Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 8638

DMCI to turn over 2nd building for Sheridan Tower by May

DMCI Project Developers, Inc. is slated to turn over the second building of its Sheridan Towers project to unit owners in May 2020.

In a statement, the company that operates under the DMCI Homes brand said the 48-storey North Tower was 90 percent completed as of November 2019, keeping it on track for its ready for occupancy (RFO) target date in the second quarter.

Located along Sheridan Street in Pasig City, Sheridan Towers is a two-tower development that is accessible via EDSA, C-5 and the BGC-Ortigas Center Link Road which is currently being built.

The South Tower was delivered in September 2017, 14 months ahead of the November 2018 target turnover date.

Sheridan Towers offers one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units, targeting young professionals and startup families working in Makati, Mandaluyong, Ortigas, and Bonifacio Global City.

Already a Witcher fan, the lead role in the Netflix series came easy to Henry Cavill

A SUPER MAN landed in the country last week when Henry Cavill — known for playing Superman — flew to the country to promote his latest project, an upcoming web TV series by Netflix based on fantasy series The Witcher. The first episode airs on Dec. 20 on Netflix.

Mr. Cavill will play the title character, Geralt of Rivia, a mercenary monster slayer who, in the process of gaining his magical powers, loses all pigmentation, thus being pale and having white hair. The original book series that is based on plays out over The Continent in an eight novel-long saga beginning in the 1990s. It began as a series of award-winning short stories by author Andrzej Sapkowski (who worked in sales).

“I was, yes,” answered Mr. Cavill when asked if he was a fan of the series prior to working as its title character. He said that he met the character through the video games adapted from the book. “I’m a big PC gamer; I’ve been gaming since I was a boy,” he told the press on Dec. 12 at the Conrad Manila in Pasay City, just before a fan meet at Ayala Mall Manila Bay.

“I’ve been a fan of the fantasy genre since I was a boy, and my father would read to me before I could read, and it was always fantasy genre books,” said Mr. Cavill. “Every book I have ever picked up to read just for the sake of reading… in my free time, has often than not been part of the fantasy genre.”

Mr. Cavill is best known for playing Superman, beginning in 2013 with Man of Steel, then Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016, and Justice League in 2017. He also starred in spy films Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 2015 and Mission:Impossible — Fallout in 2018. In television, Mr. Cavill hit worldwide fame with The Tudors, starring as Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Cheers and giggles greeted Mr. Cavill’s every answer, not surprising considering that he was 2013’s World’s Sexiest Man according to Glamour magazine, and the third out of a hundred Sexiest Movie Stars in 2013.

Considering his extensive portfolio, Mr. Cavill was asked how he got this particular role. He said that he called his agents repeatedly to get him an audition, until finally, his agents did make the call, telling the people behind the show, “You’ve got to meet this guy. Otherwise, he’s going to turn up at the door.”

In any case, Lauren Hissrich, The Witcher’s executive producer and showrunner said that while she was writing the scripts, “I always had Henry’s voice in my head” — this after saying that she met more than 200 actors to cast the role. “A terrifying prospect,” then joked Mr. Cavill.

Ms. Hissrich has been behind the shows Parenthood, Do No Harm, Private Practice, Daredevil, The Defenders, and The Umbrella Academy.

The show was shot in Hungary, Austria, Poland, and the Canary Islands. When asked how he prepared for the role, Mr. Cavill said that since he was a fan of the genre and the series, “The preparation for me, for Geralt, was a little bit in-built,” he said. “All happened quite naturally, internally speaking.”

Asked about his powers on the show, Mr. Cavill talked about casting spells, and physical strength, and weapons prowess, but he said, “I think Geralt’s true secret power is his ability to love, and his belief in the world.”

Mr. Cavill later appeared at a fan meet-and-greet, where wide-eyed gaming fans had him sign their copies of The Witcher video games, which he gamely did, for what some said was a walk lasting more than an hour. News reports later came in of him appearing in Manila restaurants and charming everybody who saw him. — J.L. Garcia

Jollibee opens store with 2 drive-thru lanes

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

JOLLIBEE Foods Corp. (JFC) is pioneering a two-lane drive-thru system in the Philippines to address the growing volume of customers ordering through the transaction option.

