Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube
Home Blog Page 8406

Globe closes P10-B term loan facility with Metrobank

AYALA-LED Globe Telecom, Inc. said on Wednesday it had signed a term loan facility with Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. for P10 billion.

“The loan shall be used to finance the company’s capital expenditures (capex),” the telco told the local bourse.

The company has said 80% of its P70-billion capex program this year will go to data network builds.

Last year, the company spent P60.3 billion. “The amount represented 41% of gross service revenues and 82% of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization),” it said.

“Majority of the capex or about 86% went to data-related requirements to meet the growing data demands of Filipinos nationwide,” it added.

The company noted its network rollout strategy for 2021 includes “aggressive” cell site builds, upgrade of sites to 4G/LTE, and nationwide fiberization.

The company intends to modernize its network to make 5G and fiber technology available to customers in more areas, Globe said.

The telco also announced on Wednesday that it now has a 5G roaming service in the United Arab Emirates, which is a top destination for overseas Filipino workers.

“Inbound roaming services, which allow subscribers of other operators to access Globe’s 5G network and services, are also set to commence this month,” it said.

The company recently reported an attributable net income of P15.87 billion for the first nine months of 2020, down 10.25% from a year earlier.

Globe Telecom shares closed 0.35% higher at P2,002 apiece on Wednesday. — Arjay L. Balinbin

SSS online transactions surge in 2020

SSS building
THE Social Security System saw digital transactions more than double last year to make up 75% of the total amid the coronavirus pandemic. — BW FILE PHOTO

STATE-RUN Social Security System (SSS) saw transactions done through its digital platforms more than double last year, with the number of online transactions making up for 75% of the total, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The state pension fund saw the share of online transactions increase last year to 75% of the total from 35% in 2019, while manual transactions went down to 25% from 65% as more Filipinos used its digital platforms, SSS Vice- President Normita M. Doctor told a press briefing on Wednesday.

“There was really a surge in the number of online transactions last year brought about by the pandemic wherein there was limited mobility and our members can’t go to SSS branches and offices,” Ms. Doctor said.

She said registrations on the My.SSS portal jumped by 141% in 2020 to 10.6 million from 1.36 million in 2019. Around 99% of contribution payments were done through digital channels, the official said, while downloads of the SSS mobile application surged 265% to 11.4 million last year from 3.12 million the year before.

Meanwhile, in January, transactions done via the My.SSS portal surged to 70,590 transactions per day, while its mobile application posted an average daily usage of 254,288.

SSS ramped up its digitization efforts last year amid the pandemic, launching online applications for calamity and pension loans, as well as for retirement, unemployment and funeral claims. Simple corrections of existing data of members and the submission of sickness benefit reimbursement applications for employers can now also be done online, among other services.

The state-run pension fund said its digitization efforts aim to shorten the processing time of applications, claims, and disbursement of loan or benefit proceeds.

“For the past years, we have been gradually shifting our stakeholders’ way of transacting with us from face-to-face to online. The pandemic motivated us further to fast track our digital transformation initiatives, not only to provide our stakeholders with faster, more convenient, and more efficient means of transacting with us but also to ensure their safety,” SSS President and CEO Aurora C. Ignacio said in a statement on Wednesday.

For this year, Ms. Doctor said the state pension fund will continue to improve its digital platforms so members can make corrections to their existing information and to also include employers’ registration and submission of employment records.

Online filing of disability and death claims and maternity benefit applications are also targeted to be rolled out this year.

She said the SSS mobile application will also be improved so it can offer the other services offered in My.SSS online portal. — B.M. Laforga

International restaurants adapt to pandemic

Austria plans to let cafe, restaurant terraces reopen this month; waxfigures attract at NYC steakhouse

VIENNA/NEW YORK CITY — Austria plans to let cafe and restaurant terraces reopen this month in a further loosening of its coronavirus lockdown that will get an early start in a small Alpine province because of its lower infection rate, the government said on Monday.

