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Loyal customer wins big in M Lhuillier’s cash away raffle promo

For Sampaloc Manila resident Wemilyn Lurica, M Lhuillier’s Avenida branch is her go-to place to send and receive money, apply for loans, and pay the monthly bills. However, she didn’t expect that her Kwarta Padala, Quick Cash Loans, and Bills Payment transactions would help her win P50,000 in cold hard cash.

Lurica is one of the grand prize winners of M Lhuillier’s Cash Away Raffle Promo in the Caraga Region. This is just one of the many promos and initiatives that M Lhuillier has successfully launched in various regions in recent years.

Wemilyn trusts M Lhuillier for its fast and reliable system. She says that she is always satisfied with her experience whenever she does transactions with the country’s most trusted non-bank financial services company.

Her loyalty surely paid off with this huge blessing. She reveals that she is beyond grateful for the prize money, which will be a big help for her family now that her husband still has an irregular work schedule.

Just like Wemilyn, you too can win big in one of M Lhuillier’s regional raffle promos just by availing of M Lhuillier’s wide range of services like KwartaPadala, Quick Cash Loans, Bills Payment.

Watch out for the latest updates on promotions by following M Lhuillier Financial Services, Inc. on Facebook. For more information about available services, visit www.mlhuillier.com. To get in touch with Customer Care, call the toll-free number 1-800-1-0572-3252 or email customercare@mlhuillier.com.

Gov’t plans to borrow P140B in Nov.

THE government is planning to borrow at least P140 billion from the domestic market through the sale of government securities in November, as investors remain liquid and cautious amid the pandemic.

In an online advisory posted on Wednesday, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said it will borrow P80 billion in Treasury bills (T-bills) and P60 billion in Treasury bonds (T-bonds) next month.

Auctions for T-bills will be held weekly, while T-bonds will be offered fortnightly.

For the T-bills, the BTr will auction off 91-day and 182-day papers worth P5 billion each and 364-day papers worth P10 billion.

For the T-bonds, it will offer three-year papers and five-year papers worth P30 billion each on Nov. 5 and Nov. 19, respectively.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said the new borrowing program matches the market preference for short- and medium-term debt.

“It is based on previous auction results with the intermediate part of the curve as the sweet spot,” she said in a Viber message on Wednesday.

Ms. De Leon attributed this to the central bank’s projections of benign inflation in the next two years and strong liquidity among investors.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas slashed inflation forecasts to 2.3% for this year, 2.8% for 2021, and 3% for 2022.

Economists said the pandemic increased demand for medium-term bonds.

“With domestic activity still hobbled by concerns about the virus and overall challenging job market, we do expect investors to park their excess cash on the belly of the curve,” ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa said in an e-mail.

“The market right now is still very liquid and it’s just prudent to put excess cash at the short-end of the curve amid ongoing uncertainties. Investors are also waiting for further guidance from the government to spur more economic activities,” a trader who asked not to be identified added via Viber.

Ms. De Leon said the November borrowing program is aligned with the government’s P3-trillion target this year from local and foreign lenders to help fund its budget deficit expected to hit 9.6% of the country’s gross domestic product.

The Treasury also plans to raise P3 billion from the issuance of Premyo bonds next month.

“As always, we continue to continuously scan good opportunities for financing. We prepare and get ready to strike,” Ms. De Leon said. — K.K.T.Jose

LGUs urged to maximize borrowing capacity

By Beatrice M. Laforga, Reporter

FINANCE SECRETARY Carlos G. Dominguez III said local government units (LGUs) should maximize their borrowing capacity to raise funds for programs that will help local economies bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic.

“I highly encourage the LGUs to make the best use of their borrowing capacity to bolster recovery programs. Under Bayanihan II, additional capital has been infused into our government banks to provide wholesale financing to rural banks and microfinance institutions so that they can expand lending to small enterprises,” Mr. Dominguez said in a speech during the webinar arranged by the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF).

Republic Act 11494 or “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan II) allots P1 billion each to the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to subsidize interest payments of new and existing loans obtained by LGUs. It also allocated another P6.5 billion to support DBP’s program on wholesale banking for low interest loans.

Mr. Dominguez said LGUs can also tap the Philippine Guarantee Corp. (Philguarantee) for credit, and the Municipal Development Fund Office (MDFO).

The Finance chief earlier flagged the low borrowing performance of LGUs that could have funded key projects.

The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) earlier estimated the majority of LGUs have more than 80% available borrowing capacity to date, while 653 out of 1,715 cities and municipalities do not have an outstanding balance as of 2019.

Tax collections by LGUs have been affected by weak demand due to lockdown restrictions and the economic slowdown. On the other hand, LGUs have been spending more to respond to the pandemic.

While the National Government has extended financial aid such as the one-time Bayanihan grant worth P37 billion for their emergency response, LGUs still need to implement programs that will aid in economic recovery.

“The LGUs are vital in the difficult task of rebuilding our economy. Closer to the ground, they are best positioned to help revive our enterprises hardest hit by the pandemic. They can help pump-prime the national economy through local public investments,” Mr. Dominguez said.

Politics may have been one factor that contributed to the low borrowing performance of LGUs, according to Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) National President Dakila Carlo E. Cua.

Mr. Cua, who is also the governor of Quirino province, said the accumulation of high loans ahead of an election can be used against a mayor or governor if the projects will not materialize.

“It (credit financing) becomes tricky kasi may halong politika (because of politics),” he said, rival politicians can raise issues over the loan amount and the use of the proceeds.

To avoid this, Mr. Cua said LGUs should ensure the proper implementation of a loan-funded project.

“Financing is really healthy as long as it is within your means, it is well-managed, and being a politician, make sure it is high-impact and it makes a difference,” he said.

Mr. Dominguez said the BLGF has already accelerated the process of issuing the certificates on net debt service ceiling and borrowing capacity to the LGUs through digital means so they can secure loans faster.

Meanwhile, Cecilia G. Soriano, a former Finance undersecretary, said LGUs that have been having a difficult time settling amortizations because of lower tax collections, can opt to refinance existing ones to take advantage of low interest rates and the interest rate subsidies.

“This is a good time to borrow and also a good time to refinance because of low interest rates and interest rate subsidy. Based on our computations, the bigger the difference of the interest rate they are paying now with the original loan and what is being offered by banks now with all these loosening up, maybe it’s a good time for LGUs to consider refinancing but only if the original loan is in the early stages, but if it has been paid up already, the benefits will not matter so much,” Ms. Soriano said in the same forum.

LANDBANK President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo said as of Sept. 30, the bank has extended P51.3 billion loans to 43 provinces, 83 cities and 513 municipalities.

The DBP also has several loan facilities that could offer long-term financing of up to 15 years for the LGUs.

The estimated revenues of LGUs for this year have been slashed to P193 billion from the pre-pandemic goal of P307.08 billion.

The total collections are expected to further decline next year to P102.01 billion coming from a weak base in 2020.

DTI tightens rules on cement product labels

IMPORTED CEMENT products will no longer be allowed to carry “Product of the Philippines” labels after the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) revises its guidelines.

Under previous rules, local companies were able to carry this label for imported cement products that are bagged in the country.

The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines earlier this year asked the government to investigate the origin of Philcement Corp. products that have been labeled as locally made.

The industry group said that consumers choosing between products must be presented with accurate information, noting the government’s local manufacturing campaign to boost employment.

Philcement, however, maintained that it has been following government labeling rules, noting that an investigation by the DTI found that the labels of PhilCement and its brand Union Cement Super comply with their standards.

DTI in a press release on Wednesday said that it will be issuing a memorandum circular after its Bureau of Philippine Standards reviewed its policy on cement products.

The bureau had been issuing separate licenses for manufacturing and bagging facilities, supplied for each plant or site. But DTI said that there was “some confusion” on product markings, because an earlier order did not require bagging facilities to indicate the country of manufacture in its labels.

After the memorandum is issued, the bureau will monitor cement bagging facilities for compliance. Cement products bagged in licensed facilities must have: the name and address of the manufacturers, the country of manufacture, and the name and address of the bagging facility.

The facilities will be ordered to stop all printing for imported cement bags with “Product of the Philippines” labels.

“We encourage and support investments in additional cement processing facilities, but we will also not waiver in our pursuit to ensure level playing fields, both for locally manufactured and imported products,” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said.

“Accurate information through the products’ labels should be provided to the consumers for them to make informed decisions in their choices of consumer products.”