The listed operator of fastfood brand Jollibee opened on Monday the country’s first-ever store with dual drive-thru lanes, located at the Petron gasoline station along the southbound road of South Luzon Expressway (SLEx).

“We expect for this particular store, like the one we have in Shell SLEx, (that there will be) a high rate of orders coming from drive-thru. Around 50-60% of sales are from drive-thru orders (in the Jollibee Shell SLEx branch),” Jon B. Villanueva, Jollibee vice-president for Restaurant Solutions, told reporters in a mix of Filipino and English during the store opening.

The new store at the Petron gas station is also Jollibee’s 1,200th store to date and 64th new store this year. It is scheduled to open nine more stores before 2019 ends and targets to launch around 100 more stores next year.

Mr. Villanueva said Jollibee is focused on improving customer experience at its already-wide network of stores, hence the investment in developing its ordering systems.

Aside from the two-lane drive-thru, Jollibee also recently launched self-ordering kiosks at select stores. The self-ordering kiosks are digital devices placed across or near the traditional cashier counter, where customers could order by tapping items on the large screen.

Mr. Villanueva said this feature is driving customers to order more in every transaction because they are enticed by the experience of tapping a screen to make an order.

“We’ve noticed that many of our customers enjoy and find it really convenient using our Self Order Kiosks. We are happy not only because these don’t just translate to more sales for us with increased transactions but an overall better customer experience to them,” he said.

Mr. Villanueva noted the company is already recording as much as 70% of transactions are made through self-ordering kiosks in some stores. The new store at Petron SLEx is Jollibee’s 56th that has such feature, and this number is expected to reach close to 70 before the year ends.

Come next year, Mr. Villanueva said Jollibee is targeting to have more than 200 stores with self-ordering kiosks.

Aside from Jollibee, JFC controls Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Burger King and PHO24 stores in the Philippines. Its earnings fell 26% to P4.53 billion in the first nine months of the year.

Shares in JFC climbed 2.40 points or 1.08% to P223.60 each on Monday.

Riksbank in focus as it normalizes rates

THE WORLD’S oldest central bank stands to be the most significant this month as it pioneers a shift away from negative interest rates.

Sweden was among the handful of economies that reduced key interest rates half a decade ago below zero. Now officials at the Riksbank — founded in 1668 — insist the policy has done its stimulus work, so their so-called repo rate can stop being negative.

That puts the rich Nordic country in the spotlight of global monetary policy as counterparts watch nervously to see how easy it is for the experiment of subzero rates to be unwound. While the Federal Reserve has firmly resisted US President Donald Trump’s calls to venture into negative territory, officials in the euro zone, as well as Switzerland, Denmark and Japan, all find themselves in the same boat as Sweden.

“A Riksbank hike in December would be a signal that central banks admit that there’s a downside to too-low interest rates,” said Thomas Elofsson, a portfolio manager at Catella in Sweden. “It will be interesting to follow how the SNB (Swiss National Bank) and the ECB (European Central Bank) communicates and acts with this new mindset.”

The Riksbank decision on Dec. 19 promises more monetary action than central banks in the US and the euro zone delivered last week. All 16 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict a quarter-point increase in Sweden’s main policy rate from the current minus 0.25%.

The Fed on Dec. 11 signaled an extended pause, while the next day, Christine Lagarde, at her first press conference as ECB president, emphasized an upcoming review of the institution’s strategy rather than any impending policy moves.

Sweden’s shift is taking place against a global backdrop of worries about the harmful effects of subzero policy. Complaints by banks about profit margins have grown louder, while both the Riksbank and the ECB were among central banks warning last month about the financial stability risks.

A key idea behind subzero policy is that it should stimulate growth by encouraging financial institutions to lend money rather than hoarding it. But ECB officials have noticeably cooled on the measure since they cut their deposit rate further in September to minus 0.5% to shore up a slowing economy. They increasingly cite the harmful effects, even though they’re not yet close to reversing course.

ECB officials “will certainly be watching” said Hetal Mehta, senior economist at Legal & General Investment Management Ltd. in London. “Seeing Sweden come out gradually — that has some people on the Governing Council hoping the ECB can follow suit. But it’s just going to be a long way away.”

