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Pepsi secures approval of PSE for voluntary delisting of shares

PEPSI-COLA Products Philippines, Inc. said on Thursday that the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) approved its petition to delist its shares.        

In a disclosure, Pepsi said the PSE granted its petition for voluntary delisting filed on Sept. 15 and already ordered the delisting of its shares from the latter’s official registry.

“The delisting shall be effective as of the end of business on December 18, 2020, subject to the payment of the voluntary delisting fee,” it said.

On Oct. 23, Pepsi received the written approval of its stockholders to delist its shares and voluntarily exit the market.

Pepsi decided to delist voluntarily after its public ownership fell to 2.1%, far from the 10% minimum requirement of the PSE.

The said figure was a result of the company’s sale of 30.7% or 1.13 billion shares to Lotte Chilsung Co. Ltd. earlier this year.

Shares in Pepsi at the stock exchange were last traded on June 17, when it ended at P1.70 per piece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Disney to release Nomadland ahead of Best-Picture deadline

WALT DISNEY Co. has rescheduled the release of best-picture contender Nomadland for Feb. 19, keeping the film eligible for Oscar awards while waiting for the pandemic to subside.

The film, which has been the top pick for best picture on forecasting site GoldDerby.com, was originally scheduled to hit theaters Dec. 4. The new date is a little more than a week before the Oscar deadline, which was pushed back because of the havoc coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has wreaked on Hollywood scheduling.

Nomadland stars Frances McDormand as a woman who embarks on a journey across the Western US after losing everything during the Great Recession. She is also a contender for best actress, according to GoldDerby.

While studios often release their Oscar hopefuls late in the year to keep them fresh in the minds of film academy voters, this time they face an especially delicate balancing act. They’ll want to wait as long as possible so that more theaters may be open, while at the same time meeting the deadline.

In vying for a best-picture statuette, Disney is in unusual territory. The studio hasn’t typically been a front-runner in the category because it stopped making the kind of adult dramas that typically win. It acquired Nomadland as part of its purchase of Fox’s entertainment assets last year and has vowed to continue making those sorts of movies at its Searchlight division.

Oscar season has been thrown into turmoil by the coronavirus. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which oversees the prizes, usually requires Oscar candidates to have run in Los Angeles theaters for seven days in the calendar year before the awards.

In April, the academy made exceptions for the coronavirus and said films released only online would also be considered for the first time. It has also added drive-in theaters and five other cities to help films qualify. The deadline for appearances in theaters was extended until Feb. 28.

Theaters in Los Angeles, the second-largest US city, have been closed since March. The awards are scheduled to be given out April 25.

By scheduling the theatrical release just before Oscar voting begins, Disney may be able to score points with academy members who favor films shown in cinemas. Many of the films touted as best-picture contenders by GoldDerby, have already come out on streaming services. They include Mank and The Trial of the Chicago 7, both on Netflix.

“This Oscar season, like everything else, has been turned upside down,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, Inc. “Now it’s wide open what constitutes a proper nominee.” — Bloomberg

Paid sick leave touted for pandemic relief

EXPANDING paid sick leave (PSL) to encourage self-isolation could be an effective strategy for containing coronavirus disease and will likely be less costly overall than lockdowns, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

It said a special PSL program will support symptomatic patients while they self-isolate, with the option to pay a single rate for the entire population, or variable rates based on the regional minimum wage. Coverage can be limited to areas with higher case loads, to reduce costs.

The findings were outlined in an ADB policy brief, Paid Sick Leave as a Tool for COVID-19 Control.

“Modeling finds that a PSL program in the Philippines that encourages symptomatic workers to self-isolate could reduce the overall mortality from COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) by as much as 50%,” it found.

The bank estimated that P110 billion will be needed to extend paid sick leave benefits to symptomatic COVID-19 workers at a flat rate of P480 per day.

Employers are estimated to pay P22.2 billion through leave benefits and the rest can be subsidized by the government through the Social Security System (SSS) or Government Service Insurance System. A full subsidy can be granted for those not covered by either pension fund, it said.

The costs could fall drastically if payouts are based on regional minimum wages, and targeted at areas with higher COVID-19 incidence. The ADB estimated a total payouts of P10 billion if only high-risk areas are eligible, or P34 billion to cover both high and moderate-risk areas.