Austria first loosened its third coronavirus lockdown three weeks ago despite stubbornly high infections, arguing that the economic, social, and psychological effect of keeping all of its restrictions in place would have been too great.

Non-essential shops, schools, hairdressers, and museums are now open but restaurants, bars, hotels, and theaters are not. Ski lifts have been open since Christmas Eve but with hotels closed they have almost only been used by locals and day-trippers. A nighttime curfew has replaced all-day restrictions on movement.

Infections have, however, risen since the lockdown was eased. Daily new infections are now regularly above 2,000, having hovered above 1,000 before, though they peaked at more than 9,000 in November before the second lockdown.

Warmer weather and accelerating vaccinations should help slow the spread of the virus after Easter, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober told a government news conference.

With infections per 100,000 people by far their lowest in the small, mountainous province of Vorarlberg that borders Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the next loosening will happen there first, on March 15, the government said. The rest of the country should follow on Mar. 27.

Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig added that sport in schools would be allowed as of the same day.

The government hopes to take further loosening steps in the culture and tourism sectors in April, depending on how the situation develops, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.

AUDREY HEPBURN, JON HAMM WAX FIGURES AT NYC
As New York City restaurants reopened indoor dining rooms at 35% capacity on Friday, the Peter Luger Steak House and Madame Tussauds New York wax museum joined forces to welcome diners back in a fun way and to enforce social distancing guidelines.

Wax figures of Audrey Hepburn, dressed as her character Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s sitting in front of a Martini, and Jon Hamm as his character Don Draper in Mad Men  holding an Old Fashioned cocktail, greeted customers while waiters rushed by with plates of sizzling steaks.

The coronavirus pandemic hit New York establishments especially hard, where, the National Restaurant Association says, restaurants accounted for 9% of employment in the state in 2019 and brought in $51.6 billion in sales in 2018.

“It’s been rough,” said Michael Costa, manager at Peter Luger’s Brooklyn steakhouse. “We’re going to adapt to what’s going on. Right now we’ll take whatever they give us, 25 is good, 35, whatever they want to give us because we’re at the bottom,” Mr. Costa said. “But, we’ll survive.” — Reuters

BSP seeks comments on draft guidelines for FIST law

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has started asking banks and other concerned parties for their feedback on the draft guidelines of the law that would allow financial institutions to offload soured assets through asset management companies.

The BSP posted on Wednesday three separate draft circulars that will make up the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 11523 or the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Act. The law covers nonperforming assets (NPAs) until end-2022.

It will accept comments until March 8.

One of the draft circulars states that all sales or transfers of NPAs by financial institutions to asset management companies, referred to as FIST Corporations, should be in the nature of a “true sale.”

“True sale refers to a sale wherein the selling BSFI (BSP-supervised financial institutions) transfers or sells its NPAs to an individual, FIST Corporation, or special purpose vehicle (SPV) without recourse to cash or property in exchange for the transfer or sale, and without prejudice to the BSFI and the individual/FISTC agreeing on sharing profits,” the regulator said.

It said selling or transferring these NPAs will mean the seller or transferor will fully transfer the legal and beneficial title to the buyer or transferee and give up its control to the assets.

The transferred NPAs will also be “legally isolated” and should be placed beyond the reach of the seller and the creditors.

The BSP said financial institutions should neither have a direct nor an indirect control of the FISTC or the SPV that bought the NPAs and should not have more than 10% legal or beneficial ownership in the buyer.

The draft guidelines also allows banks to do staggered booking of losses from the discounted sale of NPAs to FIST Corporations.

“The guidelines recognize that BSFIs may need temporary regulatory relief, in addition to tax relief under the FIST Law, particularly on the timing of recognition of losses, so that they may be encouraged to maximize the sale of their NPAs even at substantial discount,” one of the draft circulars read.

The banks will have to state the impact when they avail of the regulatory relief on relevant financial reports for transparency, the central bank said.

The FIST law also exempts the transfer of NPAs to asset management companies from payment of documentary stamp tax, capital gains tax, creditable withholding income taxes and value-added tax (VAT), among other fiscal perks.