Swiss officials claim that their policy can’t be compared to the Swedes. Changing rates in Sweden has a “very different macroeconomic effect” because the krona isn’t a haven currency like the franc, SNB President Thomas Jordan said last week in Bern.

The Riksbank’s key rate followed the ECB and the Swiss into negative territory in February 2015. But it took two years, and three additional cuts, to bring inflation up to the 2% target, and another two years for officials to feel confident enough to start venturing back toward zero. Rising consumer prices may have bolstered that view.

Quickening inflation has allowed rate setters in Stockholm to argue that the policy has worked. Markus Brunnermeier, a professor at Princeton University who pioneered the notion that negative rates hurt economies at some point, suggests that view is fair.

“It’s very specific to the country — some can go more negative, some cannot go negative at all,” he said. “If it were counterproductive, then inflation should not have gone up.”

Others may be more skeptical. The best-known critic is former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who signed on to a paper using Swedish data that labeled negative rates “at best irrelevant” and possibly “contractionary.” The Riksbank contested that study.

Summers’s co-author, Brown University’s Gauti Eggertsson, says it’s hard to draw any firm view about the efficacy of the policy, but he’s doubtful.

“We came to the conclusion that the last two cuts did not add much,” he said.

Should Sweden go ahead and hike, it will be doing so just as its export-oriented economy shows signs of slowing amid fallout from the global trade dispute.

That raises the prospect that the move might prove abortive, evoking memories of its heavily criticized tightening that started in 2010, later reversed. Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman derided that policy as “sadomonetarist.” Such a prospect would be poignant too for the ECB, which tried raising a year later, under then-President Jean-Claude Trichet.

Former Swedish policy maker Lars E.O. Svensson says the danger of such an error is real.

“This appears to be a rate normalization of the same kind as in 2010,” he said. In other words, “a similar mistake. But luckily on a smaller scale.” — Bloomberg

Horizon Land tops off Marikina tower

A SUBSIDIARY of Federal Land Inc. topped off the first building of its Siena Towers project in Marikina City.

Horizon Land recently held a topping off ceremony for the first tower. Located on a 5,473-square meter lot along Sumulong Highway, Siena Towers will have two towers with 227 units and its own retail strip.

Siena Towers offers easy access to schools in Marikina and Quezon City, as well as business parks and shopping malls.

Everything for everybody

Dead or Alive 6
Microsoft Xbox One

CONSIDERING that the Dead or Alive franchise first came about due to necessity, it couldn’t but have drawn inspiration from successful titles in its genre. Pressed to produce a videogame that would prop up Tokyo-based Tecmo’s flat sales figures, designer Tomonobu Itagaki saw fit to survey the landscape and take what he felt were the most popular features of the best titles on the market. Dead or Alive, the result of his exertions, combined aspects found in such notables as Sega’s Virtua Fighter, SNK’s Fatal Fury, and Midway Games’ Mortal Kombat series. And, even as it was so named in reference to his do-or-die mandate, it took coin-operated machines by storm in 1996 and promptly spurred work on Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation versions.

That Dead or Alive gained a foothold in the already-crowded arcade scene despite the pressure on Tecmo to produce a hit speaks to the polish of Itagaki’s creation. Setting out to mesh disparate elements and make them work is much easier said than done; the industry’s history is littered with examples of failures to pluck juicy fruits from low-hanging branches. In this regard, it proved the exception to the rule. It tried to cast as wide a net as possible, seeking to entice newcomers with cutting-edge graphics and longtime fighting-game fans with gameplay depth — along with a twist: It aimed to bank on its three-dimensional presentation for visual provocation, showing fighters in skimpy attire and, more tellingly, employing exaggerated physics to show bouncing bosoms.

For all the obvious objectification, Dead or Alive was a certified hit. It sparked controversy, got the attention it sought, and then made gamers stay on for more because of its sheer complexity. It separated itself from the competition by pushing the envelope on both fleeting visuals and lasting value. It may have appealed to baser instincts to catch the attention of otherwise-occupied consumers, but it most definitely relied on far more crucial elements to get them to keep dipping in the well. It found a winning formula, and, not surprisingly, replicated it in subsequent releases for the main series, and even for spin-offs.

