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Ayala energy unit raises $300M from green bonds

AC Energy and Infrastructure Corp. has raised $300 million from its green bond issuance, its parent firm Ayala Corp. said in a regulatory filing on Friday, marking the country’s first fixed-for-life perpetual bond offering in about a year.

“We are very pleased to see the high level of investor confidence in AC Energy and the strong market response to our perpetual green bond, following our maiden green bond in 2019,” AC Energy CEO and President Eric T. Francia said in a statement.

The green bonds were priced at 5.1%, some 30 basis points tighter than the initial price guidance, AC Energy said, adding that the final book order volume went over $1.3 billion, around 4.33 times higher than the starting issue size.

“We believe that this will power AC Energy in its pursuit to scale up renewable investments in the region as we continue the transition to a low carbon portfolio,” Mr. Francia said.

Ayala Corp. said the green bonds of its energy platform AC Energy are the first public green bonds out of the Philippines in 2020. They were issued by the unit’s wholly owned subsidiary AC Energy Finance International Ltd. under its $2-billion medium-term note program.

The bonds were certified by the Securities and Exchange Commission as ASEAN Green Bonds on Nov. 18.

The issuance’s net proceeds will be used to finance AC Energy’s ongoing tender offer for its 5.65%, $400-million senior perpetual notes callable in December 2022. Part of the proceeds will be used to fund the company’s green energy projects.

BPI Capital Corp. was the sole global coordinator for the transaction, and a joint lead manager and joint bookrunner along with Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Ltd., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., and UBS AG Singapore Branch.

China Bank Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corp. and RCBC Capital Corp. participated in the issuance as the domestic lead managers.

On Friday, shares in AC Energy’s parent Ayala Corp. inched down by 0.12% to close at P823.50 apiece. — Angelica Y. Yang

MacroAsia, Pro-Friends team up for water supply project

MACROASIA Corp. has partnered with Maplecrest Group Inc., the parent company of Property Company of Friends (Pro-Friends), in a joint water project in Cavite.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Friday, MacroAsia said its wholly owned subsidiary Naic Water Supply Corp. entered into a joint venture agreement that will provide water in the communities developed by Pro-Friends such as Lancaster New City, Bellefort Estates, Carmona Estates, and other ongoing and future projects.

The agreement will also include Pro-Friends’ development in Iloilo, the company added. MacroAsia entered water distribution in 2016 and currently has business interests in the provinces such as Nueva Vizcaya, Cavite, Bulacan, Albay, and Boracay. The company is also pursuing other water projects in Cebu, Iloilo, and Rizal.

“Recently, MacroAsia completed the construction and installation of its Maragondon Plant for its bulk water project in Cavite which is currently under commissioning stage,” the disclosure said. Pro-Friends’ Lancaster New City is a 1,700 hectare township development project that covers the towns of Kawit, Imus, and General Trias in Cavite.

“Lancaster New City now has close to 20,000 house and lot units built and delivered,” the disclosure said.

Other projects of Pro-Friends in Cavite include Bellefort Estates in Bacoor; Carmona Estates in Carmona; and Micara Estates in Tanza. The firm also has a project in Pavia, Iloilo named Monticello Villas.

On Friday, MacroAsia shares at the stock exchange rose 5.84% or 45 centavos to close at P8.15 per piece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Cebu Pacific, GenSan to start trial of ‘test before boarding’ on Dec. 3

Budget carrier Cebu Pacific announced on Friday that it would be working with the local government of General Santos City and the Philippine Airport Diagnostic Laboratory on a two-week trial period for its “test before boarding” or TBB offering.

The trial period will run from Dec. 3 to Dec. 14, 2020, the airline said in an e-mailed statement.

All Cebu Pacific passengers flying from Manila to General Santos during the trial period “will be required to undergo TBB” for free, the company added.

“This is in compliance with the Executive Order of General Santos; passengers no longer need to take any other test prior to their flight,” the budget carrier also said.