To apply for the tax exemptions, banks will have to obtain a certificate of eligibility from the central bank, which requires them to submit a master list of NPAs or real and other properties acquired (ROPA) that will be sold to FIST Corporations as one of the requirements.

The central bank will start accepting this month submissions of the master list for the period covering as of end-2020, according to one of the draft circulars. The BSP will have to issue the COE within 20 days of application. — B.M. Laforga

Cebu Air stock rights offer starts

CEBU AIR, Inc. (CEB), the listed operator of budget carrier Cebu Pacific, announced on Wednesday the start of its stock rights offer period.

The company intends to raise around P12.5 billion, partly aimed at addressing the impact of the ongoing global health crisis on its business.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, the listed airline operator said a total of 328.95 million of “cumulative, non-voting, non-participating convertible preferred shares” will be offered from March 3 to March 9.

The company set the offer price at P38 per share. It set the dividend yield per annum at 6%.

“One entitlement right for every 1.8250 CEB common shares held as of record date,” it noted.

March 29 has been set as the tentative listing date.

Cebu Air said net proceeds from the offer should strengthen its balance sheet by providing liquidity to address its financial liabilities, including passenger refunds “in case cash inflows from operations become insufficient as a consequence of the pandemic’s impact on health and travel-related concerns.”

Cebu Air suffered a net loss of P14.69 billion for the first nine months of 2020 from the P6.77-billion profit it generated in the same period in 2019.

Cebu Air shares closed 4.09% lower at P43.40 apiece on Wednesday. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Microsoft steps up push to bring virtual reality content to masses

MICROSOFT CORP. unveiled software tools designed to make it easier and less expensive for people to access virtual reality and augmented reality content, and for more creators to build these digital and holographic worlds.

The company’s Mesh software will enable users to work and play together virtually by interacting with the same set of holograms on devices at various price points and from different manufacturers, ranging from Microsoft’s $3,500 HoloLens augmented reality goggles and Facebook, Inc.’s Oculus and other specialized VR headsets to cell phones and computers where users can get a two-dimensional view. Mesh also lets multiple people see the same holograms from different locations, allowing for events such as concerts or company meetings where one user attends in person and the other “holoports in” from home.

“You can be anywhere as a hologram or an avatar, and it’s not just you,” Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said in an interview. “You now have not just yourself, but all of your co-workers or your friends with you and you can do things together, not just with real objects, but with holograms.”

In a demonstration, Microsoft Technical Fellow Alex Kipman described the product and answered questions through his holographic avatar — a torso, bearded head and pair of disembodied hands — using both a HoloLens and an HP, Inc. Reverb headset in turn. A school of jellyfish, a shark and two planets floated around the space, all holograms that could be passed back and forth, resized and examined.

The software giant first announced a product in this space in 2015 with HoloLens, a pricey product that has largely focused on corporate uses, like medical imaging and complex equipment repair. Though companies have been touting AR and VR as breakthrough technologies for years, they have yet to gain traction with a wide audience. Facebook, HP and Snap, Inc. have released various forms of goggles and glasses that use the technology, but augmented and virtual reality still haven’t reached mass appeal save for some lower-end mobile applications, like Niantic, Inc.’s Pokemon Go AR game.

Microsoft is betting that a set of cloud-based tools to make it easier to develop compelling AR and VR applications for almost any type of device will have broader appeal. Mr. Nadella said the key is bringing these technologies to the gadgets and platforms that engineers design for and consumers use most, rather than requiring them to jump through additional hoops to access them.

“There’s always the cost, but there’s also — what’s that ubiquitous device that I have with me always that I can use to interact? It’s not like I have a HoloLens on me — it’s not like I am wearing it right now,” Mr. Nadella said. “Whereas, I have a computer right now or I’m using my phone. That’s why Mesh is not just about HoloLens.” Seeing 3-D holograms will still require some sort of headgear, Mr. Nadella said, but as more AR and VR experiences become available for larger groups, phones and PCs allow a way in without expensive devices.