Close to 25 years later, Koei Tecmo continues to adopt the same tack. As the fifth sequel in the series, Dead or Alive 6 again follows the exploits of familiar characters, again banks on their outsized manifestations, and again thrives on the intricacies of its interface. At the heart of its differentiation is its utilization of offensive and defensive “hold” — as opposed to the traditional, and purely passive, “block” — mechanics, which afford gamers four options to counter specific attacks given proper timing. Active commands in Dead or Alive provided freshness to the genre, and, in its latest iteration, remains the series’ single biggest come-on.

At the same time, Dead or Alive 6 ramps up its visual effects, tapping slow motion to highlight crucial movements, accentuating character reactions during fights, and affording gamers the luxury of adjusting sexiness and violence levels to their preferences. Interestingly, it likewise increases its attraction to neophytes by introducing the Fatal Rush mechanic, which rewards button mashing with the execution of a simple combo at any given time, and of a Critical Blow when the Break Gauge (essentially an attack meter) is full. Needless to say, these serve to put to the fore its proactive predilections; such seemingly neutral maneuvers as crouching and sidestepping become preambles to forward thrusts.

Dear or Alive 6 takes fighting seriously, and thus goes through extra lengths to make sure gamers are fully apprised and completely aware of move lists and how to consummate them. There are three — yes, three — training modes to prep them for collocated or online matches, DOA Quest being the most interesting with a unique carrot-and-stick approach to foster learning; rewards by way of character costumes are unlocked following the mastery of instructions, earned through the fulfillment of set objectives. Which is to say education comes by way of what is akin to the Story Mode, but without the story.

Speaking of the narrative, Dead or Alive 6 picks up from where its immediate past predecessor left off. All the main characters are back, with developments on their end told separately. The disjointed exploits, including those of the new additions to the roster of fighters, don’t always tie up in the end, but there can be no denying the purpose they serve in enriching the series lore. Creditably, the cutscenes are well-produced, with the audio-visual presentation complementing the game’s technical proficiency.

Taken as a whole, Dead or Alive 6 is a testament to the efforts of Team Ninja to improve on the franchise and subsequently present a title that appears to have everything for everybody. Whole slews of options are at gamers’ disposal — from the characters to their fighting styles to their moves to the manner in which familiarity with them can be gained. It even offers, albeit at a whopping price tag, a season pass that offers more content for completionists. Proficiency requires not considerable investment of time and effort, but the inordinate degree of handholding en route to the inevitable payoff makes them worthwhile.

THE GOOD:

• Outstanding fighting mechanics

• Tons of options presented to gamers

• Tutorials abound, allowing newbies to hit the ground running

THE BAD:

• Disjointed narrative

• Still too much fanservice

• Some unlocks have extremely difficult hurdles

RATING: 8.5/10

POSTSCRIPT: Back in the nineties, the two dimensional beat-‘em-up genre was in its prime. Games like Golden Axe and Double Dragon found a niche in the fickle market by giving audiences fast, intense, action-packed experiences. Seeing the trend, Taito released Ninja Warriors on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. For a port of a seven-year-old arcade offering, it held up well; in fact, it was praised for its tight controls, good pacing, and vibrant art style, all while cashing in on its ninja aesthetic. That said, no sequel was planned or made, effectively relegating it as a footnote in history.

Until now, that is. Ninja Warriors has made its way to modern consoles 25 years after its original release via The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors, a remaster aimed at wowing a whole new generation of gamers. As with its source material, it focuses on control of one of three ninjas out to battle an evil regime existing in a dystopian timeline. And, as with its source material, it’s extremely challenging, From the moment it’s booted up, it presents crisp, redrawn graphics that belie just how much of the gameplay design remains unchanged. It looks like a 2019 release, but still plays like its 1994 self.

In The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors, the opposition comes in large numbers, and aggressively so; enemies are a constant threat if underestimated, and can bring up a Game Over screen at a moment’s notice. Powerups are fairly uncommon, thus making mistakes all but fatal, and the plentiful number of boss characters can prove to be Sisyphean hurdles even to veterans of the genre. On the flipside, the three playable characters have their own unique fighting styles and respond fluidly to commands; they are able to attack, block, and dodge at a moment’s notice. Likewise, they can perform a variety of special moves through the consumption of a resource bar.

The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors isn’t overly long, but its replay value is enhanced by the uniqueness of the characters. In addition, it boasts of a cooperative feature that raises the fun factor. And while it does little to reinvent the genre, it plays so crisply and fluidly that even newcomers will appreciate its virtues. (7/10)

THE LAST WORD: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wound up the biggest winner in The Game Awards 2019, besting the more favored Death Stranding for Game of The Year. It also claimed top honors in the Action-Adventure category, thereby joining the aforesaid runner-up and Disco Elysium as the only titles to claim multiple accolades.

The Game Awards was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles late last week and live-streamed globally in 50 countries across multiple media platforms. Apart from paying tribute to the best of the best of the industry, it likewise served as an opportunity for practitioners to announce latest developments. For instance, the Xbox Series X was unveiled for release late next year. Meanwhile, Godfall was named the first Playstation 5 title, also for release in the same time frame.

Unioil-linked group starts tender offer for CIP shares

A group, which includes a company owned by the Unioil Group, Inc. on Monday began a tender offer to acquire 33.03% of Chemical Industries of the Philippines, Inc.’s (CIP) outstanding capital stock.

In a newspaper bulletin published yesterday, the bidders formed by Quantumlink Realty Corp., Citiworld Properties & Development Corp., Exquadra Inc. and Lavish Sources Ltd. notified shareholders of CIP of its plan to buy 3,400,967 common shares in the listed firm priced at P177.63 per share, or a total of P604.11 million.

On Monday, shares in CIP closed at P170 each.

The tender offer period will run until Jan. 27 at 3:30 p.m.

Quantumlink is a Filipino firm that is 57% owned by the Unioil Group, Inc. Citiworld and Exquadria are likewise local firms that are in the business of real estate and land acquisition. Lavish Sources is registered in the British Virgin Islands and has business in the Philippines through a local storage facility.

The bidders signed in November a share purchase agreement with CIP shareholders, namely Philippine Indochem Corp., Chemholdings Corp., A2K Holdings Corp., Chemphil Employees Livelihood Foundation, Inc. and businessman Antonio M. Garcia.

The share purchase agreement, as disclosed to the stock exchange on Dec. 2, is for the bidders’ intention to buy 5,866,001 common shares in CIP representing a 56.97% stake for P1 billion.

Under the tender offer, the common shares of CIP that will be sold to the bidders will be “by way of a special block sale through the facilities of the PSE (Philippine Stock Exchange) subject to the approval by PSE on or before 29 January 2020,” the newspaper bulletin said.

In the tender offer conditions submitted by CIP to the PSE last week, the bidders said they are “looking for the possibility of infusing assets and funding further business projects for CIP including investments in a new blending plant for lubricants and construction of warehouses.”

“One option being considered by the bidders is to conduct a subsequent public offering to be conducted by CIP as an initial fundraising activity in order to spearhead new business projects for CIP. However… there are neither concrete plans nor definitive agreements with regard to said options,” it added.

It also said once the bidders have successfully bought the CIP shares, it will elect representatives to the company’s board of directors; may change the company’s corporate name, structure and principal business; and issue additional shares out of the unissued capital stock of CIP or increase its authorized capital stock. But it noted the transaction “will not result in the delisting of (CIP) shares from PSE.”

CIP’s existing business is in the manufacturing of various kinds of chemicals. It is the parent company of CAWC, Inc.; Chemphil Manufacturing Corp. and Kemwater Phil. Corp. — Denise A. Valdez

Bank of Japan seen staying on hold this week after Abe stimulus — survey

THE Bank of Japan (BoJ) will leave monetary policy unchanged this week, and probably for much longer, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled a stimulus package to bolster growth, according to a Bloomberg survey.

All 45 economists polled expect no action from the bank at the end of a two-day meeting on Thursday. For the first time since April, a majority of economists now expect the BoJ’s next action will eventually be a tightening of policy, an indication of how abruptly expectations have changed since the last survey in October.