Philcement Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Sahagun, in a phone interview on Oct. 9, said other companies in various industries have been labeling their imported products as locally made, noting that they and Philcement follow DTI rules.

“Should the rule be changed, we will follow the rule,” he said.

DTI has not said when it will release the new memorandum. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Firms may extend temporary displacement of workers

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has allowed employers to extend the period of temporary displacement of their workers beyond the six-month maximum period provided for under the Labor Code.

However, Labor Undersecretary Benjo Santos M. Benavidez said in a virtual briefing on Wednesday that the latest department order does not permit companies to impose a longer period of floating employment for their employees unless this is agreed by both parties. 

“Sa tingin namin, ito ay mas nakakabuti sa manggagawa sa level nila kesa sila tanggalin, ay magkaraoon sila ng extension sa kanilang floating status kasi dahan-dahan bumabalik na ang sigla ng ating ekonomiya, dahan-dahan na din nakikitang negosyong nagbubukas (We think this is better for the workers. Instead of getting laid off, workers can extend their floating status because the economy is gradually getting better and businesses are slowly reopening,” Mr. Benavidez said.

The DoLE Department Order (DO) 215-20 published on Tuesday amended rules of the Labor Code on the suspension of employment relationship. The period of suspension for employees must not exceed six months if businesses suspend their operations but this period can be extended in the case of national crisis through mutual negotiations.

“In the case of declaration of war, pandemic, and similar national emergencies, the employer and the employees, through the union, if any, or with the assistance of the Department of Labor and Employment, shall meet in good faith for the purpose of extending the suspension of employment for a period not exceeding six (6) months,” the order said.

The DoLE order also said employees shall not lose employment if they find alternative work during the period of the extended suspension unless they resign from the company.

If the employer needs to retrench workers during the suspension period, workers will still be entitled to separation pay.

“In the absence of the extension, I think they have to provide some avenue for workers and employees who would prefer this because many companies still don’t know if they will close down or not,” Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECoP) President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said in a phone interview.

While he agrees with the provision allowing employees to find alternative work during the suspension period without losing their original employment, Mr. Ortiz-Luis said employees have a maximum of one month to report back to work.

“If they cannot report, the company does not have the responsibility to rehire them,” he added.

However, labor groups opposed the DoLE order, saying it is “illegal.”

“There are no measures in place for the DoLE to verify if the extension of suspension is actually necessary for a company’s survival. Employers merely have to notify DoLE of the extension 10 days prior to its effectiveness. As such, DO 215 can be used as another tool for union-busting and other unfair labor practices,” Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) Luke Espiritu said in a statement. — G.M. Cortez

Exodus of online casinos empties Manila’s residential towers

AN EXODUS of online casinos from Manila is slowly emptying the Philippine capital’s residential towers, pulling rents lower, according to property broker KMC Savills, Inc. Next year could be worse, it said.

“We’ve seen entire residential towers emptied out,” Michael McCullough, managing director at KMC in Manila said on Tuesday. While vacancies from online casinos are so far just a “rounding error” in a multimillion-square-meter home market, “we’ll continue to see a lot more of that continuing to compound in the next six months,” he said.

The third quarter also saw “massive losses” in the office market as the pandemic shut many businesses, KMC said in a report, even as it sees demand from outsourcing companies absorbing the glut. Metro Manila’s occupancy deteriorated for the second consecutive quarter with nearly 47,800 square meters of vacated work spaces and the incoming pipeline will continue to add pressure, it said.

The Philippines’ $8-billion online gaming industry, which caters mostly to Chinese punters, is taking a beating from higher taxes and weaker demand due to the pandemic. The once burgeoning sector — which employs mostly mainland Chinese for customer support and marketing jobs — helped boost property prices and rents across metropolitan Manila in the past three years.

The industry’s exposure to the Philippines’ residential market stood at 1.8 million square meters in 2019, according to broker Leechiu Property Consultants, Inc. Office space vacancy in Metro Manila has risen to 7.3% as of the third quarter from 5.4% in end-2019, KMC said in its report.

Online casino operators are either giving up licenses or operating at a lower capacity, adding to rent pressure in residences amid a dearth in expatriates and as employees leave business districts to work from home, Mr. McCullough said. “There’s a massive demand destruction.”

KMC estimates that rents in the capital’s residential condominiums would fall 10% on average by yearend. The drop will depend on a district’s exposure to the online gambling market, with some areas possibly seeing as much as 25% decline, said Fredrick Rara, the company’s senior research manager.

“Somehow, it’s hard to tell when this will be bottoming out,” Mr. Rara said. “Hopefully, the first half of 2021 will be the bottom, the worst scenario.” — Bloomberg

PLDT eyes new partnership with Cisco 

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

PLDT, Inc. is reaching out again to multinational technology company Cisco Systems, Inc. for a partnership for the second stage of its network modernization, the telco’s top official said.

“We are actually looking at further transformation and modernization… both from the fixed and the wireless side, so I think our network people will be getting in touch with yours to look at the stage 2,” Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman, president and chief executive officer of PLDT, told Cisco’s Chuck Robbins at the Philippine Digital Convention on Wednesday.

Mr. Robbins, chairman and chief executive officer of Cisco, replied to Mr. Pangilinan: “Our team is ready and certainly excited about the opportunity… So whatever you need, we are there for you.”

PLDT and Cisco had signed last year a multimillion-dollar contract for the three-year implementation of the first phase of the telco’s digital transformation.

The partnership allows Cisco to provide PLDT with the technology to build automated, reliable and scalable infrastructure that will improve its existing fiber network and prepare it for the massive rollout of fifth generation (5G) network.

PLDT announced separately on Wednesday that its fiber infrastructure has reached 395,000 kilometers as of Sept. 30.

PLDT-Smart Senior Vice-President for Network Planning and Engineering Mario G. Tamayo said: “Despite pandemic conditions, PLDT has relentlessly continued to expand its fiber optic network.”

“Expansion works are ongoing to extend PLDT’s footprint by another 81,000 kilometers, 31,000 kilometers more in 2020 and 50,000 kilometers in 2021,” he added.

PLDT’s backbone network capacity is at 55 terabits per second as of Sept. 30, the company also said.

The telco is planning to increase the capacity by another 37 terabits per second.

“This capacity expansion aims to serve customers’ growing demand for data and deliver technologies like 5G, LTE, and fiber-to-the-home,” it said.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Puregold profit slips as sales ease

By Denise A. Valdez , Senior Reporter

PUREGOLD Price Club, Inc. posted 4% lower earnings in the third quarter as its sales started slowing down when the lockdown rules in key cities were eased.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the listed grocery operator said its net income for the July-to-September period stood at P1.65 billion, down from P1.73 billion a year ago.

Its net sales were likewise flattish, inching up 1.09% to P39.17 billion, while cost of sales were slightly higher, climbing 1.35% to P32.71 billion.

On a nine-month basis, Puregold’s net income rose 11% to P5.05 billion, attributable to the 20% earnings growth it recorded during the first six months of the year.

Its year-to-date net sales grew 10% to P121.14 billion, while cost of sales expanded 11% to P101.29 billion.

“[The growth] was principally driven by the continuous organic expansion of the group’s grocery retail outlets on the back of a sustained strong consumer demand. This has been augmented by combined management strategies and programs to boost revenue contributions from both the base stores as well as new stores,” Puregold said in its filing.

It noted it rolled out trade discounts such as rebates and conditional discounts during the nine-month period, which drove up sales from both new and existing stores.

The primary drivers of the company’s revenues are its Puregold stores, S&R membership shopping warehouses and S&R pizza stores.

“We think that the slowdown of revenue growth was attributed to the consumer sentiment as they are now less worried… We’ve seen no more panic-buying and consumers don’t stock goods in their homes as much as they did during the (strict lockdown),” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Claire T. Alviar said in a text message.

While lockdown rules have not been completely lifted since mid-March, the Philippine government has started relaxing protocols since June, allowing consumers to go to supermarkets with more ease than in the early months of the coronavirus outbreak.

While this resulted in a slower growth for Puregold’s net sales in the third quarter, Ms. Alviar said it may likely pick up in the last quarter of the year due to holiday-driven spending and the continuous reopening of the economy.

Shares in Puregold at the stock exchange closed lower by 20 centavos or 0.47% on Wednesday at P42.20 apiece.

San Miguel to build LNG power plants

CONGLOMERATE San Miguel Corp. (SMC) intends to build more liquified natural gas (LNG) power plants with over 5,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity over the next years, its top official said.

SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., its power generation arm, recently issued $400 million worth of senior capital securities, which were listed at the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. on Oct. 22. Its net proceeds will be used to fund capital expenditures and investments in LNG and related assets, among others.

“We are now switching to LNG,” SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang told reporters in a virtual briefing on Tuesday.

The official said the power firm intends to initially build a line of three 850-MW LNG-fired generators. “Mga 2,550 MW ‘yan; ‘yun ang first stage namin (It’s around 2,550 MW; it will be our first stage),” he said.

“Later on, we can add another 2,550 MW, edi mga (thus around) 5,100 MW,” he added.

SMC Global Power, through its subsidiary South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC), is the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) of the 1,200 MW Ilijan natural gas power plant in Batangas. Its IPPA contract with the government will lapse in 2022, turning the ownership of the facility to SPPC.

The new LNG power plants will also be constructed in Ilijan.

Mr. Ang claimed the first 850 MW will be seen “up and running” in the next 24 months or by 2022. It will offer the upcoming facility in Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) competitive selection process for its 1,800 MW power supply contract in 2024 and 2025. 

Earlier, the power company said it plans to build an LNG receiving terminal with Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Co. The gas-receiving facility is targeted to be opened in 2022.

Natural gas is the country’s second-biggest source of power, accounting for 21% of the total energy mix in 2019. The Philippines gets its supply from its sole natural gas field in Malampaya, northwest of Palawan.

The gas depot is expected to be completely depleted by 2027. The government targets the entry of LNG imports as an alternative. — Adam J. Ang

Consunji energy firm’s profit down 71% in Q3

SEMIRARA Mining and Power Corp. saw its after-tax profit drop by 71% to P750 million in the third quarter of the year, affected by the decline in coal and energy sales.

Its net profit in the nine months to September fell by 64% to P8.2 billion, the Consunji-led integrated power firm said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday.

The firm’s earnings from coal took a 57% dive year-on-year to P3 billion. It recorded a 111% slump in the profit of its subsidiary Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC), incurring a P230-million loss, while Sem-Calaca Power Corp. (SCPC) saw its profits climb by 120% to P170 million after completing its power plants’ life extension program.

According to the company, its coal business got hit by the decline in coal export prices and lower coal sales. Year-to-date, it sold 8.4 million metric tons (MT) of coal, a 30% decrease from the same period a year ago. Its effective composite average price also went down by a fifth to P1,712 per MT.

In the third quarter, however, it sold 2.7 million metric tons (MT) of coal between July and September, an 8% uptick from the previous quarter.

The coronavirus pandemic caused no significant effect on its coal production, which reduced by 9% to 10.9 million MT in three quarters to September.

On its power segment, SLPGC sold 23% less electricity to 1,045 gigawatt-hours (GWh) between January and September.

In July-September, it improved its net power generation to 389 GWh from 215 GWh in the past quarter. However, the generated capacity was 29% lower than in the same months a year ago due to unplanned outages in the third and fourth units of its power plants.

Its composite price averaged at P2.79 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), compared with P4.15/kWh in the same period in 2019. The company has raised its contracted capacity to 221 MW.

Meanwhile, SCPC sold more power since the start of the year, increasing by 56% to 2,146 GWh, compared with the level last year.

The company raised its generated power to 1,055 GWh in the third quarter, a 33% increase from the second quarter, attributed to the full operations of its power plant units. Considering net generation, it went up by 139% to 2,310 GWh year-on-year.

It also saw a lower composite price so far this year, averaging at P2.77/kWh, than P3.78/kWh in the same months last year. The power subsidiary was said to be hit by higher exposure to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market with 32% contracted capacity or 170 MW.

Semirara Mining and Power is the only vertically integrated power producer in the Philippines using its own mines to source coal for its baseload plants.

Shares in the company fell by 7.89% to close at P10.74 each on Monday. — Adam J. Ang

Grab ‘seriously considering’ motorcycle taxi business anew

RIDE-HAILING company Grab Philippines said on Wednesday it is “seriously considering” to get into the motorcycle taxi business again.

“For us, it’s easy to return to that. Obviously, there are safety training [programs] that we need to do for our bikers, but we are fairly confident of our safety record on two-wheels,” Ronald Roda, Grab Philippines’ head of transport and shared services, said at a virtual briefing on Wednesday.

He added: “Yes, it is something we are seriously considering.”

Grab will also be talking again to the Department of Transportation and the  Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board for the possible return of its motorcycle service.

The government’s task force on pandemic response has allowed the operations of motorcycle taxis.

The Transportation department said it would implement the task force’s decision once it receives the guidelines.

An inter-agency task force overseeing motorcycle taxis will be reconvened to regulate and monitor their operations, it added.

Grab announced separately on Wednesday that it added a “cash-in with driver” feature to its mobile app for GrabCar.

The new feature, which will be fully rolled out next month, allows cash-paying customers to cash-in their GrabPay wallets by paying cash to their drivers.

With the “cash-in with driver” feature, cash-paying commuters “can easily transition towards cashless and unlock the many benefits that GrabPay has to offer – from GrabRewards points that can be used to save on Grab transactions, dedicated deals and promotions, as well as safe and seamless cashless payments across GrabPay’s wide array acceptance partners,” Grab said in a statement.

Mr. Roda said: “Through this innovation, we hope to help ease the cashless barrier for our commuters by enjoining our driver-partners to not only provide a safe and reliable means of transportation, but to also help more Filipino commuters embrace cashless payment, and unlock the many benefits that await them with GrabPay.”

Grab currently serves 18 cities in the country. Its operations include ride-hailing and on-demand food-delivery app, as well as groceries and package delivery, concierge services, bill payments, and financial services. — Arjay L. Balinbin

SEC approves Filinvest Land, Megawide, Cityland offerings

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the planned public offerings of Filinvest Land, Inc., Megawide Construction Corp. and Cityland Development Corp.

In a statement on Wednesday, the corporate regulator said it cleared at a meeting on Oct. 27 the P30-billion fixed-rate bond offering of Filinvest, the P5-billion perpetual preferred shares offering of Megawide, and the P1.4-billion commercial papers of Cityland.

Filinvest applied in August to shelf register up to P30-billion bonds, from which it will do an initial offering of up to P6.75 billion bonds with an oversubscription option of up to P2.25 billion.

It will consist of bonds maturing in 2023 and 2026, which are expected to generate up to P8.88 billion in net proceeds. This will be used to refinance Filinvest’s maturing loans and support capital expenditures and general corporate purposes.

The company engaged BDO Capital & Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., East West Banking Corp., and SB Capital Investment Corp. to be joint lead underwriters and bookrunners for the offering. It also tapped First Metro Investment Corp. as a co-lead underwriter.

For Megawide, the company sought last month the SEC approval to offer 30 million non-voting perpetual Series 2 preferred shares, which will have an oversubscription option of up to 20 million shares, to be listed and traded on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The shares will be priced at P100 each, which could generate about P4.96 billion in net proceeds for the company, assuming the full exercise of the oversubscription option.

Megawide intends to use the proceeds to support several existing projects, such as the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange and pre-cast plant capacity expansion.

Cityland was allowed to offer commercial papers and be exempted from submitting an underwriting agreement for the issuance.

It applied with the regulator for permission to sell the papers to generate around P1.39 billion in net proceeds. This will support the company’s pipeline of construction projects and refinancing of maturing debt.

DEL MONTE RAISES P6.47B
In a separate announcement, Del Monte Philippines, Inc. (DMPI) said it has generated P6.47 billion from the issuance of fixed-rate bonds, which it will list on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. on Friday.

First Metro, one of the company’s issue managers, underwriters and bookrunners for the offering, said in a statement that the recently concluded bond issuance of DMPI was 1.29x oversubscribed.

“The success of the bond offering reflects the investing public’s confidence and optimism in DMPI’s strong fundamentals and long-term prospects as well as the company’s financial strength and capability to meet our financial obligations,” DMPI President and CEO Joselito Campos, Jr. said in the statement.

The company’s issuance is composed of three-year and five-year bonds which were given a PRS Aaa credit rating by the Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings). PRS Aaa is the top credit rating given by PhilRatings, which means the bonds are of highest quality and have minimal credit risk.

Aside from First Metro, DMPI tapped BDO Capital, China Bank Capital and RCBC Capital Corp. as joint issue managers, joint lead underwriters and joint bookrunners for the offering. — Denise A. Valdez

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