Based on Microsoft’s Azure cloud, data and artificial intelligence tools, Mesh is available now in preview. Customers can also request access to a Mesh-enabled version of the AltspaceVR meeting app to let companies hold corporate meetings with secure sign-ins and privacy features. Microsoft will roll out additional features in the coming year and is planning to add them to its Teams teleconferencing app.

The Redmond, Washington-based software maker demonstrated prototypes of how the technology can be used on Tuesday at the company’s Ignite conference in a keynote speech, which Microsoft is also streaming in virtual reality using Mesh.

In one demonstration, Niantic CEO John Hanke donned a HoloLens and hunted for Pokemon near Oakland, California’s Lake Merritt, joined initially by Kipman’s avatar and later another friend also clad in a HoloLens. Around them, Pokemon frolicked in groups, reacting to each other. While the features demonstrated are not yet part of a finished product, Niantic is working on games and services that make use of similar concepts and hopes to use Mesh for things like programming the presence of two or more holograms.

“The thing that’s exciting to me is this notion of mixing the real and the virtual in terms of social interaction,” Mr. Hanke said.

To Microsoft, the idea of Mesh is similar to that of Xbox Live, the online gaming service the company introduced in 2002 that provided the networking infrastructure so game developers could create online multiplayer games between friends and strangers without having to build that technology themselves, Mr. Kipman said.

“Apply that same analogy here with Microsoft Mesh,” he said. “It’s possible today to create experiences with multiple people sharing the same holographic landscape in the room, but it’s significantly hard, and you don’t see a lot of that, because most developers don’t have the time or know-how to be able to do it appropriately.”

Mesh also uses spatial sound to change the audio based on where holograms and people participating are located, giving the user a sense of space in the virtual world.

Hānai World, a new company from Cirque du Soleil co-founder Guy Laliberté, plans to use Mesh to create entertainment events that mix live and virtual aspects. The events will take place in physical venues and through mixed reality headsets, with previews starting at the end of the year. Ray Dalio’s marine science nonprofit OceanX will use the technology to create a holographic table on ships that scientists can gather around, in person or remotely, to view three-dimensional holograms of exploration areas, and Accenture Plc. has created a virtual headquarters to bring in new employees and help with connections during the pandemic.

While Mesh makes creating these programs easier, there’s still more work to be done in complex scenarios. For example, to broadcast a DJ set or a concert, developers would have to place sensors around the performers’ space to capture the 3-D experience. That’s why sports programming is still a way off, Mr. Kipman said — it would require sensor tracking on too many players and too large a space.

Mr. Nadella plans to keep investing in VR and AR, likening it to Microsoft’s decision 10 years ago to go “all in” on cloud computing, which took a while to pay off.

“That’s what it takes,” he said. “I don’t think about this as, ‘oh, it’s about HoloLens,’ I think of this as Microsoft should — and the industry should — continue to push on how can people communicate, collaborate and build community, whether it’s for work or for play.” — Bloomberg

What would it take to join the wealthiest 1% and 0.1% of the population?

THE number of super-rich Filipinos is likely to grow over a five-year period in line with a global trend, the annual wealth report from real estate consultant Knight Frank said. Read the full story.

What would it take to join the wealthiest 1% and 0.1% of the population?

Intel told to pay $2.18B after losing patent trial

INTEL CORP. was told to pay VLSI Technology LLC $2.18 billion by a federal jury in Texas after losing a patent-infringement trial over technology related to chip-making, one of the largest patent-damages award in US history. Intel pledged to appeal.

Intel infringed two patents owned by closely held VLSI, the jury in Waco, Texas, said Tuesday. The jury found $1.5 billion for infringement of one patent and $675 million for infringement of the second. The jury rejected Intel’s denial of infringing either of the patents and its argument that one patent was invalid because it claimed to cover work done by Intel engineers.

The patents had been owned by Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors, Inc., which would get a cut of any damage award, Intel lawyer William Lee of WilmerHale told jurors in closing arguments Monday. VLSI, founded four years ago, has no products and its only potential revenue is this lawsuit, he said.