The Abe administration this month readied stimulus worth 13.2 trillion yen ($120 billion) in fiscal measures to help the economy cope with an export slump, recent typhoons and fallout from October’s sales tax hike. Those measures have given the bank breathing room to hold off on using its depleted ammunition, according to economists.

The government’s fiscal measures will add 0.35 percentage point to Japan’s growth in the year starting in April, according to the median forecast of respondents.

Along with the government’s spending package, recent signs of an improving global economy and stability in financial markets were other reasons economists cited for changing their views.

The survey, conducted Dec. 9-12, showed 58% of the economists now expect the BoJ’s next move to be tightening, rather than easing. In the October survey, 76% of economists said they expected additional stimulus from the bank by April. That number has now dropped to 9%.

Progress in US-China trade talks reported last week after the survey closed and a UK election result that’s opened a clearer path to a Brexit deal could further strengthen expectations that the bank’s next move will be to rein in stimulus. — Bloomberg

Robinsons Land bags regional award

ROBINSONS Land Corporation (RLC) received an award for Corporate Excellence for Property Development category at the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards (APEA).

The APEA is a regional award that recognizes companies for entrepreneurial excellence.

The Gokongwei-led property company is one of the largest in the country, with 52 malls, 21 office developments, 76 residential buildings, 38 housing divisions, 20 hotels, and 19 mixed-use developments.

Entertainment (12/17/19)

Yeo Jin-Goo fan meet

KOREAN actor Yeo Jin-Goo will be coming to Manila for the first time as part of his first fan meeting tour, Memory Line. It will be held on Feb. 1, 2020 at the New Frontier Theater in Cubao, QC. His latest TV series is Hotel del Luna, currently airing on ABS-CBN. Tickets to Yeo Jin-Goo’s Memory Line — First Fan Meeting in Manila 2020 go on-sale on Dec. 22, 11 a.m., via TicketNet.com.ph, TicketNet outlets, or call 8911-5555 for more information. Presented by Wilbros Live.

Lea Salonga’s The Gift

LEA SALONGA will stage a two-night concert, The Gift: A Christmas Special, at Resorts World Manila’s Newport Performing Arts Theater on Dec. 21 and 22. Joining the Tony and Olivier-winning Broadway star for The Gift are Esang de Torres, Nicole Chien, Gaea Salipot, Ian Prelligera, Alexa Salcedo, and Cyd Pangca in special Christmas numbers. They will be performing to the music of the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Gerard Salonga. Tickets are now available at the RWM Box Office at the ground floor of Newport Mall and all TicketWorld outlets.

Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray to write a book

MISS UNIVERSE 2018 Catriona Gray is set to pen a book, entitled Conquering Your Universe, on her pageant journey and beyond, with the book to be launched next year through ABS-CBN Books. The book is targeted to be released in the first quarter of 2020. For updates, follow @abscbnpr on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or visit www.abs-cbn.com/newsroom.

Christmas Serenade

CELEBRATE A merry Holiday Season at Newport City’s Belmont Hotel Manila and Savoy Hotel Manila which are offering nightly musical treats from Dec. 16 to 24. Titled Christmas Serenade, the evening series features a quartet from the Scala Chamber Orchestra who will perform carols, light classics, and crossover music. Scala Chamber Orchestra will serenade Belmont Hotel from 6-7 p.m. and Savoy Hotel from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. For details visit www.belmonhotelmanila.com or www.savoyhotelmanila.com.ph.

VMC full-year profit up 6% on higher sugar prices

VICTORIAS Milling Company Inc. (VMC) has reported a 6% growth in its attributable income for fiscal year 2019, driven by high sugar prices and the early start of operations of its distillery plant.

In a regulatory filing, VMC said net income attributable to the parent reached P817.494 million for the year ending August 2019, versus P765.713 million recorded in the same period a year ago. The company’s fiscal year starts in September.

This is despite a 15% decline in revenues to P5.579 billion, year-on-year. Broken down, sale of goods fell 18% to P5.012 billion, while service income increased 16% to P567.606 million.

The company produces raw sugar, refined sugar, molasses, alcohol, ethanol, and exports power. It also provides tolling services to raw sugar producers.

Revenues from refined sugar stood at P2.416 billion, followed by raw sugar at P1.683 billion; ethanol at P549.257 million; and molasses at P208.398 million. Power generation contributed P24.036 million, followed by alcohol at P17.657 million.

“This was mainly due to higher sugar price levels compared last year and the early start of commercial operations of the distillery plant which generated 27% of the group’s gross profit,” VMC said in its disclosure on Monday.

The distillery plant, which produces ethanol and alcohol, has a daily capacity of 50,000 liters.

The higher prices of sugar were also able to offset the rising cost of cane hauling during the period, which led to a 20% increase in gross profit to P1.423 billion. Operating costs jumped 38% to P850.111 million, driven by “higher provisions, professional fees and contracted services cost, representation expenses and taxes paid.”

For crop year 2018-2019, cane milled by the company declined 10% to 2.7 million tons, year-on-year, due to a fall in provincial output by 6% to 11.88 million tons.

The decline in output is attributed to El Nino, which limited the moisture content required in sugarcane farming. Despite this, cane juice quality improved, which led to the increase to 1.89 50-kilogram bag (LKG) per ton cane milled from 1.85 LKG per ton cane milled.

VMC was incorporated in 1919, with a core business to engage in integrated raw and refined sugar manufacturing. It has facilities in Victorias City, Negros Occidental.

Its subsidiaries include Victorias Foods, Corp., Victorias Agricultural Land Corporation; Canetown Development Corporation; Victorias Green Energy Corp. and Victorias Golf and Country Club, Inc.

Shares in VMC increased 0.39% to close at P2.57 each at the stock exchange on Monday. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

Masayoshi Son’s Japanese bankers worried about their favorite client

MASAYOSHI SON’S Japanese bankers are taking a hard look at their most important client.

After the costly rescue of office-sharing startup WeWork and a series of other high-profile setbacks for Mr. Son, senior executives at two of Japan’s biggest banking groups have said privately that they’ve grown less comfortable with the eccentric billionaire’s management of SoftBank Group Corp.’s $100-billion Vision Fund.

One executive, speaking in mid-November, said his firm wants to see a convincing turnaround plan for WeWork before lending more money to SoftBank. A rival said around the same time his bank is taking a cautious approach toward the company and has doubts about Mr. Son’s strategy of investing big sums in highly valued start-ups. The two lenders are among those approached by SoftBank for a roughly $2.7-billion loan.

While neither of the bankers, who asked not to be named, signaled a dramatic reduction in ties with SoftBank, their misgivings highlight how perceptions of Son are changing — even among his most reliable supporters.

Japanese banks have helped finance Mr. Son’s ventures for almost four decades and are currently sitting on at least $15 billion of loans to SoftBank and the Vision Fund. They also have extensive investment banking relationships with Mr. Son, advising him on deals and helping SoftBank raise more money from Japan’s corporate bond market than any other issuer. SoftBank has paid more than $1.9 billion in fees to global banks since 2015, much of which flowed to Japanese lenders, according to Freeman & Co.

If the industry tightens its purse strings or pushes for a greater say in how Mr. Son funds his businesses, it could complicate the tycoon’s plans to turn his debt-laden empire into a global leader in everything from artificial intelligence to health care. A key test may come in the next few weeks, as SoftBank works to finalize terms on as much as 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion) in fresh financing.

“Japanese banks have provided loans in part because of Son’s management power and capability,” said Kazumi Tanaka, an analyst at DZH Financial Research, Inc. “The WeWork issue has chipped away at one of the elements that convinced them” to back Mr. Son, Mr. Tanaka said.

The 62-year-old entrepreneur turned telecom magnate turned tech kingmaker is Japan’s most prominent businessman, and SoftBank is its biggest payer of investment-banking fees by far. In a country where lenders are grappling with near-zero interest rates and moribund demand for credit, few companies loom larger over the financial industry.

But the SoftBank that lenders dealt with for much of the past two decades was a telecom-focused conglomerate with stable earnings. Today, the company is effectively a massive venture capital operation, taking on unprecedented risks that make its finances much harder to predict.

Son’s recent string of stumbles has tested banks’ commitment to the new model. Tumbling valuations for marquee holdings including WeWork and Uber Technologies, Inc. led SoftBank to report a nearly $6.5-billion operating loss in the fiscal second quarter, its first in 14 years.

The senior Japanese banker who wants to see a WeWork turnaround plan said any additional loans to SoftBank would bring his firm close to internal limits on single-borrower exposure. That wouldn’t necessarily prevent it from extending more credit, because banks can temporarily overshoot those limits, he said. But over the longer term, the lender could be restricted in doling out more loans to SoftBank.

The biggest Japanese banks that SoftBank approached for its loan — Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. — would see their combined lending to SoftBank climb above $15 billion if they fund the entire deal, based on figures from March 31.

MUFG and Sumitomo Mitsui declined to comment. Mizuho, which gave Son his first loan some 37 years ago and is the biggest lender to SoftBank with $5.5 billion of loans outstanding as of March, also declined to comment, as did SoftBank.

While Mr. Son has acknowledged making mistakes, he mounted an impassioned defense of his approach during SoftBank’s earnings presentation last month. He has acted to stanch the bleeding at WeWork by ousting controversial founder Adam Neumann and installing trusted lieutenant Marcelo Claure as executive chairman. Mr. Claure has launched sweeping cost cuts, outlined a five-year turnaround plan and brought in fresh management, including former Publicis Groupe SA CEO Maurice Levy.

In a sign that debt markets remain open to Mr. Son, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is said to be arranging a $1.75-billion line of credit as part of WeWork’s rescue package. SoftBank is listed as the borrower and WeWork is co-borrower, the people said. It’s unclear whether any Japanese banks will participate in the Goldman debt deal.

SoftBank may ultimately prove irresistible to Japanese banks given their long-standing ties. Son got his first loan from the predecessor to Mizuho in 1982 when he was just 24, then proved a daring and reliable client over almost four decades. In October, just as WeWork’s troubles made headlines around the world, SoftBank’s Tokyo headquarters were jammed with sprawling flower arrangements from Japanese investment banks congratulating Son on his baseball team winning the national league.

There’s also a dearth of profitable lending alternatives in Asia’s second-largest economy. The company’s low credit ratings mean banks charge higher rates, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Shin Tamura. SoftBank is rated BB+ at S&P, one level below investment grade. Toyota Motor Corp., another large Japanese borrower, is seven notches higher at AA-.

Lenders’ thirst for yield, and for lucrative investment-banking mandates, could be a big factor in Mr. Son’s corner as he tries to negotiate the new loan. SoftBank met with Japan’s three largest banks on Nov. 26 to discuss the facility, people briefed on the matter said. During the meeting, executives outlined their plans for WeWork, although the parties didn’t discuss terms for the loan, according to the people.

It wasn’t clear whether the presentation eased the banks’ qualms about WeWork.

Son and his Japanese bankers may ultimately be bound together by the sheer size of SoftBank’s junk-rated debt pile. It has $131 billion in long-term debt, more than any other listed non-financial company after AT&T Inc., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Any signs of a funding crunch would also shake confidence in SoftBank’s main lenders.

Japanese banks “may be getting more concerned, but they still have to provide more support,” said Michiaki Tanaka, a former investment banker who is now a professor at Rikkyo University’s Graduate School of Business.

Should banks become less accommodating, Mr. Son could turn to other funding avenues, including tapping into SoftBank’s $39 billion of cash and equivalents. The company could also issue more bonds, although those carry higher interest rates than bank loans. Then there’s possibly the biggest ace up Son’s sleeve: SoftBank’s stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., valued at $129 billion as of Friday.

Nevertheless, a cooling relationship with domestic banks could have wide-ranging implications for Mr. Son, who is trying to raise a second $100-billion Vision Fund so he can keep up the frenetic pace of dealmaking. Any signs of diminished confidence among the backers with the most at stake could complicate efforts by SoftBank to raise money elsewhere, said Yasuhide Yajima, chief economist at NLI Research Institute in Tokyo.

“If the banks start putting their noses in the air, it makes things more difficult for SoftBank,” Yajima said. — Bloomberg

1...8,6378,6388,639...12,774Page 8,638 of 12,774
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube