GDP growth seen picking up this year

January 10, 2020 | 12:33 am

AFTER a projected slowdown in 2019, the Philippine economy is expected to grow faster this year due to strong government spending, but may still fail to meet the official target amid domestic and external headwinds.

In a report released on Thursday, Moody’s Investors Service said the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will likely stand at 5.8% and 6.2% in 2019 and 2020, respectively, steady from the projections it gave after maintaining the country’s sovereign rating of Baa with a stable outlook in October.

The World Bank, in the January issue of its Global Economic Prospects report titled “Slow Growth, Policy Challenges” released yesterday, also kept its growth forecasts for the country until 2022 unchanged, noting that while the Philippines’ expansion will remain below official targets, it will continue to grow faster than the whole of East Asia and the Pacific region in the near term.

The multilateral lender said the economy likely grew 5.8% in 2019 — slower than the previous year’s 6.2% clip but steady from the projection it made in October.

This compares to the downscaled official target of 6-6.5%.

For this year, the World Bank said GDP growth may end at 6.1% before picking up to 6.2% next year until 2022 versus the government’s 6.5-7.5% target for these years.

Economic growth in the third quarter of 2019 stood at 6.1%, picking up from the 5.6% and the 5.5% seen in the first two quarters of the year. This brought the nine-month average to 5.8%. The government will release the country’s official fourth-quarter GDP data this month.

However, the country is still seen to expand faster than East Asia and the Pacific’s average growth this year onwards as the region’s projected growth of 5.7% in 2020 is seen easing further to 5.6% in 2021-2022.

“These developments reflect continued domestic and external headwinds, including the lingering impact of trade tensions, despite the phase one agreement between China and the United States,” the World Bank said.

The World Bank noted that slowing global trade and rising uncertainty has affected the region, resulting in “weaker exports, disruptions in cross-border supply chains and declining private investment amid low business confidence.”

These disruptions were more notable in the Philippines, China, Malaysia and Thailand, which also experienced moderated imports due to delays in major public infrastructure projects.

Despite the impact of slowing trade within the region, the World Bank said many countries, including the Philippines, used accommodative monetary policy to mitigate the effects of global headwinds, which for this year could also include a “sharper-than-expected” slowdown in major economies and a sudden reversal of capital flows caused by issues rising from financing conditions or geopolitical relations.

Meanwhile, the World Bank said the Philippines will benefit from “supportive financing conditions” with easing inflation and robust capital flows, as well as from implementation of large public infrastructure projects.

Moody’s likewise said the normalization of government spending this year following the delay of the passage of the 2019 budget will help support GDP expansion.

Moody’s added that it expects government revenues to be supported by the hike in excise taxes scheduled early this year, of which some were part of the current administration’s first package of tax reforms enacted in 2017.

Republic Act No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law which covered on some goods and services while slashing personal tax took effect in 2018. Tax collections from the scheme jumped 38% year on year to P290.51 billion in 2018.

A measure to increase excise tax for alcohol products, electronic cigarettes, and other vapor products made it out of the bicameral conference committee before Congress took its break in December and has since been handed to the Palace.

Once signed by the president, the measure is expected to generate P22.2 billion in its first year of implementation.

Aside from the tax regime and the fiscal expansion, Moody’s also thinks that government debt will be manageable in 2020.

“We expect national government debt to remain stable and debt affordability to improve,” the report said. — Beatrice M. Laforga and L.W.T. Noble

World Bank trims 2020 growth forecast amid slow recovery for trade, investment

January 10, 2020 | 12:32 am

WASHINGTON — The World Bank on Wednesday trimmed its global growth forecasts slightly for 2019 and 2020 due to a slower-than-expected recovery in trade and investment despite cooler trade tensions between the United States and China.

The multilateral development bank said 2019 marked the weakest economic expansion since the global financial crisis a decade ago, and 2020, while a slight improvement, remained vulnerable to uncertainties over trade and geopolitical tensions.

In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank shaved 0.2 percentage point off of growth for both years, with the 2019 global economic growth forecast at 2.4% and 2020 at 2.5%.

“This modest increase in global growth marks the end of the slowdown that started in 2018 and took a heavy toll on global activity, trade and investment, especially last year,” said Ayhan Kose, the World Bank’s lead economic forecaster. “We do expect an improvement, but overall, we also see a weaker growth outlook.”