These totals are equivalent to 0.05% and 0.18% of gross domestic product (GDP), respectively.

“The costs-financial and administrative-of a special COVID-19-related PSL program are manageable, at a fraction of a percent of GDP,” it said.

The ADB study considered all types of workers, including the self-employed, and those under informal work arrangements. It estimated the administrative costs of implementing the program at P9 billion, equivalent to 0.05% of GDP.

The bank described the estimated costs of the program as “not prohibitive,” especially when targeted at areas where COVID-19 infections are higher.

“When considered relative to other COVID-19 control measures, PSL can be quite cost-effective,” it said.

The SSS already has a system for covering those not in the formal labor force, it said.

“By helping to smooth consumption shocks for those infected, PSL has an important social protection function. Given the low economic costs and multiple benefits of PSL, it should be considered a priority “no-regret” option to help keep the pandemic contained,” it added. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Financial institutions told to tighten guard against dirty money flows related to child porn

THE CENTRAL BANK told financial institutions to address gaps in their risk management capabilities to arrest the emergence of transactions related to the online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC). 

In Memorandum No. M-2020-092, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier said BSP-supervised financial institutions are expected to boost their anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) processes through the guidance paper, consistent with their respective risk profiles.

“It is essential that the Board of Directors and Senior Management set a proactive tone at the top and establish a culture of risk awareness and compliance within their organizations to ensure effective implementation of a robust AMLC/CFT framework that has the capability to detect and mitigate risks arising from OSEC-related transactions,” the BSP said.

The central bank found that BSFIs need to strengthen areas such as their conduct of risk assessment, customer due diligence, monitoring, as well as suspicious transaction reporting (STR) to better detect OSEC activities.

The regulator recommended money laundering risk assessment exercises conducted periodically, noting this should cover a risk evaluation of OSEC activities for businesses and customers.

In terms of due diligence in customer on-boarding, the BSP found that BSFIs had inadequate controls, which meant policies like customer identification were implemented unevenly in branches and remittance partners. There were also some gaps in handling high-risk customers.

Moreover, risk profiling was “unsophisticated” given the manual process and incomplete information, the BSP said. It noted that some BSFIs missed information, including purpose, expected activity on the account, frequency, volume, value of remittances, country of origin, name and address of remitter and their relationship to the recipient as part of customer risk profiling.

The BSP also flagged certain BSFIs’ practice of not keeping their watchlist database updated as existing customers and personalities with previously filed suspicious transaction reports or involved in negative media reports were not included in the list.

The central bank likewise found that STRs related to OSEC were mostly sourced only from negative media reports and referrals from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). Only 24% were from monitoring systems, while those that were from branches and fraud complaints made up 12% and 1% of the total, respectively.

On the other hand, the BSP said BSFIs also employed some “good practices”, including the established process for customer identification and verification and adoption of automated screening process. 

It noted that some BSFIs participate in the AMLC’s Public Private Partnership Program, which gives them access to information on personalities linked to OSEC as well as unlawful activities they could monitor to determine whether transactions need to undergo further investigation.

In September, the AMLC released a study which showed child pornography-related transactions surged to 5,902 during the lockdown from March to May from 369 recorded a year ago. Such transactions would range from P1,000 to P10,000 each.

Based on the agency’s findings, 60% of these transactions were carried out through money service businesses while 35% were done through banks. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

Flying fur prices put fox in focus as mink cull sparks shortage

MILAN/COPENHAGEN  — Denmark’s coronavirus-driven mink cull has put the fur business in a spin, with industry officials expecting fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi to snap up fox and chinchilla to fill the gap.

The global fur trade, worth more than $22 billion a year, is reeling from Denmark’s decision to kill 17 million farmed mink after COVID-19 outbreaks at hundreds of farms led to the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus in the mammals.

Worries of a sudden shortage of slinky mink pelts, of which Denmark was the top exporter, have lifted prices by as much as 30% in Asia, the International Fur Federation (IFF) says.

Now, all eyes are on Finland, where one million mink and 250,000 fox pelts will soon be up for grabs for buyers in Korea, China, the United States and elsewhere next week. Auction house Saga Furs plans to hold the international sale, the first since the Danish cull, via livestream from Dec. 15.