VLSI “took two patents off the shelf that hadn’t been used for 10 years and said, ‘We’d like $2 billion,”’ Mr. Lee told the jury. The “outrageous” demand by VLSI “would tax the true innovators.”

He had argued that VLSI was entitled to no more than $2.2 million.

“Intel strongly disagrees with today’s jury verdict,” the company said in a statement. “We intend to appeal and are confident that we will prevail.”

Intel fell 2.6% to $61.24 in New York trading. The stock is up 23% since the beginning of the year.

One of the patents was originally issued in 2012 to Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. and the other in 2010 to SigmaTel, Inc. Freescale bought SigmaTel and was in turn bought by NXP in 2015. The two patents in this case were transferred to VLSI in 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Law.

VLSI lawyer Morgan Chu of Irell & Manella said the patents cover inventions that increase the power and speed of processors, a key issue for competition.

‘WILLFUL BLINDNESS’
Federal law doesn’t require someone to know of a patent to be found to have infringed it, and Intel purposely didn’t look to see if it was using someone else’s inventions, he said. He accused the Santa Clara, California-based company of “willful blindness.”

The jury said there was no willful infringement. A finding otherwise would have enabled District Court Judge Alan Albright to increase the award even further, to up to three times the amount set by the jury.

“We are very pleased that the jury recognized the value of the innovations as reflected in the patents and are extremely happy with the jury verdict,” Michael Stolarski, chief executive of VLSI, said in an e-mailed statement.

Officials with NXP couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

The damage request isn’t so high when the billions of chips sold by Intel are taken into account, Mr. Chu said. Intel paid MicroUnity Systems Engineering Corp. $300 million in 2005 and in 2011 paid Nvidia Corp. $1.5 billion even though a settlement in that case involved a cross license of technology, he said.

“Operating companies are going to be disturbed by not only the size of the award, but also the damages theory,” said Michael Tomasulo, a Winston Strawn lawyer who attended the trial. “They more or less seemed to have bought the entire VLSI case.”

The damage award is about half of Intel’s fourth-quarter profit. The company has dominated the $400-billion chip industry for most of the past 30 years, though it’s struggling to maintain that position.

The verdict is smaller than the $2.5-billion verdict won by Merck & Co. over a hepatitis C treatment. It was later thrown out. Last year, Cisco Systems, Inc. was told by a federal judge in Virginia to pay $1.9 billion to a small cybersecurity companies that accused it of copying a feature to steal away government contracts. Cisco has asked the judge for a new trial.

The case is among the few in-person patent trials in recent months, with many courts pressing pause amid the coronavirus pandemic. It was delayed a week because of the winter storm that wreaked havoc across much of Texas.

Intel had sought to postpone the case because of the pandemic, but was rejected by Albright, a former patent litigator and magistrate who was sworn in as a federal judge in 2018 and has quickly turned his courtroom into one of the most popular for patent owners to file suit.

The case is VLSI Technology LLC v. Intel Corp., 21-57, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (Waco). — Bloomberg

Hotel News (03/04/21)

The Peninsula Manila celebrates Women’s Month

IT’S MARCH — Women’s Month — an important time to highlight the historical and present-day accomplishments of women. We celebrate female “firsts” in various fields and rightly so. But for too long, March as Women’s Month has been spent comparing women’s professional success with that of men’s. We are told to honor women’s advancement in their careers, but overlook the unpaid work that mothers have done for centuries. Honoring motherhood has been relegated to one day in May when we celebrate Mother’s Day, undermining the idea that mothering is important work that has contributed to society. Women can “work” and women can “mother” without feeling like they have to choose which identity is more important. In fact, a report by Oxfam in January 2020 calculated that women globally would have made $10.8 trillion dollars in 2019 if they earned minimum wage for their unpaid work that includes routine housework, child care, shopping for household items, tending to elderly relatives, and other caregiving work that is never acknowledged by society. That’s a lot of money. Yet society accepts and expects mothers to work for free. The Peninsula Manila begs to differ.

In honor of all the work that mothers have been doing all this time, The Peninsula Manila has created a very special Celebrate HERstory: Mothers Rule this Women’s Month of March room package from March 1 to 31 that’s designed to pamper, indulge, and spoil mothers around us. Room rates start at P8,650 (inclusive of taxes) for a Deluxe Room with Antigen Tests for two persons. This includes a set breakfast for two adults and two children at The Lobby (children must be five years old and under, complimentary lunch or dinner for one in Escolta or a 50% discount for lunch or dinner for one at The Lobby; complimentary manicure and pedicure for one at Le Maquillage; a 20% discount on The Peninsula Fitness Center and Spa services and Treatments; complimentary access to The Gallery Club Lounge and high-speed internet  access for children’s on-line classes. A Deluxe Room rate of P6,050 (inclusive of taxes) is available but without the IATF-mandated Antigen Tests.

For inquiries or further information on The Peninsula Manila’s Celebrate HERstory: Mothers Rule this Women’s Month of March room package, call 8887-2888 (trunk line), extension 6630 (Room Reservations), e-mail reservationpmn@peninsula.com, visit the website peninsula.com, or through PenChat, The Peninsula Manila’s 24-hour e-concierge by using this link: https://bit.ly/PenChatFacebook.

Okada Manila receives 2nd consecutive Forbes Travel Guide 5-star rating

OKADA Manila received its second five-star rating from Forbes Travel Guide (FTG). In January, the integrated leisure resort was awarded a Verified certification badge from digital health leader Sharecare and FTG for being equipped with industry-leading and comprehensive safety protocols.

FTG’s Inspector’s Highlights mentioned Okada’s The Fountain, the largest multicolored dancing water feature in the world; the DigiValet iPad with which guests can control their room’s amenities and serves as the guest’s connection to the front desk, concierge, housekeeping and room service; and The Retreat Spa, “a haven of serenity that will make you forget that you are in one of the busiest areas of Metro Manila.”

“These 2021 award winners are a testament to the resiliency of the hospitality industry,” said Filip Boyen, CEO of FTG. “During an unprecedented time, these top properties adapted to numerous adversities all while maintaining high service levels and ensuring the health security of their guests and staff.” He added, “We hope that these excellent properties will inspire travelers for when they are ready to venture out on their next trip.”

Ensuring the health and safety of guests and team members, Okada Manila is strictly implementing health protocols in line with IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) and DoT (Department of Tourism)guidelines.

To view the year’s full Star Ratings and see a detailed description of Forbes Travel Guide’s evaluation criteria, visit ForbesTravelGuide.com. To learn more about Okada Manila, visit www.okadamanila.com and follow @okadamanila on Instagram.

JG Summit redeems bonds, cites prudent capital management

JG SUMMIT Holdings, Inc. redeemed its 10-year fixed rate bonds due in 2024 for an early redemption price of 101.5% of its principal price, including accrued interest.

The company reported to the exchange that it had “fully redeemed” the bonds amounting to P126.34 million.

“We have chosen to exercise our option for early redemption as a matter of prudential exercise in capital management considering current market interest rate conditions,” a JG Summit source told BusinessWorld in a Viber message on Wednesday.

The Gokongwei-led holding firm disclosed in January its plan to redeem the bonds early.

“We hereby give notice of our intention to exercise our option for early redemption on the seventh anniversary of the issue date of the bonds, at the early redemption price of 101.5%,” the company said in a statement.

The seventh anniversary of the issue date, Feb. 27, fell on a Saturday this year. The bonds’ redemption date was moved to the next business day instead, March 1.

The bonds were part of the P30-billion fixed rate bonds JG Summit issued in 2014, which was then said to be the “largest listing of the year.”

The company previously said funds from the bond issuance would finance its acquisition of shares from Manila Electric Co. and for general corporate purposes. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Pag-IBIG Fund posts lower net profit in 2020

THE HOME Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) saw its net income drop by 10.9% last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, with its housing loans reaching an all-time high towards the end of 2020, the Department of Finance (DoF) said on Wednesday.

The DoF said Pag-IBIG Fund posted a net income of P31.18 billion in 2020, citing a report from the mutual fund. This is lower than the record high of P35 billion it logged in 2019, based on its annual report for that year.

Housing loans released in December alone hit an all-time high of P12.11 billion which benefited 12,275 members, up by six percent from P11.47 billion in the same month of 2019.

Housing loans released in 2020 totalled P63.75 billion in 2020, down 41.5% from the P109 billion logged year before. Pag-IBIG Fund released P7.1 billion worth of socialized housing loans to 16,975 minimum-wage earners and low-income members last year.

Members’ savings under the voluntary MP2 Savings Program also rose by 11% year on year to P13.3 billion in 2020.

“We look forward to new records that the agency will achieve this year. The housing program is a key component in our economic recovery strategy. This should help create more jobs in the construction sector,” DoF Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

“I trust that the Pag-IBIG Fund will be even more relentless in the coming period to close the housing gap and spur domestic activity,” he added. — BML

D&L Industries sees 8% income growth to P637M

LISTED manufacturing firm D&L Industries, Inc. saw its fourth-quarter income rise by 8% to P637 million as the Philippines gradually eased its lockdown measures towards end-2020.

“What I want to highlight is really the performance in the fourth quarter. You can see that compared to last year’s fourth quarter, net income was up by 8% and [compared] to the third quarter of 2020, net income was up by 11%. [It] looks like [our] net income has almost fully recovered,” D&L  President and Chief Executive Officer Alvin D. Lao said in an online briefing on Wednesday.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, the company’s net income was at P590 million. In the third quarter of 2020, it earned P573 million.

“That’s the big indicator to us that things look like they really started to get better now,” Mr. Lao said.

Sales for the fourth quarter were nearly flat at P5.82 billion while gross profit slowed by 2.4% to P1.14 billion.

The company reported that its non-food segments have already surpassed their performance before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis hit.

Chemrez, Specialty Plastics, and its consumer products ODM (original design manufacturer) accounted for 75% of total fourth-quarter earnings.

The company pointed to the easing of local quarantine restrictions that allowed industries such as transportation and construction to resume their operations as the reason behind the spike in demand for biodiesel and other products related to construction.

D&L’s consumer products ODM, previously called the aerosols segment, also performed well. Year on year, the company saw greater demand for products intended for general sanitation and hygiene such as alcohol, sanitizers, and disinfectant sprays.

The company’s specialty plastic products meanwhile attribute its recovery to the greater market demand for “additives and colorants for plastic packaging applications” amid the sudden increase in parcel deliveries amid the pandemic.

More people have also turned to buying their own cars.

“To a certain extent, the pandemic has increased the public’s interest in purchasing vehicles given the possibility of virus exposure when using public transportation,” the company said.

The company’s food segment meanwhile also reported a 7% recovery in the fourth quarter, as quarantine restrictions eased. Although, D&L noted that the segment’s earnings were still 45% lower year-on-year.

For full-year 2020, D&L’s net income decreased by 23% to P2.01 billion from P2.62 billion in 2019.

Annual sales declined by 3% to P21.74 billion from P22.39 billion, while the company’s gross profit posted dropped 15% to P3.99 billion from P4.67 billion.

Despite the decline, the company is keeping a positive outlook as it closed last year with a positive net cash flow.

“These extraordinary conditions further built our resilience and strengthened our conviction in our long-term strategies. It demonstrated the highly relevant nature of our businesses’ catering to basic industries, and our operational adeptness as even in the worst of times, even at the peak of the lockdown, the company never saw negative net income,” Mr. Lao said in a statement.

He also said the company is aiming to hit the same income levels it earned in 2019.

D&L shares at the stock exchange rose by 4.2% on Wednesday, closing at P7.44 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

1...8,4058,4068,407...14,236Page 8,406 of 14,236
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube