Entertainment News (03/23/21)

Clara Benin joins Sony Music’s new Southeast Asian label

PHILIPPINE singer-songwriter Clara Benin has signed on with Sony Music Entertainment’s new Southeast Asian label, OFFMUTE. The label “offers emerging artists from across all genres a dedicated platform to pursue their own creative vision. The new label will support Southeast Asian artists in amplifying their music and building a strong pan-regional audience base through enhanced promotional, marketing and artist development, drawn from Sony Music’s global expertise and resources,” a press release explains. Signed alongside Benin are Indonesian alt-pop singer Mezzaluna and Malaysian recording star Liesl-mae. Clara Benin has amassed more than 25 million streams on combined music platforms Spotify and YouTube, and has headlined local and international music festivals, and won multiple awards including Wishclusive Contemporary Folk Performance of the Year for her song “I Rose up Slowly.” Singer-songwriter Mezzaluna, who comes from strong musical lineage, is known for her “deep, soulful vocals and an intensely personal storytelling style.” She will be releasing her debut single this year, which OFFMUTE will be amplifying across the region. Malaysia’s Liesl-mae is “making waves in the Malaysian music scene with her soothing, almost-lullaby-like tunes.” For details on OFFMUTE and its artists, visit https://www.facebook.com/offmuteASIA.

Five Films For Freedom now available via British Council

FIVE Films for Freedom, the world’s largest LGBTIQ+ digital campaign, is now available to watch on British Council’s global digital networks until Mar. 28. This year’s five short films from India, Spain, Sweden, the USA, and the UK explore emerging sexuality, trans-activism, homophobia, and genderless love. The films are free to view on British Council’s Arts YouTube channel. The British Council in the Philippines is partnering with the Film Development Council of the Philippines to bring this festival to audiences in the country. In the Philippines, Five Films for Freedom was viewed 7,000 times last year, premiering online a week after the country was placed under lockdown. This year’s campaign acknowledges that links between global LGBTIQ+ communities may have been adversely impacted by restrictions arising from COVID-19. In response, the campaign asks audiences to share the films widely using the hashtag #FiveFilmsForFreedom. Viewers are also invited to vote for their Five Films Favorite on the Five Films For Freedom homepage and select the film that resonates most for them via a web poll. The winning film will be announced on British Council social media channels prior to Mar. 28. The Five Films For Freedom 2021 are: Bodies of Desire (India), Indian poet Panikar’s work is the basis for this visual, poetic film capturing four sets of lovers in a sensual celebration of genderless love and desire; Land of the Free (Sweden) follows David and friends as they celebrate his birthday with a swim at the beach but the good mood swiftly changes after two straight couples walk by and laugh; Pure (USA) is about a young Black girl grappling with her queer identity and ideas of “purity”; Trans Happiness is Real (UK) is a documentary about transgender activists take to the streets of Oxford, England to fight anti-trans sentiments using the power of graffiti and street art; and, Victoria (Spain) which follows a bittersweet reunion between a trans woman and her ex, sparking tension and long buried resentment. Some films may contain nudity or sexual elements. Viewer discretion is advised.

RCBC closes sustainability bond offer

DEMAND for Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s offer of sustainability bonds reached P17.87 billion. — BW FILE PHOTO

RIZAL COMMERCIAL Banking Corp. (RCBC) has closed its offering of dual-tenor fixed-rate ASEAN sustainability bonds, with the proceeds to be used for general funding purposes and for financing eligible projects under its sustainable finance framework.

Demand for the peso-denominated papers reached P17.87 billion as of Friday, more than 5.9 times as much as RCBC’s initial target issue size of P3 billion, the bank said in a filing with the local bourse on Monday.

The 2.5- and 5.25-year securities will be issued at a fixed rate of 3.2% and 4.18%, respectively.

“Proceeds from the offering will be used to support the bank’s asset growth, refinance maturing liabilities, other general funding purposes as well as eligible loans defined in the bank’s Sustainable Finance Framework,” RCBC said.

The debt papers were offered from March 12 to March 19. They are expected to be listed on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. on March 31.

The sustainability bonds are part of RCBC’s P100-billion bond and commercial paper program. The papers also marked the bank’s sixth foray into the peso bond market.

Standard Chartered Bank served as the sole lead arranger and bookrunner for the transaction while RCBC Capital Corp. was the financial advisor for the bond issuance. Both parties were selling agents for the papers.

RCBC earlier sold P15 billion in ASEAN green bonds, P8 billion in ASEAN sustainability bonds, and a cumulative P31.15 billion from other bond offerings.

The bank’s net income decreased by 7% to P5 billion in 2020 from P5.388 billion in 2019 due to higher loan loss reserves amid the crisis.

RCBC shares closed at P17.50 apiece on Monday, inching up by 40 centavos or by 2.34% from the previous day. — L.W.T. Noble

How PSEi member stocks performed — March 22, 2021

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Monday, March 22, 2021.

How ‘happy’ are citizens in Asian economies?

How ‘happy’ are citizens in Asian economies?

PhilGuarantee-backed MSME loans surge in first two months

THE Philippine Guarantee Corp. (PhilGuarantee) guaranteed P952.5 million worth of loans for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the first two months of 2021, against the P207 million total at the end of 2020, after the company streamlined its application process.

The number of MSMEs who had their loans guaranteed rose to 8,839 at the end of February from 2,948 at the end of 2020, the Department of Finance said in a statement Monday, citing a report from PhilGuarantee.

“The implementation of improved processing and evaluation parameters starting this year led to this remarkable increase in the number of beneficiaries under the MSME Credit Guarantee Program,” PhilGuarantee President and CEO Alberto E. Pascual was quoted as saying.

Month on month, MSMEs with approved guarantee applications rose 90%, he said.

The loans receiving guarantees were originated by 10 accredited banks and financial institutions.

The governing board of PhilGuarantee, chaired by Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, has approved credit guarantee facilities worth P37.7 billion to 34 banks since the program started last year.

Some 22 banks are currently applying for the MSME loan guarantee program.

“The approval of the credit guarantee facilities enabled the availability and accessibility of credit from banks that would have otherwise been reluctant to lend to MSMEs owing to the uncertainties that prevailed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr. Pascual said.

The top industries that benefited from the program were wholesale and retail sectors receiving P723 million in guarantee loan cover, or 76% of the total. Other leading sectors were manufacturing (P83.6 million or 8.78% of the total); and transport, storage and communication (P65 million or 6.8%).

PhilGuarantee is implementing the government’s P120-billion MSME credit guarantee program, a scheme meant to help the hard-hit sector bounce back from the economic downturn.

The program hopes to encourage lending by banks by helping them overcome their risk aversion in lending to MSMEs.

Mr. Pascual said the target is to increase the MSME guarantee loan portfolio to P4 billion and grow the number of beneficiaries to 8,000 companies by year’s end.

The loans applied for guarantees average P1 million, with some as low as P100,000.

The government injected an additional P5 billion into PhilGuarantee, which it will use to guarantee loans of larger companies requiring up to P300 million in loan cover.

The program provides 50% guarantee cover for working capital loans and up to 80% for term loans of up to seven years for use in capital expenditure projects. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Boracay rehab delayed by resettlement snags

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the timeline for rehabilitating Boracay Island, originally due to be completed in May, has been delayed by resettlement problems.

“We haven’t started the resettlement activities of the informal settlers living in the forest timberland. There are lots of civilians who live there, and because of the pandemic, we weren’t able to resettle them,” Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said at a briefing Thursday.

He said they were allowed to remain for “humanitarian” reasons in light of the pandemic.

“After the pandemic, we’ll look for a place for them, then we will assist them in moving to the new location,” he said.

Mr. Cimatu also noted that the rehabilitation team was not able to transfer the Boracay workers to the mainland to decongest the island.

“We haven’t transferred any workers yet. We had the intention of transferring them from the island to the mainland to add to the island’s carrying capacity,” he said.

Mr. Cimatu said the department completed various infrastructure-related activities, including acquiring easements for roads and removing structures violating the easement rules.

At the end of December, the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) said that the number of structures violating easement rules fell to 342, representing 21% of all the illegal structures on the island.

The BIATF’s authority expires in May, around the time the rehabilitation was originally scheduled to end.

The DENR has asked President Rodrigo R. Duterte to grant a one-year extension to the BIATF’s term in office. Mr. Cimatu, who chairs the task force, said the term extension will “allow the task force to complete all its projects which were stalled due to the global health emergency.”

The BIATF was created on May 8, 2018, by Executive Order (EO) No. 53. The term of the task force was due to end in 2020, but Mr. Duterte issued another EO granting a one-year extension. — Angelica Y. Yang

Hog deliveries to Metro Manila markets approaching 200,000

LIVE HOGS transported to Metro Manila are nearing 200,000 animals to ease the supply situation for pork in the capital and in support of price controls imposed on Feb. 8, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

The DA said hog deliveries totalled 198,231 since Feb. 8, after an additional 4,249 hogs arrived in Metro Manila on March 21.

Of the new arrivals, 2,433 hogs were from Cavite, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon, while 1,040 were from Oriental Mindoro 340 hogs from Central Visayas, and 176 from Central Luzon.

Other areas that sent shipments were Davao with 140 hogs and Bukidnon with 120.

According to the DA, the regions that delivered the most hogs to date were Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) with 90,115 animals; Western Visayas with 35,622; and Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan) with 21,983.

The DA said Central Luzon delivered 42,160 kilograms of pork in carcass form on March 21. The new shipments brought the total carcass volume to 1.37 million kilograms since Feb. 8.

Pork supply has tightened due to an outbreak of African Swine Fever, which has sent prices higher and threatened another inflation crisis.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) No. 124 on Feb. 1 that imposed a price ceiling on pork and chicken retail prices.

EO 124, implemented a week after its signing to give the hog industry a grace period, capped the retail price of pork shoulder (kasim) at P270 per kilogram, pork belly (liempo) at P300 per kilogram, and whole chicken at P160 per kilogram.

The DA’s price monitoring report on Monday indicated that kasim prices ranged between P310 and P350 per kilogram in selected Metro Manila public markets, while liempo fetched P330-P400. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

BIR urged to adopt ‘virtual stamp’ for cigarettes

A SENIOR legislator on Monday proposed that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) create “virtual stamps” for export cigarettes to deter their smuggling into the domestic market and to conform with international best practices.

At a hearing conducted by the House Committee on Ways and Means Monday, Representative Jose Ma. Clemente S. Salceda proposed a “less visible” form of security labelling, along with material labelling features.

“I’m asking the BIR to upscale and to come up with a virtual (stamp) para readable lang siya dito sa Pilipinas (which can be read only in the Philippines),” he told BIR officials at the hearing.

BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel SD. Guballa replied, “We will discuss (the technical details) with our IT.”

Mr. Salceda also reiterated his call for the BIR to revoke Revenue Regulations No. 9-2015 which exempts cigarettes sold for export from tax stamp affixture and are instead given a unique identification code that is machine readable, adding that unstamped export cigarettes were a key source of supply for smugglers. Cigarettes for domestic sale affixed with tax stamps indicate that the manufacturer has paid the excise taxes due.

The House tax panel has found that tobacco smugglers evade excise taxes by declaring tobacco products “for export.”

The BIR added that current tax stamps affixed cigarettes for domestic sale have many security features which make it easy for the agency to spot fake stamps.

Mr. Guballa said while the BIR supports the proposal requiring the affixture of stamps on export cigarettes, he added that manufacturers expressed concerns that this could deter foreign markets since most other countries prefer the products to be shipped without stamps.

“Ang demand ng abroad is walang stamps (The international market demand is for cigarettes to have no stamps),” he said.

The government loses P30 billion annually due to untaxed tobacco products on the domestic market. — Gillian M. Cortez

DoE solicits comment on draft coal handling, distribution rules

THE Department of Energy (DoE) is soliciting comment on its draft department circular covering the rules for coal handling, transport, storage and distribution.

In a notice on its website Friday, the DoE said that it will be accepting proposals or comments until March 31.

Interested parties were invited to send their input via e-mail to the DoE’s Director of Energy Resource Development, Cesar G. Dela Fuente III or the department’s head of the Coal and Nuclear Minerals Division, Nenito C. Jariel, Jr.

The DoE said the draft rules will apply to “all coal traders, logistics service providers, end-users, holders of coal operating contracts and small-scale coal mining permits and all other persons engaged in coal operations.”

Some measures in the draft include ensuring the health and safety of workers, rules for maintaining a coal stockpile, and proper storage of coal to minimize emissions of dust and foul odors, among others.

The rules provide for non-compliant operators to either respond within seven days to a notice of non-compliance or be served a cease-and-desist order.

The notice of non-compliance procedure involves either the issue of a clearance by the DoE to the operator’s answer or the issue of a notice of conference.

“In case of a notice of conference, the concerned DoE Field Office or Energy Resource Development Bureau Director shall preside over the conference to clarify the issues and require submission of additional information,” the DoE said in its draft.

The department will then issue a clearance letter or notice of violation as needed as well as an order of payment if a fine is deemed necessary during the conference.

On its website, the DoE also outlined a 54-item checklist which will be used to gauge compliance among companies with coal operations. — Angelica Y. Yang

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