A sales programme offers mink fur from both Europe and North America, such as “Pearl Velvet” and “Silverblue Velvet” mink, in addition to “Silver Fox”, “White Finnraccoon” and Russian sable.

Saga Furs, which last year took over its North American rival NAFA, expects to sell all the pelts, compared with a 55% take-up so far in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

“The market will strengthen, an increase in prices will help our business in general,” Saga Furs CEO Magnus Ljung said of the industry, which has seen years of falling prices.

“We’ve already had more requests about foxes, if people see that there is a lack of mink, they could consider using something else,” Mr. Ljung told Reuters.

LVMH’s head of sustainability Helene Valade said this week that the French luxury group obtains fur from Finland. The owner of Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi, which relies on brokers to bid, says it is using only 100% certified mink, fox and finnraccoon.

Fur demand has been falling since the 1950s, except for a rise between 2000 and 2013 when it was popular on fashion runways and Chinese appetite for luxury pelts boomed, Lise Skov, an academic who researched the Danish fur industry, said.

A typical mink pelt sold for more than $90 at auction in 2013, while last year skins fetched around $30. This was despite a fall in global production to just under 60 million pelts last year, from more than 80 million in 2014.

Euromonitor predicts the value of fur and fur products, both real and faux, will fall by 2.6% this year.

A Danish breeder-owned cooperative that sold 25 million mink hides last year, or 40% of the global total, is considering selling its brand and other assets after announcing that it would gradually shut down operations over the next 2-3 years.

Kopenhagen Fur CEO Jesper Lauge Christensen told Reuters he had received expressions of interest from Chinese customers to take over the auction house’s brand, which he said could be valued at up to 1 billion Danish crowns ($163 million).

It still plans to sell some 25 million pelts over the next two years, from Danish farms not infected by the virus, frozen stocks and foreign animals.

Animal activists hope the Danish debacle, which has had political repercussions in the country, will finish off the fur industry and demand for items such as $1,700 fur trinkets, $16,000 fur vests and $60,000 fur coats will disappear.

Countries and states which have already banned fur farms or fur products includes Britain, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Israel and California.

PJ Smith, director of fashion policy at Humane Society International, says that brands still using real fur will ditch it soon, following Gucci, Prada, Armani and others.

But for now, Kopenhagen Fur’s Mr. Christensen said fashion brands in Europe had expressed concern they will not be able to find a similar quality to the Danish mink furs.

“One of the biggest challenges from the brand perspective is that the unique Danish qualities will be disappearing from the collection and you cannot source that product elsewhere.”

He said he was looking at selling warehouse facilities and equipment such as automated vision machinery to grade the skins.

China, followed by Russia, is the biggest buyer of Danish fur as its own mink are considered of lower quality than those raised in Europe, where breeding standards are generally higher.

“We wouldn’t choose Chinese-made fur due to its poor quality,” Zhang Changping, owner of China’s Fangtai Fur, told Reuters, adding that it had already bought enough fur at least for the first half of 2021.

Fangtai would shift to auctions in Finland if Denmark failed to supply enough mink in the future, he said.

Niccolò Ricci, chief executive of Italian luxury designer label Stefano Ricci which has many clients in Russia and eastern Europe, said he expected mink prices to increase by up to 50% but that high-end labels like his would continue to seek top quality pelts, mainly from US suppliers.

“The real shortage could come from 2022, but by then we are hoping mink farmers in Canada, Poland, America and Greece will increase production to replace Danish output,” said IFF head Mark Oaten. Russia and China are also expected to hike output.

“People will also be looking at other types of fur. Fox has been very popular for trimmings, in parkas for example. Wild fur is also becoming more popular, as is chinchilla,” Oaten added. — Reuters

Philippine Airlines to provide free RT-PCR tests to arriving OFWs

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES (PAL) on Thursday said it would offer free reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests to arriving overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their dependents.

PAL has also cut the cost of its RT-PCR services from P4,000 to P3,300 for departing passengers, PAL Spokesperson Cielo C. Villaluna said in a phone message to BusinessWorld.

“Our flights to Manila from Dubai, Dammam, Doha, and Riyadh covering the period Dec. 21 to 31 will be carrying home a significant number of our OFW kababayans who are reuniting with their families for Christmas. Hence, PAL management decided to give them this holiday privilege, the free RT-PCR testing on arrival,” Ms. Villaluna added.

She said test results are released within 24 hours.

In a news release, PAL said the 24-hour turnaround time for the RT-PCR tests “leads to a shorter quarantine isolation period of no more than one night, as compared to the two to five days averaged by other testing centers.”

PAL also noted that the Philippine government would continue to shoulder the quarantine hotel accommodations of arriving overseas Filipino workers.

“To avail, passengers on these flights must register to PAL’s electronic Case Investigation Form as early as three  days before departure at https://bit.ly/MNLPALeCIF,” PAL said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Our changing finance world

The expected monster listing of Ant Financial which was derailed by China regulators represents a glimpse of the transformation happening in the finance world. It showed the positive and negative aspects of the fintech disruption. The application of technology to financial markets or fintech is changing finance practice all over the world. Fintech offers big gains in efficiency. And it is replete with risks.

Let’s first review the changes that are happening around us. Digital banking technologies are now observable in deposits, payment systems, wallets, lending, investing, currencies, insurance, etc. The pandemic has contributed to the surge by forcing more people to bank and pay online. The shift from physical to digital payments is the new normal.

One of the important functions of the financial system is the clearing and settling of payments. Cheque accounts and credit cards used to account for 98% of transactions for payments of goods and services, and financial assets. The shift from physical to digital payments have been remarkable. According to The Economist, the share of cashless transactions worldwide has accelerated due to the Covid-19. In America mobile banking traffic rose by 85% and online banking registrations by 200% in April 2020 alone.

In Sweden, cash transactions make up 2% of the value of all payments. You can’t use cash for retail transactions and for public transportation. Most banks  don’t even have ATMs. The preferred mode of exchange is using a card or a mobile phone app to transfer money in real time. China boasts of a digital payment system using QR codes in your phone. Even beggars in the street don’t accept cash anymore and you give your donation through their mobile phones.

  Online shopping has leapt forward by several years partly due to the pandemic. Even brick and mortar stores have been forced to adapt and reach customers who are locked down or hesitant to leave their homes. Visa and Mastercard reported a 40% surge in the first quarter of 2020. Consumers are utilizing peer-to-peer services to send money to relatives. These same customers who were unfamiliar with digital payments before COVID-19 are expected to be long time adoptors  to this new system.

In lending, the phenomenon is the same. The Economist reports the following: (1) DBS of Singapore opened 40,000 accounts for migrants in April 2020, (2) Brazil used the mobile route to reach its citizens in the Amazon, and (3) a Kenya bank doubled its customers using its app. Peer-to-peer lending platforms directly link individuals willing to lend money to borrowers. In the US, a typical platform application reviews a potential borrower, assigns a credit score to that borrower and make the information available to potential investors. The traditional bank lenders are often excluded from the system.

New business models find nontraditional business networks with enough customers vying to become a new form of financial intermediary displacing the  banks. E-commerce sites, fintechs, social networks, transportation providers, food delivery services and  the like  serve the virtual banking needs of both buyers and sellers. In the Philippines, for example, Shopee, Lazada and  Grab offer virtual wallets where consumers are encouraged to deposit their money for future consumption

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are being used to provide information  on consumer behavior and develop real-time investment insights. By exploiting data on users’ behavior, firms can use complex algorithms to understand consumer wants and needs. Similar methods are used to detect fraudulent activities, take actions against cybercrime and improve regulatory compliance.

Millennials are using technology to invest in shares and bonds directly with the use of electronic trading platforms that make it easier and cheaper to buy and sell securities directly. Providing investment advice to individuals and tailoring portfolio to their needs can now be done through robo advisers. These platforms automate the investment process by securing the individual’s personal situation and risk tolerance profiles. It will recommend a portfolio, usually assets across low-cost index funds, for a fee. Once investors place their money, the robo advisers purchase the investments and will periodically rebalance the portfolio to maintain an  ideal asset mix.

Investment crowdfunding is making raising capital more democratic. New infrastructure allows early and growth stage companies to invite individual retail investors to invest in projects they may be passionate about. Aside from equity crowdfunding where investors own shares of the new company in proportion to their investment, there are also crowdfunded debt financing. Here, the investors become creditors and receive interest payments.

Blockchain solutions are now being explored to lower cost of trading, transfer ownership and create more accurate records. A blockchain consists of a network of computers that simultaneously update a ledger of transactions or other data. The technology offers advances in speed and security of financial record-keeping. It has become well recognized in the creation of cyber currency like bitcoin.

The digital revolution is changing financial transactions and its players in a big way. We see major improvements in efficiency but there are attendant risks at it destabilizes the financial system. Already, cybercrime is rising. The role of banks and regular intermediaries in maturity matching is off balance. Regulators are sometimes caught unawares and how it responds can either be positive and dysfunctional.

The challenges are expected and must be overcome. But there is no stopping this digital onslaught that has been put to high gear by the worldwide pandemic. Players in the sector will either adapt or be found obsolete.

 

Benel D. Lagua was former Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer at the Development Bank of the Philippines. He is an active FINEX member and a long-time advocate of risk-based lending for SMEs.  The views expressed herein are his own and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of his office as well as FINEX.

Stuff to do (12/18/20)

National Gallery Singapore presents Coke Bolipata

FOR the last session of its Art + Live | Resonates program, the National Gallery of Singapore will present a performance by Filipino violinist Alfonso “Coke” Bolipata on its Facebook page on Dec. 19, 3 p.m. Bolipata will perform a repertoire of music that responds to the works of Filipino artists in the gallery’s collection, which includes Mother Nature’s Bounty Harvest, a collaboration between three renowned Filipino artists, Victorio C Edades, Galo B Ocampo, and Carlos “Botong” Francisco. Bolipata will be presenting three pieces related to the coming of Spring, together with kids from the Pundaquit Virtuosi ensemble.

Freebies, discounts as UNIQLO opens Sucat store

JAPANESE global apparel retailer, UNIQLO will open its store at SM City Sucat — with 1,041 sqm of new shopping space — on Dec. 18. Located at the ground level of Building B of the mall, the new store will showcase the latest line-up of UNIQLO LifeWear — including a wide selection of LifeWear pieces for men, women, children, and babies. On the opening weekend, from Dec. 18 to 20, customers can receive two Eco Friendly Bags — one Medium and one Large — with a minimum single receipt purchase of P3,000. Shoppers should also check out these exclusive limited offers from Dec. 18 to 24: men’s and women’s U crew neck short sleeve T-shirt, now available for P390 from P590; women’s cotton relaxed ankle pants, now available for P590 from P790; men’s chino shorts, now available for P790 from P990; and, men’s Dry Stretch easy shorts, now available for P590 from P790. Visit UNIQLO in SM City Sucat, located at Building B, Dr. Santos Ave. corner Carlos P. Garcia, Parañaque City. Mall Hours are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

Usapang MaArte

DR. Felipe M. De Leon, professor, writer, and composer and former chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) will be holding a webinar on how to market the Filipino Way on Dec. 19, 1 p.m., via the Facebook page of MaArte Fair. Those interested to be part of the discussion — held via Zoom — may register via https://bit.ly/UsapangMaArteMarketing. For inquiries contact inquiry@museumfoundationph.org.

Feng Shui webinar

FENG Shui expert Marites Allen will be holding a webinar on how “thrive, not strive” in the year of the Metal Ox (2021) on Dec. 19, 5 p.m. Tickets to the webinar, hosted by Boy Abunda, cost P2,499 and can be purchased via https://frigga.co.uk/

Robinsons Novaliches Christmas Bazaar

FOR its 15th year, the Robinsons Novaliches Christmas Bazaar continues to offer wide variety of gift items, from fashionable clothes and shoes, stylish phone accessories, household items, knick-knacks of all sorts, and much more as it includes 85 stalls located at the Parking 2 outdoor area of the mall in Quezon City. The bazaar is open every day until Jan. 3, 2021, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Health and safety protocols are followed inside the bazaar. For more updates, visit www.robinsonsmalls.com or like RobinsonsNovaliches on Facebook; follow @robinsonsnovaliches on Instagram and @RobinsonsMalls on Twitter.

Henri Matisse Online class

THE LONDON Drawing Group is hosting an online class on how to paint with scissors a la Henri Matisse on Dec. 19, 10 p.m. Hosted by Frances Stanfield, participants will be guided through Matisse’s playful approach to art making. The class will have participants use cut outs from a series of images Ms. Stanfield will present. This class is suitable for all levels and will need participants to bring scissors, colored paper, a collection of organic matter (leaves and flowers), pins and cardboard and tape. Tickets are on a “pay what you can” basis to support the London Drawing Group. Tickets are available via eventbrite.co.uk/e/henri-matisse-painting-with-scissors-tickets-104482497964. For inquiries contact londondrawinggroup@gmail.com.

‘Stay’ interview questions for problem workers

Sometime ago, you wrote about the value of conducting periodic “stay” interviews as the best alternative to reactive exit interviews. I agree with you. An exit interview is an obsolete approach for determining employee satisfaction level. Could you share with us a comprehensive list of questions that I can use to motivate difficult and unproductive employees? — Lady Bug.

Bill Clinton once told his wife Hillary that being president is kind of like running a cemetery. There are a lot of people under you, but no one is listening. It’s the same thing with people management. No one listens to management if the workers think they’re not being heard. It’s not a chicken-and-egg situation. It’s clear that management should initiate and create a friendly communication process.

Without one, you will not discover the issues bugging the employees. Essentially, this requires looking at their jobs and figuring out what makes them satisfied or dissatisfied. It is an important objective in people management. Whether or not your company can afford high pay and perks, the best option, in good and bad times, is to treat them well.

After all, you’re the manager and you have all the authority and freedom to improve the work situation of people, even on a limited scale.

‘STAY’ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
So, what is a satisfying work environment for your workers, regardless of their attitude and performance? You don’t have to guess. You have to ask and hear it directly from the horse’s mouth. Here are some basic questions to help you identify the issues long before any worker resigns. This list includes previous questions I have written about before.

One, current work situation. How can I help you remove the difficulties or obstacles in your job, if any? Are those difficulties within my authority and responsibility to correct? If not, how can I make your work life comfortable, at least for the meantime?

Two, career aspirations. What is your career plan? How can I make you succeed in this department or elsewhere? What are the things you need from me to make it happen? What makes a job challenging, meaningful, and worth doing for you?

Three, training and development. What kind of training do you need? How would you like to enrich your skills? Are you open to the idea of a job rotation with another worker? How about working for another department? Or secondment to an affiliate?

Four, job enlargement and enrichment. How about handling two or more jobs to reduce your boredom? Would you like to try working on a project that gives you an extra challenge? How about if we give you a limited authority and freedom to do your job?

Five, autonomous working groups. Would you like to lead or be a part of an independent team working on a special project? What kind of projects are you looking at? How would it support the objectives of our department and the company?

Six, managing conflict and style. How do you like my management style? Is there anything you would like me to improve? How about your relationship with other employees? What are the issues that I can help you settle with another person?

Seven, performance appraisal policy. Do you understand well the performance standards? Are they fair and acceptable to you? Would you like to clarify the issues about your job or the company’s appraisal system, if there’s any?

Eight, coaching and counseling. Are you getting the same amount of guidance from me compared to other workers? Is there a way I can improve on them? In what areas? Am I being unfair? Am I patient enough in listening to your concerns?

Last, managing the reward system. Are your efforts being recognized in accordance with company policy? Are you properly rewarded for it? Are there rewards that you value which are not being given to you? Why do you think you deserve it?

LIFEBLOOD
Proactive communication is the lifeblood of people management. Unless you get hold of the right information at the right time, and not when an employee has submitted his resignation, you won’t know what’s going on. If you don’t have a finger on the pulse of your direct reports at any given time, you won’t be able to plan and take appropriate action.

We live in the age of information overload but there’s no such thing as “overload” when it comes to actively seeking and understanding the concerns of each and every worker. We are bombarded with information every day from various directions, but we cannot afford to ignore it all.

There’s no doubt that managers must communicate to convey ideas and to solicit support from employees. Without it, working with people would be impossible. Unless managers ask questions and share their concerns with the workers, they will be isolated in their ivory towers.

The communication process does not have to be formal. In fact, it’s better if the managers do it casually and in private with target employees that require motivation. There’s no need to wait for performance appraisal time. That may be too late. Even problem employees may be included in the “stay” interview for whatever it’s worth. It may be challenging, but every step in clearing up a cloudy situation is always worthwhile.

 

Send anonymous questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting

The road back from a lost year for sports

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter

SPORTS FANS will long remember 2020 as a year like no other, with cancelled tournaments, empty stadiums, and the Olympic year moving to 2021 after the Tokyo Games were lost to the pandemic.

In the Philippines, the sports ecosystem, just like any other industry, is trying to cope with the cards it’s been dealt. But after the initial trauma of cancelled games and broadcast-industry upheaval, thoughts have now turned to rebuilding from the wreckage and the long road back.

“We were taken by surprise by the pandemic, leaving stakeholders scrambling (for a plan of action) to move forward,” sports marketer Rely San Agustin said in a Zoom interview.

The revenue hit taken by the various sports leagues that had to shut down because of the quarantine was compounded in sports supported by public funds as budgets were directed to matters deemed more urgent, like containing the pandemic or reviving the economy.

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), for one, said it lost some P30 million a month from foregone gate receipts, television, and sponsorships in the seven months it was out. The estimate covers only the league office and does not reflect the financial pressures on the 12 individual teams.  

In collegiate sports, meanwhile, many schools were forced to overhaul their athletic programs, even shutting down some of their varsity teams.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which cut short its Season 95 because of the pandemic, said at least five thousand individuals, including athletes, coaches and officials, were affected financially as a result of various budget cuts implemented by member schools, whose core source of income — tuition revenue — took a hit from the health crisis.

The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), home to some of the country’s biggest universities, was not spared as well.

Compounding the problems of the two TV-friendly leagues was the non-renewal of the franchise of ABS-CBN Corp. by the House of Representatives in May, which entailed the loss of their broadcast partner.

“It’s a hit for the UAAP and NCAA as apart from the reach that ABS-CBN gave them, they lost broadcast money, which is basically the funds that support the leagues (in recruiting) athletes and developing their programs. But good thing, there are other networks they can turn to,” according to Mr. San Agustin, who is also football commissioner for the UAAP.

The UAAP has since partnered with Cignal TV and its affiliate TV5, while the NCAA has chosen GMA Network, Inc.

The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics forced the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to overhaul its budget for Filipino athletes’ Olympic campaigns, reducing allowances by as much as half for both competitors and coaches.

The PSC spent some P351 million in the first six months of 2020 on Olympic candidates, a level of spending it is now obliged to maintain in some form for another year with the Games delayed.

PICKING UP THE PIECES
Ten months into the pandemic, the process of picking up the pieces continues for the sports community.

“We’re still finding our way back. The only sane way to go about it is to think we are in this together. We have to be patient and resilient during these times,” according to Mr. San Agustin, who runs RSA 1 Sports Group.

Chatri Sityodtong, CEO and founder of Singapore-based sports media property ONE Championship, said times are tough, but this should not stop anyone from trying to make things happen.

“The keys to success in this environment are twofold. One is creativity, because we are going to be faced with problems we’ve never seen before. So we have to be even more creative about solutions and products that we launch. And then resilience — we are going to get more rejections, failures, obstacles, setbacks, and mistakes than ever before,” said Mr. Sityodtong in response to a query from BusinessWorld during a media briefing.

ONE Championship counts the Philippines as a prime destination for live events. It has been staging combat sports cards in China, Thailand, and Singapore since June, after suspending activity in March.

One of the established avenues for getting leagues to move on with their seasons is to organize tournaments within a protective “bubble.”

Pro leagues like the PBA, Chooks-to-Go 3×3 Pilipinas, and Philippines Football League took the bubble route, confining all tournament participants inside a defined venue with extensive testing to detect infection promptly.

The NCAA and the UAAP are considering bubbles as well, as are the national athletes in training. 

“A bubble setup makes sense,” said Mr. San Agustin. “Seclusion is needed. You really have to control movement in and out of the venues.”

He cautioned however that once committed to a bubble, organizers have to accept everything that goes with it, particularly the cost.

“Looking at the bubble, the NBA (National Basketball Association) did it and it cost them $150 million. The PBA followed suit, and it cost P65 million, PFL (the Philippines Football League) did a semi-bubble for P6 million. They are spending money, but how do they earn from this? Ticket sales are gone. Games are shown on TV, but are corporate sponsors noticing?” he said.

“The PBA should be fine since it has FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) teams and telcos, but for the smaller leagues, it will be a challenge,” Mr. San Agustin said.

Martin Aguda, Jr., a safety, resilience and crisis management consultant, said the bubble concept has broader applications for business.

“The bubble setup can be adopted not only in sports, but also in other businesses, so there will be less disruption… if done properly, a bubble can be effective,” according to Mr. Aguda, who is affiliated with The Safety Project PH and helped Chooks-to-Go 3×3 Pilipinas review the protocols for its tournament bubble at the INSPIRE Sports Academy in Laguna in October.

The bubble, he said, needs the three Cs — Compliance with all government regulations; Consistency in the implementation of the protocols; and Concern for the health and safety of the people inside it.

Other organizations considering a bubble for their events are the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League and volleyball associations Philippine Superliga and Premier Volleyball League.  

MOVING FORWARD
The sporting community is taking tentative steps out of the crisis and is playing things by ear.

“We’re still in wait-and-see. We’re taking it a step at a time. Focus right now. The tournament is at hand and for it to be finished… We are looking at what works and what doesn’t as we plan our next moves,” said PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial, whose organization was in the homestretch of its tournament bubble in Clark City in Pampanga at the time of writing.

The same goes for the collegiate leagues, which have written 2020 off and are now looking at resuming competition late in the first quarter next year, assuming the government approves. Of particular importance are the education agencies, which have indirect oversight over student-athletes.

The Commission on Higher Education has drafted guidelines for the return to training of collegiate athletes, but has not said when it will allow competitions to resume.

Mr. San Agustin said the sports community must make use of the idle time to carefully chart the path it plans to take.

“They have to have solid plans moving forward, despite the fact that at this point, everybody is going through a learning process,” Mr. San Agustin said.

“Expanding your business by going digital would help. We really have to be in tune with the times and go digital — online and social media. People are on their mobile phones much of the time. Leagues and businesses can create online campaigns for their brands. Capitalize on athletes and get the fans engaged,” he said.

He added, “You have to create value for sponsors for them to continue to support your brand, or for those who left, entice them back. At the end of the day, sponsors will come back and ask what you have done for us. Everything can be branded.”

Following the lead of the NBA, the PBA came up with an app for a “virtual experience” as a way of engaging with fans.

Through the app, fans are featured on LED screens at the Angeles University Foundation Arena in Pampanga, the official game venue for its bubble.

PBA games, too, have been live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube to complement the television broadcast, and they have been well-received.

Mr. San Agustin also touts the potential of esports, which he sees as a solid option for games organizers.

“Esports is getting a big boost during this time and experts say it will continue to grow bigger. The players and the following are there.”

Collegiate leagues are now considering including esports in the calendar of events for their upcoming seasons. They may go their own way, apart from the events offered by established esports leagues and organizations.

Mr. Sityodtong views the crisis as a test of the industry’s leadership.

“Ships are not made for the calm waters of the harbor, ships are made for the rough seas in search of new horizons and great captains are made in rough seas, never in the calm of the harbor… I genuinely believe that the best companies will not only survive, they will thrive in this environment. The show must go on,” he said.

Mr. San Agustin said the recovery will come for sports eventually, but patience and adaptability are needed.

“Right now, everything is at a standstill… But we will recover gradually. Patience is needed. Stay resilient and adapt.”

PSE extends disbursement of proceeds from stock rights offer

THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has extended the timeline for the use of the proceeds for its stock rights offer (SRO) to Dec. 31, 2023, the local bourse said on Thursday.

In a regulatory filing, the PSE said that it had so far disbursed 1,101.14 shares from its planned amount of 2,825.88.

It detailed that its net proceeds were meant to be used for acquisition of the Philippine Dealing System (PDS), product development and working capital requirements at 1,580 shares, 360 shares and 885.88 shares, respectively.

“This directive is being issued primarily for the purpose of ensuring the timely disclosure of information relating to PSE as a listed company and should not be construed as an approval by the (Securities and Exchange) Commission,” the PSE disclosed.

The PSE’s two wholly owned units include the Securities Clearing Corp. of the Philippines and the Capital Markets Integrity Corp.

The listed company holds a 20.98% interest in the Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. — the holding company of the Philippines’ fixed income exchange operator — and a 90% interest in Premier Software Enterprise, Inc.

PSE shares on Thursday inched down by 0.19% to close at P154.70 apiece. — Angelica Y. Yang

How PSEi member stocks performed — December 17, 2020

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Thursday, December 17, 2020.

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