Candice A. Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice-president for marketing and customer experience, said: “We look forward to the results of this pilot so we can pave way for a more confident restart of non- essential travel and a standardization of requirements across all Philippine destinations.We would also like to laud General Santos City for piloting TBB with us.” — Arjay L. Balinbin

Italpinas posts 28% rise in net income despite pandemic

Italpinas Development Corp. (IDC) posted a 28.2% increase as of the third quarter to P46.74 million, with its two ongoing residential projects largely accounting for the sales revenue during the nine-month period.

Romolo V. Nati, IDC chairman and chief executive officer, said in a regulatory filing on Friday that the company was “fortunate” that business operations were weathering the pandemic. He said the main revenue sources were the real estate developer’s mixed-use green residential condominium Primavera City in Cagayan de Oro, and Miramonti Green Residences in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

“We would attribute these projects’ remarkable performance, despite the pandemic, to the high market acceptance for IDC’s trademark combination of Italian design, green lifestyle, and well- chosen locations,” Mr. Nati was quoted as saying in the stock exchange disclosure.

“As of September 2020, residential units available for sale at Citta Verde (Primavera City Phase 1) were almost fully sold. In addition, for the same nine month period, sales made at Citta Bella (Primavera City Phase 2) already accounted for 67% of the 291 available residential units,” he added.

IDC said its total assets also improved 3% to P1.94 billion for the nine-month period. Further, the company said its total shareholders equity is now at P753.62 million.

“The company was able to improve on its Debt to Equity from 6.52:1.00 in 2013 to 1.67:1.00 by the end of 2019, and finally to 1.58:1 in the third quarter of 2020,” IDC President Jose D. Leviste III was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Mr. Leviste said the company is ready to contribute to the government’s “Balik Probinsya” program by providing quality housing at accessible prices in areas outside the big metropolises.

“The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been difficult, but it has also had the result that our value proposition of underscoring great potential in the provinces is now even more relevant than ever,” he said.

On Friday, shares in IDC at the stock exchange rose 2.73% or 8 centavos to end at P3.01 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Globe says acquisition of tech firm Cascadeo completed

Globe Telecom, Inc. has officially completed the acquisition of US-based cloud managed services provider Cascadeo, the Ayala-led telecommunications company said on Friday.

“The collaboration between the two tech-driven companies started back in 2019, with a purchase agreement signed earlier this year. Now, the partnership has fully transitioned, with Globe making major investments in the leading cloud managed services provider,” Globe said in an e-mailed statement.

The two companies have been working closely “to help enterprises remain competitive” amid a pandemic crisis, Globe added.

The listed telco announced in April that it had entered into an agreement to acquire for $4 million (P200 million) substantially all of the assets of Cascadeo Corp. and Cascadeo Partners. The purpose of the agreement is to speed up the development of the company’s ICT capabilities and solutions and provide a full suite of cloud-native products and services to its customers, Globe said.

Cascadeo was founded in 2006 and focuses on automation, cloud-native platform, data analytics, serverless infrastructure, and programmatic security.

The company, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, also provides professional consulting services.

Cascadeo also operates a Cloud Operations Center of Excellence in Manila, which serves its customers in both the US and the Philippines.

“During the quarantine, many companies had a difficult time adapting to the sudden shift to online services due to their reliance on outdated IT infrastructure and operations,” Jared Reimer, founder of Cascadeo, was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Our partnership with Globe allows us to showcase in the Philippines that the cloud is more than just a virtual storage space. It’s an enabler of innovation, maintaining system uptime, and scaling digital resources to meet demand in whatever capacity,” explained He added that Cascadeo also continues to expand in North America. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Stocks finish lower as market continues to correct

Local shares tumbled on Friday and closed below the 6,800-mark, as the market continued to correct a week after the central bank announced a surprise interest rate cut.