The latest World Bank forecasts take into account the so-called Phase 1 trade deal announced by the United States and China, which suspended new US tariffs on Chinese consumer goods scheduled for Dec. 15 and reduced the tariff rate on some other goods.

While the tariff rate reduction will have a “rather small” effect on trade, the deal is expected to boost business confidence and investment prospects, contributing to a pickup in trade growth, Mr. Kose said.

Global trade growth is expected to improve modestly in 2020 to 1.9% from 1.4% in 2019, which was the lowest since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the World Bank said. This remains well below the 5% average annual trade growth rate since 2010, according to World Bank data.

But both trade and overall economic growth prospects remain vulnerable to flare-ups in US-China trade tensions as well as rising geopolitical tensions. World Bank officials said they were not able to estimate the growth effects of a wider US-Iran conflict, but said this would increase uncertainty, which would hurt investment prospects.

EMERGING ECONOMY GAINS
Advanced economies and emerging markets and developing economies also show divergent prospects in the World Bank forecasts. Growth in the United States, the euro area and Japan is expected to decline slightly to 1.4% in 2020 from 1.6% in 2019 — a markdown of 0.1 percentage point for both years — due to continued softness in manufacturing and the lingering negative effects of US tariffs and retaliatory measures.

But emerging market economies are expected to see a pickup in growth to 4.1% in 2020 from 3.5% in 2019, although these are both a half percentage point lower than forecasts made in June.

Much of the emerging market improvement is driven by eight countries, the World Bank said. Argentina and Iran are expected to emerge from recessions in 2020, and prospects are expected to improve for six countries that struggled with slowdowns in 2019: Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

DECELERATION IN CHINA
China’s growth rate is projected to decelerate to 5.9% in 2020, a 0.2 percentage point reduction from the June forecast, as the world’s second-largest economy deals with fallout from US tariffs, the World Bank said.

Mr. Kose said the trade war hit China’s manufacturing and exports hard last year, holding growth to 6.1%, a 0.1 percentage point reduction from the World Bank’s June forecast. Tighter regulations on China’s shadow banking sector also dented investment.

China’s outlook could worsen if trade tensions with Washington flare up again, or there is a disorderly unwinding of debt. But Mr. Kose said China had sufficient policy buffers to cushion any deeper slowdown. — Reuters

Philippines eyes more Japanese-funded infrastructure projects

January 10, 2020 | 12:31 am

THE Philippine government is eyeing more Japan-funded infrastructure projects this year, as the two countries eased the approval process of loan agreements in a bid to fast-track the implementation of infrastructure projects under the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program.

“As our ambitious ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure program accelerates this year, we see more opportunities for financing and technical support from the Government of Japan,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said during a bilateral meeting with Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Thursday. A copy of Mr. Dominguez’s opening statement was provided to the media.

During the meeting, Mr. Motegi said the Japanese government is set to mobilize $3 billion in funding through its recently launched Overseas Loan and Investment Initiative for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the next three years.

“Let us continue to jointly discuss how to formulate development projects that can be the subject under this initiative,” he said.

Mr. Motegi said the total funding already includes the $1.2 billion in overseas loans and investments for ASEAN members by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

He added that the two countries now “enjoy a broad based, multilayered development, including economy, infrastructure development, security, people-to-people exchanges.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Dominguez said the two countries have already agreed to shorten the approval process of loan agreements down to an average of three to four months.

“The high-level committee has shortened the approval process of our loan agreements to an average of three to four months. This demonstrates our shared commitment to work closely to ensure that the Filipino people get the benefit of these projects at the lowest possible costs and the soonest possible time,” the Finance chief said.

Japan has also committed to creating a masterplan to redevelop Subic Bay, which was once the biggest American naval base outside of the United States.

“With the Memorandum of Cooperation for this commitment signed last month in Hakone, we look forward to Japan’s swift creation of the action plan for this project,” Mr. Dominguez said.

“Given what we have achieved in developing the Clark special economic zone, I am confident that the full development of the Subic Bay will provide another important node for knowledge-based industries serving the whole of East Asia.”

To date, Japan is the country’s top source of official development assistance (ODA) with $8.63 billion in loans and grants as of September 2019, making up nearly half or 46% of the country’s total ODA loan portfolio.

Meanwhile, Japan has committed to providing an additional ¥4.4 billion (P2 billion) for the implementation of the second phase of the Metro Manila Priority Bridges Seismic Improvement Project.

“Just moments ago, Minister Motegi and I exchanged diplomatic notes on the Metro Manila Priority Bridges Seismic Improvement Project,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. said in a briefing in Makati City, Thursday. “The project will reinforce our bridges, bringing them to superior seismic design specifications and making them resilient to large-scale tremors.”

The original loan agreement, worth ¥9.783 billion (P4.5 billion), was signed in August 2015.

The project is aimed at improving the resilience of two major bridges: Lambingan Bridge and Guadalupe Bridge. The additional loan will cover the increase in costs due to changes in construction technology for the Guadalupe Bridge, temporary detour bridges in Guadalupe, and additional work shifts for the construction period, among others.

Since President Rodrigo R. Duterte assumed office in 2016, 10 loan agreements have been signed between the Philippines and Japan.

This includes loans for the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway Project; the second New Bohol Airport Construction and Sustainable Environment Protection Project; Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) Rehabilitation Project; the fourth phase of the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project; and the North-South Commuter Railway Extension Project. — Beatrice M. Laforga and Charmaine A. Tadalan

PHL has policy space to address challenges — Diokno

January 10, 2020 | 12:30 am

THE Philippines has enough monetary and fiscal policy space to deal with the economic challenges it faces, central bank Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said in his first speech of the year.

Driven by domestic demand, the archipelago’s economy is in a position of strength despite global and domestic challenges, Mr. Diokno told the Rotary Club on Thursday in Manila. Authorities are “cautiously optimistic” that this year’s economic performance will be better than last year, he said.

“Similar to other countries, the Philippines is exposed to external headwinds and domestic risks,” he said. “But we are optimistic that robust domestic demand and healthy external payments position will continue to support our economy and serve as buffers against external headwinds.”

The government is forecasting growth of 6.5%-7.5% this year, compared with an estimated 6%-6.5% in 2019.

The central bank lowered its key interest rate by 75 basis points (bps) in 2019 to help support the economy, reversing part of the 175 bps of rate hikes the year before. While Mr. Diokno has said the bank has room to cut more this year, he said Thursday the monetary board believes the current policy settings are appropriate.

“We continue to remain on top of developments, and stand ready to use all possible policy tools in our arsenal to address any external or domestic shocks,” he said.

With tensions between the US and Iran at a boil over last week’s assassination in Iraq of a high-ranking Iranian general, Mr. Diokno said the central bank is prepared to address any external shocks. The standoff could have an impact on remittances from the region — a key support for the Philippine economy — though Mr. Diokno earlier this week said the tensions weren’t likely to have a lasting impact on inflation, and warned against alarmism.

The Middle East is the Philippines’ main destination for land-based workers, with more than one million Filipinos deployed there each year, according to government data. The region is the second-largest source of cash remittances from overseas workers, central bank data show. — Bloomberg

Dark drama Joker leads BAFTA nominations with 11 nods

January 10, 2020 | 12:09 am

LONDON — Joker, a dark origins story about the comic book villain, led nominations for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards on Tuesday, but Britain’s top movie honors drew criticism over the lack of diversity in the acting categories.

Netflix film The Irishman, a star-studded gangster drama directed by Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which won the best comedy/musical Golden Globe on Sunday, got 10 nominations each.

Also fresh from its triumph at the Golden Globes — where it picked up best drama and best director for Sam Mendes — immersive World War One drama 1917 received nine nominations.

The four movies will compete against South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s darkly comic Parasite for best film at the Feb. 2 awards in London as well as for best director.

Joker, directed by Todd Phillips, won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival and a Golden Globe acting prize for Joaquin Phoenix, who has received critical acclaim for his transformation from vulnerable loner into confident villain in the movie. Phoenix got a BAFTA leading actor nod.

He will compete against Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Adam Driver for Netflix divorce drama Marriage Story, Golden Globe winner Taron Egerton in Elton John musical biopic Rocketman, and Jonathan Pryce in papal drama The Two Popes.

CRITICISM
However, soon after BAFTA announced the acting contenders, online critics lamented the lack of diversity, using the hashtag #BaftasSoWhite on social media.

The leading actress list featured Scarlett Johansson for Marriage Story, Saoirse Ronan for the latest adaptation of Little Women, Charlize Theron for Bombshell, a drama about sexual harassment allegations at Fox News, Jessie Buckley for musical drama Wild Rose, and Renee Zellweger for Judy.

Johansson was also nominated as supporting actress for Jojo Rabbit, a comic satire set during World War Two which in total got six nominations.

She faces competition from Marriage Story co-star Laura Dern, Florence Pugh for Little Women and twice-nominated Robbie for Bombshell and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.

Nominees for supporting actor were Al Pacino and Joe Pesci for The Irishman, Tom Hanks for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Anthony Hopkins for The Two Popes, and Brad Pitt for Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.

Asked about the acting categories “seem(ing) very white,” BAFTA Chief Executive Amanda Berry told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “I’m going to totally agree with you. That’s how I felt when I first saw the list.”

“This isn’t being disrespectful to anybody who has been nominated because it’s an incredibly strong list… If you look at the director category, where I hoped we would see at least one female director… that is an incredibly strong list,” Berry said, adding women directors were nominated in other categories.

She told Reuters BAFTA was also working on a new scheme for women directors. — Reuters

With a greater online focus, AFC is now AFN

January 10, 2020 | 12:08 am

AFTER ALMOST a decade of serving food from the all over the region via cable TV, the Asian Food Channel has now shifted to a “digital-first approach” in order to support its three million-strong online community, hence the need to change its name to Asian Food Network (AFN), according to a channel executive.

“With the change of name, we wanted to showcase the change in nature of the channel: in the past years, Asian Food Channel had already evolved into more than a linear experience,” Anna Pak Budin, vice-president and general manager in Southeast Asia for Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, told BusinessWorld in an e-mail interview in December.

“We decided to go for a digital-first approach based on research, data, and feedback from our current online community. We saw that they liked the short and snappy type of format, that’s why we decided to give them more,” she added.

The Asian Food Channel was Asia’s first pay-TV food channel. It was created by Hian Goh, an investment banker, and Maria Brown, a BBC journalist, in 2005. In 2013, the channel was bought by Scripps Networks Interactive, which was then brought under the wing of Discovery Inc. when it bought Scripps Networks in 2018.

The channel has featured shows from international chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Nigella Lawson, and Martin Yan, alongside regional chefs like Debbie Wong and Judy Joo.

With the rebranding, Ms. Burdin said that the channel has partnered with “food trend hunters” or food content creators for the website and YouTube channel, who create Asian recipes to complement the TV talents. Among these “creators” are Sarah Huang Benjamin, Sherson Lian, and Illi Soulaiman. Filipino chef and winner of the 2016 AFN’s Food Hero contest Anton Amoncio, also joined the online ranks while having two shows on AFN.

The network will continue to have “a strong lineup of Asian-based cuisine” and as such will have shows such as Luke Nguyen’s Railway Vietnam where Vietnamese chef Luke Nguyen takes viewers on a “culinary railway journey” in his home country for the first quarter of 2020.

“Luke is a talent we are building for our AFN channel and someone that resonates well with our audiences,” Ms. Burdin said.

Also in the show lineup for the year are Diana Chan’s Asia’s Unplated featuring 2017 Master Chef Australia Winner Diana Chan, Comfort Food Recipes Season 2 which will feature “local home-cooked and delicious classics recipes like how grandma used to cook and that kind of content resonates well with our audiences,” according to Ms. Burdin.

Ms. Burdin said the rebranding was also a way to target a younger market despite the continuous growth in ratings for the channel.

“While AFN continues to see healthy viewership growth, the audience has shifted towards the older age group (45 and above), hence the announcement of asianfoodnetwork.com, which audience is relatively younger,” she said.

She added that AFN has had a 6% increase in ratings in Southeast Asia year-on-year and the Philippines has shown “the biggest growth with ratings increasing by 116% since 2016.”

Asian Food Network is available on SkyCable channel 22 (SD) and 248 (HD) and Cignal channel 62. — Zsarlene B. Chua

DoJ files criminal case vs Kapa leaders for illegal securities sale

January 10, 2020 | 12:08 am

By Denise A. Valdez

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said criminal charges had been filed against Kapa-Community Ministry International (KAPA) and its officers for the illegal sale of securities.

In a statement on Thursday, the country’s corporate regulator said the Department of Justice (DoJ) had filed a criminal case against KAPA at the Bislig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 29. KAPA is being charged of “willfully, unlawfully and criminally engaging in the selling or offering for sale or distribution of securities to the general public without a registration statement duly filed with and approved by the SEC.”

The DoJ is also charging KAPA Founder and President Joel A. Apolinario, Trustee Margie A. Danao and Corporate Secretary Reyna L. Apolinario of violating provisions of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) and indicted Marisol S. Diaz, Adelfa Fernandico, Moises Mopia and Reniones D. Catubigan for involvement in the alleged investment scam.

Aside from the case at the Bislig City RTC, the DoJ has filed a case against Ms. Diaz at the Rizal RTC for violation of an SRC provision, and a similar case against Mr. Mopia and Ms. Fernandico at the Quezon City RTC Branch 93.

The SEC said the judges are expected to order the arrest of the officers soon, as a warrant has already been issued by the Quezon City RTC on Dec. 2 against Ms. Fernandico.

“We are committed to see the criminal proceedings against KAPA through to the end. We will pursue everyone involved in the investment scam that played havoc with the future of our fellow Filipinos, including those who continue to attempt to perpetuate it,” SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino was quoted in the statement as saying.

The criminal cases against KAPA and its leaders follow a trail through the efforts of the SEC since 2017 to hold the group liable for allegedly scamming an estimated P50 billion from its members.

KAPA is supposedly operating as a religious group that collects P10,000 per head from its members in exchange of a 30% monthly return for life. The SEC said this is equivalent to an investment contract, which in order to operate legally, KAPA had to secure a separate registration for.

Since KAPA was not able to follow the provisions of the SRC, it is due to be punished with a maximum fine of P5 million or imprisonment of seven to 21 years, or both. But the SEC said the DoJ is pushing for a heavier penalty because of the use of Facebook and YouTube in its investment scheme.

“Considering the use of Facebook and YouTube in the illegal investment scheme, the DOJ recommended that the penalty to be imposed against KAPA, its officers and agents be one degree higher than what is prescribed by the SRC, pursuant to Section 6 of Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012,” it said.

Hollywood fears 2020 drop, with no Avengers Endgame or Frozen ahead

January 10, 2020 | 12:07 am

MOVIE TICKET sales are expected to fall again in 2020 without the full force of the Avengers to save them.

After a year marked by Walt Disney Co. hits, including the biggest animated release ever in Frozen II, a Star Wars trilogy finale, and an Avengers flick that ranks as the best-selling film of all time, 2020 will feel like a hangover, according to box-office analysts. While the year will certainly have some blockbusters, including a live-action version of Mulan and the Marvel installment Black Widow, the slate doesn’t include the large volume of highly anticipated franchise features that marked 2019.

“This was a crazy year for Disney,” said Jeff Bock, an analyst at Exhibitor Relations. “It was like watching Halley’s Comet zoom by: something we might not see for another 75 years.”

Star Wars and the Avengers both reached conclusions of sorts in their story lines that were built up over years. In total, Disney released seven of 2019’s nine films expected to finish their runs with a worldwide gross of more than $1 billion, the best year ever for a studio.

Along with other mega-hits, like Joker from AT&T Inc.’s Warner Bros. and Spider-Man: Far From Home from Sony Corp., Disney’s bonanza helped the domestic box office generate revenue of about $11.4 billion in 2019. Even so, that was a decline from the record $11.9 billion in 2018, according to Comscore Inc.

While this year studios will still release superhero and nostalgia-centered films, the two movie categories that consistently generate releases with more than $1 billion in ticket sales, they won’t resolve long sagas the way Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker did.

“It looks like Black Widow will be a success, but it’s about sheer quantity,” said Shawn Robbins, an analyst at Box Office Pro. The Avengers and Star Wars flicks “were two big event movies the studio had been building up for close to a decade; those are big cultural events for not just fans, but average moviegoers.”

Investors are worried about the year ahead. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., owner of the biggest US cinema chain, tumbled as much as 7.3% on Wednesday to a record low after Deadline reported that Chief Financial Officer Craig Ramsey issued a downbeat forecast at a conference. Rival Cinemark Holdings Inc. fell as much as 5%.

The market for smaller-budget, original adult dramas is unclear. Though some were hits in 2019, like Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.’s Knives Out, streaming has put studios under pressure to focus on their big-budget fare, according to Amine Bensaid, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Web-based giants Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are gaining attention and major award nominations for films including The Irishman while mostly skipping the theaters. That makes it harder for studios to compete for eyes when a large volume of original content is available at home.

All but one of the 10 most anticipated movies in 2020 are superhero flicks, sequels, or animated family fare, according to a survey by Fandango. The top three movies are DC and Marvel installments, while the fourth is the Mulan remake and the fifth is the James Bond film No Time to Die.

But with fewer long-awaited tentpole films, original fare may have more room to break out, according to Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst at Comscore. For example, the Christopher Nolan-directed Tenet is scheduled to be released in July, with many of the key details about the plot shrouded in mystery.

“The conventional wisdom last year was that given the number of franchises and sequels, we’d have a record year,” Dergarabedian said. “We need to give 2020 a chance to get started. There could be films in the mix that are fresh and original that could come out of nowhere and over-perform.” — Bloomberg

SEC warns against investing in Inochi rewards scheme

January 10, 2020 | 12:07 am

By Jenina P. Ibañez

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is warning the public against investing in a rewards program called Inochi/Inochi Rewards, which it said is not authorized to collect money.

In an advisory posted on its website, the country’s corporate regulator said Inochi/Inochi Rewards is neither recognized by the SEC as a corporation or partnership, nor is it authorized to solicit investments from the public.

SEC warned the public against participating in investment solicitations from individuals representing Inochi/Inochi Rewards.

“The public is advised not to invest or stop investing in any investment scheme being offered by any individual or group of persons allegedly for or on behalf of Inochi/Inochi Rewards and to exercise caution in dealing with any individuals or group of persons soliciting investments for and on behalf of it.”

Inochi/Inochi Rewards dealers offer product packages that cost between P11,000 to P110,000. To attain membership, individuals are asked to buy a product package, from which they are told they would earn rewards points monthly for up to 12 months, depending on the business value of their chosen product package.

Members then expect to earn 10% from referrals, as well as overriding commissions for repeat purchases from other members in the group.

“Simply, an investor is entitled to receive passive income from the pool of investment gathered, while active income is acquired from recruitment bonuses,” the advisory said.

SEC said Inochi/Inochi Rewards sales persons, brokers, dealers, or agents enticing the public to invest or soliciting and recruiting through the Internet may be prosecuted and penalized with either or both a maximum fine of five million pesos or 21 years imprisonment.

Individuals who recruit others to invest in the venture or offer contracts or securities to the public may also be held criminally liable.

Names of all involved will also be reported to the Bureau of Internal Revenue to assess appropriate penalties or taxes.

Show band Music & Magic celebrates 40 years with a concert next week

January 10, 2020 | 12:06 am

THE 1980s show band Music & Magic is celebrating its 40^th year with a one-night concert on Jan. 14 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila, Pasay City.

The show will feature all the members of the band: Jet Montelibano, Fe de los Reyes-Mendoza, Eva Caparas, Angeli Pangilinan-Valenciano, Vicky Sevilla-Pangilinan, Butch Elizalde, Nonoy Mendoza, Bobby Taylo, Jeannette Casuga-Trevia, piano virtuoso and musical arranger Toto Gentica, and Kuh Ledesma.

The band was created in 1979 when Mr. Montelibano, Mr. Gentica, and Ms. Ledesma moved to Manila from Bacolod, Negros Occidental to try their luck in the music scene. They formed a band called Ensalada and performed regularly at Holiday Inn Hotel’s El Camarote bar. After Ensalada disbanded, Music & Magic was created with the addition of new members including Nonoy Mendoza (drums), Butch Elizalde (lead guitar), Hector Pedero (bass), and vocalists Fe de los Reyes, Eva Caparas, and Angeli Pangilinan performing alongside Mr. Montelibano, Mr. Gentica, and Ms. Ledesma.

The band performed regularly at the Alibi Bar of the Regent of Manila hotel, singing cover versions of standards and chart-toppers of the 1960s to the ’80s.

Music & Magic catapulted Ms. Ledesma to stardom and she became a solo performer two years after the band was created. The band then introduced new members: Bobby Taylo, Vicky Sevilla-Pangilinan, and Jeannete Casuga-Trevias.

Aside from the Alibi Bar, the band also performed in Tavern-On-The Square in Makati City, Atlantis and Peppermint Park in Singapore, the Pyramid in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Pechanga Resort in San Diego, and at the Folk Arts Theater and the Araneta Coliseum.

The band also opened concerts for international artists like Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Clarke, and Harvey Mason.

The Jan. 14 show will see the band revisit crowd favorites including their renditions of Stephen Schwartz’s “Corner of the Sky” from the Broadway musical Pippin and “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical Evita.

It will also feature performances from guests like Gary Valenciano, Zsa Zsa Padilla, and Lou Bonnevie.

Celebrating 40 Years: Music & Magic 2020 will be on Jan. 14, 8 p.m., at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila, Pasay City. Tickets are available at ticketworld.com.ph, with prices range from P1,500 to P8,000. — ZBC

SM Prime seeks to raise P100 billion from fixed rate bond offering

January 10, 2020 | 12:06 am

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. has applied for the shelf registration of P100-billion debt securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a notice to the public published in a newspaper Thursday, the regulator said the Sy-led conglomerate has applied to offer the fixed rate bonds which will have an initial tranche of up to P15 billion and an oversubscription option of up to P5 billion.

This phase of the offer, the notice said, will consist of five-year Series K bonds that are due in 2025 and seven-year Series L bonds that are due in 2027.

The P80-billion remainder from the shelf registration will be offered within three years from the SEC’s approval of the debt securities.

In its offer supplement posted on its website, SM Prime said it plans to begin the offer in February. The bonds will be issued in scripless form with minimum denominations of P20,000 each and in multiples of P10,000 thereafter.

If the oversubscription option is utilized, the company expects to generate total net proceeds of P19.68 billion, which it plans to use to finance capital expenditures and mall expansion projects through 2022.

SM Prime had tapped BDO Capital and Investment Corp. and China Bank Capital Corp. as joint issue managers for the issuance. Joint bookrunners and joint lead underwriters are BDO Capital, China Bank Capital, BPI Capital Corp., EastWest Banking Corp., First Metro Investment Corp., RCBC Capital Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp.

The bonds will be listed at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. They were previously rated by local debt watcher Philippine Rating Services Corp. a credit rating of PRS Aaa.

SM Prime posted an attributable net income of P27.6 billion in the nine months ending September, up 18% from a year ago, as revenues grew 14% to P85.03 billion.

Shares in the company at the stock exchange increased 55 centavos or 1.33% to P42 apiece on Thursday. — Denise A. Valdez

PSBank starts offer of three-year bonds

January 10, 2020 | 12:05 am

PHILIPPINE SAVINGS Bank (PSBank) is looking to raise P3 billion via peso-denominated fixed-rate bonds to diversify its funding sources.

In a disclosure to the local bourse, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.’s (Metrobank) thrift bank arm said it is offering P3 billion in three-year bonds, with the option to upsize. The offer period started yesterday and is set to run until Jan. 21.

The papers will have an interest rate of 4.5% per annum. Interest payments will be made quarterly and the principal will be paid at the maturity date in 2023.

“We firmly believe that this bond issuance comes at a most opportune time — at the beginning of an exciting new year and decade, most especially for individual and institutional investors who are looking at new investment alternatives,” PSBank President Jose Vicente L. Alde was quoted as saying in the statement.

In an e-mailed response, Mr. Alde said the latest bond issuance is the second tranche out of its P40-billion peso-denominated bond program that the bank launched in March last year.

“This P3-billion offer is our 2^nd tranche. The first tranche was issued on July 24, 2019, where we raised a total of P6.3 billion. These are all part of the P40-billion peso bond program,” he said yesterday.

Possible investors are required to have a minimum investment of P500,000, with increments of P100,000 thereafter.

The bonds are set to be issued and listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. next month, Feb. 4.

“As we continue to diversify our funding sources, we remain to be fully committed to upgrading our industry-leading products, services, and offerings for the maximum benefit of our customers,” Mr. Alde said.

Standard Chartered Bank serves as the sole arranger and the primary selling agent of the transaction, along with PSBank, Metrobank and First Metro Investment Corp. as other authorized selling agents.

In July last year, the Ty-led thrift bank raised P6.3 billion via the maiden bond issuance of its P40-billion bond program

This issue was double its initial P3-billion plan as the order book was four times oversubscribed in just five days, which also prompted the bank to cut the offer period.

The bond program launched last year is part of the bank’s initiatives to tap alternative funding sources and target both retail and institutional investors, Mr. Alde earlier said.

PSBank’s net earnings rose 20% in the third quarter of 2019 to P813 million on the back of the nine percent increase in its core revenues which were largely from interest income and fee-based income.

In nine months ended September 2019, the bank posted a P2.2-billion net income, up 8.4% year on year.

PSBank’s shares closed unchanged at P58.40 apiece on Thursday. — B.M. Laforga

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