The market’s decline is the fourth consecutive day that the bellwether index posted losses.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 136.29 points or 1.97% to close at 6,791.46 on Friday, while the broader all shares index was trimmed by 37.81 points or 0.91% to finish at 4,100.28.

“[The] market continued the correction today on overvaluations after the huge market rally last week attributed mainly to the COVID-19 vaccine progress, as well as, the unexpected Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ lowering of rates and the generally better earnings performance of companies in the 3rd quarter,” said Diversified Securities, Inc. equity trader Ancieto K. Pangan in a mobile message.

For Regina Capital Development Corp.’s Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan, local stocks fell below the 6,800-mark as investors “realigned with the latest Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index rebalancing that would take effect by the end of November.”

“The U.S. stock market was also closed Thursday due to Thanksgiving, so most opted to take profit as well,” Mr. Limlingan said in a Viber message.

US stocks were mixed: the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 indices went down by 0.58% and 0.16%, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite index ended higher by 0.48%. Asian stocks logged higher values when the local bourse closed, except for the S&P/ASX 200 index, which ended 0.53% lower.

Back home, four of the PSEi indices recorded losses: holding firms by 207.12 points or 2.90%; industrial by 112.47 points or 1.24%; financials by 29.13 points or 2%; and property by 14.31 points or 0.42%. Mining and oil increased by 154.87 points or 1.86%, and services inched up by 3.47 points or 0.23%.

“Oil rose for a 5th straight day, as a surprise drop in crude inventories extended the rally driven by vaccine hopes,” Mr. Limlingan said.

“Gold prices rose as grim U.S. jobs data and worries over surging COVID-19 cases worldwide cast doubts over a quick economic recovery and bolstered the metal’s safe-haven appeal,” he added.

Some 4.5 billion issues valued at P27.65 billion switched hands on Friday, higher than the previous day’s 3.28 billion issues valued at P15.49 billion. Advancers led decliners, 129 against 75, with 50 names closing unchanged. — Angelica Y. Yang

Megawide reports strong investment, funding interest for P109-B NAIA rehab

MEGAWIDE Construction Corp. said it has received inquiries from investors and banks seeking to participate in its proposed P109 billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) rehabilitation project.

In a virtual briefing Friday, Megawide Construction Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edgar B. Saavedra said the company has been approached by potential investors and financial institutions.

“We received a lot of inquiries, a lot of interested parties not only from the bank side, but even on the equities side, investors, and even (from) offshore,” Mr. Saavedra said.

“In the portfolio of investors we have in Megawide right now, more than half are infrastructure funds. And some of them are strategic investors. All of them are excited,” he added.

Mr. Saavedra said investors have been supportive and are waiting for the rehabilitation of NAIA to happen, noting that the company is being counted on to increase the congested hub’s ultimate carrying capacity.

“They know we can expand that. And they know that we’re the only company who has this capability,” Mr. Saavedra said.

Until the government gives the final go-ahead for the project, Megawide Director Manuel Louie B. Ferrer said it cannot start formal talks with the potential backers.

“At this stage, we cannot formally talk to them yet. Maybe next year, we’ll start talking to them formally,” Mr. Ferrer said.

Megawide said it projects to spend P12 billion for the first phase of the rehabilitation project and P20 billion for the second phase, which will happen in the first three to four years of implementation.

Some of the plans for NAIA’s rehabilitation project include enhancements to airside and landside facilities; a new passenger terminal building; apron and taxi lane improvements; an elevated railway; and a bus rapid transit service.

On Nov. 17, Megawide said it expects the Swiss challenge for the NAIA rehabilitation project to be completed by the first three months of 2021.

The Swiss challenge give an original project proponent the option to match or exceed offers put forward by other bidding groups.

Megawide said it raised P4.36 billion in a preferred-share offering, with the proceeds to support its expansion plans.

In a listing ceremony Friday, Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Monzon said the proceeds of the share issue will be applied to the rehabilitation of NAIA and the development of Megawide’s Mactan-Cebu International Airport and Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange Lot 2, among others.

“These projects will be greatly beneficial to tourists and the commuting public once completed. It will also further solidify the company’s foothold in the airport and landport development and operation sphere,” Mr. Monzon said.

Megawide’s Mr. Saavedra said the fund-raising exercise is a big step in diversifying its business.

“Our construction business has diversified to take on private-sector projects as well as various future industrial and infrastructure developments. We plan to replicate our landport model in other key cities to provide traffic management solutions and comfort to our public commuters,” Mr. Saavedra said.

RCBC Capital Corp. and PNB Capital and Investment Corp. were the company’s joint lead underwriters for the offering.

In September, the construction firm said it filed an application with the PSE to issue P3 billion new preferred shares, with an oversubscription option of up to P2 billion.

Megawide posted a net loss of P321.16 million in the third quarter.

The company said revenue for the third quarter fell 52% to P2.62 billion. Contracting revenue fell 41% to P2.55 billion, while airport operations revenue fell 87% to P115.91 million.
On Friday, Megawide shares rose 2.27% to P9.47 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Pilipinas Shell launches Subic import facility

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. said Friday that it opened an import facility in Subic to expand its ability to supply fuel to northern Luzon.

“The facility, strategically located to enhance access to Regions I, II, III, and the Cordillera Administrative Region, is an addition to Pilipinas Shell’s network of terminals and complements the two existing import terminals – Tabangao and NMIF (North Mindanao Import Facility),” the company said in a statement.

Pilipinas Shell recently converted its shuttered Tabangao, Batangas refinery into an import terminal.

The new Subic facility can handle medium-range vessels capable of transferring to shore facilities up to 54 million liters of finished product. “This allows the company to maximize its efficiency and minimize its transshipment costs,” it said.

Pilipinas Shell President and CEO Cesar G. Romero said that he remains optimistic that the company will strengthen its presence in the fuel business “ahead of Asia’s anticipated bounce-back in fuel demand.”

On Friday, Pilipinas Shell rose 2.07 % to P19.76. — Angelica Y. Yang

Taiwan semiconductor firm seeking nearly 800 Filipino workers

A semiconductor manufacturer in Taiwan has opened its hiring to nearly 800 qualified qualified Filipino workers, the Department of Labor and Employment said Friday.

Silicon Precision Industries Co. Ltd. (SPIL) In Taichung City, Taiwan submitted a job order to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) outlining its personnel needs.

“The vacancies are contained in the Job Orders of SPIL that were submitted to POLO-Taichung in the middle of this week,” Labor Attaché Fidel A. Macauyag said in a statement Friday.

The labor office in Taichung has directed potential applicants to the following recruitment agencies: Grand Placement & General Services Corp., MIP International Manpower Services, Inc., and JS Contractor Inc.

SPIL, a leading provider of semiconductor assembly and test services, produces advanced leadframe and substrate-based packages used in computers, tablets, mobile phones, set-top boxes and LCD monitors.

It also manufactures wearable devices, smart appliances, smart cars, drones, fingerprint sensors, digital cameras, smart speakers and video consoles.

The department noted that POLO in Taichung recently estimated that SPIL employed more than 3,500 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Mr. Macauyag also said he is hoping for “early easing of travel protocols and limitations on the number of inbound passengers in Taiwan so that the prospective OFWs awaiting deployment in the Philippines may immediately work in Taiwan.” — Charmaine A. Tadalan

DBM allots P3,000 hazard pay for gov’t health workers, P5,000 for all staff at COVID facilities

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it will grant government health care workers a hazardous-duty allowance of P3,000 per month for work performed starting Sept. 15 until the expiration of a special law authorizing the funding.

The allowance was detailed in Joint Circular (JC) No. 1, s. 2020 issued with the Health department on Friday. It covers government medical staff assigned to hospitals, laboratories, medical and quarantine facilities directly involved in the government’s pandemic containment effort.

A separate joint circular, JC No. 2, s. 2020, also issued Friday, calls for a special risk allowance of P5,000 a month for medical personnel, public and private, assigned to facilities designated for COVID-19 patients.

The hazard pay and special risk allowances are authorized by Republic Act No. 11494, or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan II), and will be sourced from budget savings, subject to their availability.

Both allowances will be based on the number of days the health workers reported for duty between Sept. 15 and Dec. 19. It is possible for a government health care worker assigned to COVID duty to receive both allowances.

They do not cover frontliners who do not have employer-employee relationships, and whose salaries were sourced from non-personnel services budgets, except consultants engaged for a limited period; laborers hired through job contracts; student workers and apprentices; and those who were employed through contracts of service or job order who were not assigned to hospitals, laboratories or quarantine facilities.

According to budget documents seen by BusinessWorld, P92.35 billion or 66% of the P140 billion Bayanihan II budget has been released as of Monday. The law, signed on Sept. 19, will expire on Dec. 19. — Beatrice M. Laforga

BIR, BoC ordered to investigate cooperatives allegedly fronting for rice traders

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III ordered the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Customs (BoC) to help the Agriculture department investigate alleged use by private rice traders of cooperatives to import rice as a tax-avoidance measure.

In a statement Friday, the Finance department said Mr. Dominguez issued the order after Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar last month released Administrative Order (AO) No. 34, suspending the issuance of permits and the application process for sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs) to farmers’ cooperatives and irrigators’ associations, after some were allegedly used as dummies by traders.

“There’s this question now as to why traders are using co-ops to import rice …. Let’s look into that because they might be using the tax advantage on rice imports,” Mr. Dominguez told BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay and BoC Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero in a recent meeting.

Cooperatives are not exempt from paying duties on rice imports but some are registered with the BIR for income tax exemptions on their activities, according to Finance Undersecretary Antonette C. Tionko.

Duties collected from rice imports rose 25% year on year to P630 million in October on the back of greater import volumes, which were up 18% at 98 million kilograms, according to the BoC.

In the year to date, rice imports generated P14.31 billion in tariffs for the government. Of these collections, the government must provide P10 billion a year to support the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

The BoC earlier reported rice traders were found to have underpaid P1.417 billion worth of customs duties, plus penalties and other charges, because of undervalued rice imports between March and June 2019. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Boracay dev’t authority bill filed in Senate

A bill creating the Boracay Island Development Authority (BIDA) has been filed in the Senate, with the stated intent of moving ahead with the resort island’s rehabilitation.

Senate Bill No. 1914 was filed upon the request of Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, ahead of the expiration of the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force’s (BIATF) mandate in May 2021.

The task force pushed for the creation of the authority to “promote and accelerate sustainable development and balanced growth of Boracay Island,” Senator Cynthia A. Villar said in the bill’s explanatory note.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte in 2018 ordered the closure of the island for six months for rehabilitation. He also created the BIATF to lead the process.

It reopened in October 2018 but with a capacity limit of 19,200 tourists per day or 6,405 arrivals per day, on the assumption that tourists will stay an average of three days.

The proposed BIDA will seat 11 members, led by a General Manager appointed by the President.

Aside from the environment secretary, its members are the secretaries of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Tourism, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Health and the Department of Justice.

The governor of Aklan, mayor of the municiplity of Malay and two representatives from the private sector will also join the authority.

BIDA will operate, manage and develop the island and draft short-term and long-term plans for its eco-tourism development. It will also be required to update the carrying capacity of the island every three years.

If the bill is passed, the government will support the agency with funding of P150 million a year.

The island was also closed after the coronavirus outbreak and the rsulting lockdown in March. It was reopened to tourists from areas under general community quarantine, starting October. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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