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RCBC eyes agriculture for loan portfolio expansion

DAVAO CITY — Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) is looking at providing more loans to the agricultural sector as one of its main strategies in growing its portfolio in Mindanao, its top executive said.

RCBC President Eugene S. Acevedo, in a press conference here on Monday, said Mindanao is ready to absorb a growth in the banking industry as the peace and order situation has largely become stable.

In the past, banks did not have a “deliberate strategy to invest and in lending in Mindanao… But I think that has changed,” said Mr. Acevedo, who was born in Bislig City in the eastern part of Mindanao.

He said RCBC and other banks want to participate in developing the southern island’s agricultural value chain through compliance with the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act, but adjustments on the law’s implementation must also be initiated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The Bankers Association of the Philippines, where Mr. Acevedo serves as one of the members of the board of directors, has been discussing possible amendments such expanding the loan program to any agriculture-related project, including infrastructure such a farm-to-market roads, he said.

The Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act or Republic Act 10000 mandates banks to allocate at least 10% of their total loanable funds to agrarian reform beneficiaries and 15% to farmers and fisherfolk.

Mr. Acevedo added that financial institutions, for their part, must “put in place a disaster contingency mechanism requiring the adoption of risk mitigants to minimize losses and provide relief to a borrower to facilitate recovery.”

RCBC is expanding its presence in Mindanao through increased human resources while maintaining its 58 branches around the island out of the 507 nationwide, he said.

It has also established a separate Mindanao lending division, which was previously lumped under the Visayas-Mindanao division.

“Fifty eight branches in Mindanao is a lot and 17 branches in Davao is a lot of branches. The idea now is to make those branches more productive,” Mr. Acevedo said.

The bank’s current loan portfolio in Mindanao is “small” at around P6 billion, out of the total P398 billion in 2018.

Mr. Acevedo said these are mainly consumer,and small and medium enterprise (SME) loans under Rizal Microbank.

“Its growing fast but it is small… It is 27% growth and I want to see it growing faster.”

Mr. Acevedo also said the adoption of digital technology, particularly data analytics, would be crucial to their overall expansion plans, including in Mindanao.

“The existing SME process is extremely manual. The credit process that accompanies that uses antiquated credit procedures. As a result, the ability of banks to respond on to SMEs is extremely slow. The answer is, which steps of the process can be handed over to our robotic process automation, how much of the process can be done through credit scoring using data analytics and finally how much of the process can we fix so that the process design makes it delightful for the customer.” — Carmelito Q. Francisco and Maya M. Padillo

Auction to raise funds for cancer kids at PGH

PABLO PICASSO once said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Some people, like children with cancer, don’t have the benefit of everyday life that they can shake dust from. Salcedo Auctions, through its subsidiary Gavel&Block, is helping out children with cancer through a benefit auction on July 20, in partnership with the IWantToShare Foundation.

The fundraising auction will help the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) to fund the medical needs of children with cancer, to whom the efforts of this special auction are dedicated. The foundation has been working with the department since 2016.

Sheila Bermudez-Romero, president of the charitable organization, said, “We believe that to those who are given much, much is also expected. As we share the same values of determination, perseverance in achieving a goal, passion to help and of finding joy in service, we have become a channel of blessings and what we get back is truly priceless.” Ms. Romero is the president of the Roku Group of restaurants, while her husband is politician Michael Romero.

Highlights at the auction include various items of jewelry, but highlighted of course, is the art. These include works by: National Artists Fernando Zobel, Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera, Arturo Luz, Vicente Manansala, and Cesar Legaspi; Eduardo Castrillo, Juvenal Sanso, Winner Jumalon, Jigger Cruz, Daniel dela Cruz, Ramon Orlina, Justin Nuyda, and Emmanuel Garibay.

“This auction hopes to provide the means to raise both funds and awareness for a most worthy cause, and also to remind collectors of the transformative and life changing powers of the arts,” said Richie Lerma, director of Salcedo Auctions.

The auction will be held on July 20 at 2 p.m. at the Salcedo Auctions’ new headquarters at NEX Tower, 6786 Ayala Ave., Makati. — JLG

STI Holdings posts 43% drop in earnings

STI Education Systems Holdings, Inc. (STI Holdings) reported its net income attributable to the parent went down 43% in its fiscal year ending March 2019 as revenues slipped alongside an increase in expenses.

In a regulatory filing, the company said its net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company ended at P281 million, slumping from P496 million for the April 2018 to March 2019 period.

Revenues dropped 11% to P2.753 billion during its fiscal year. Direct costs saw a 3% year-on-year increase to P1.048 billion, while operating expenses went up 10% to P1.309 billion.

However, STI Holdings said the value of its year-long assets grew to P14.8 billion from P14.4 billion the previous year, driven by the completion of its four new STI campuses.

The company opened STI Lipa, STI San Jose Del Monte, STI Sta. Mesa and STI Pasay-EDSA during the fiscal year. These schools are now accepting enrollees for the academic year 2019 to 2020.

“STI Holdings continues to reach out to more students by establishing greater presence in the provinces,” the company said.

The listed firm recorded a total of 85,797 enrollees across its schools during the academic year 2018 to 2019, falling 18% from the 105,031 students it took in last academic year.

Of this number, 43,202 entered programs under the Commission on Higher Education; 40,752 in programs under the Department of Education; and 1,843 in short-term courses under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

STI Holdings operates STI Education Services Group (STI ESG), STI West Negros University and iACADEMY.

The company’s fiscal year officially ends on March 31 as its business is linked to the academic cycle. The academic year starts in June and ends in March, except for iACADEMY where the academic year starts in July for the tertiary level and August for the senior high school. — Denise A. Valdez

Citi profit beats estimates on consumer lending gains

CITIGROUP Inc.’s second-quarter profit beat expectations. — REUTERS

CITIGROUP INC. topped expectations for quarterly profit on Monday as a tight lid on costs and strength in consumer lending helped the third-largest US bank counter weakness in its trading business.

New York-based Citi is the first major bank to report second-quarter earnings. Fellow Wall Street titans JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. report later in the week.

Bank stocks have lagged the market in recent weeks on concerns that net interest margins, a key measure of bank profitability, have peaked as the Fed gets ready to start cutting interest rates.

Citi’s interest margin declined slightly to 2.67% from 2.70% a year earlier and 2.72% in the first quarter of 2019. But the bank was able to make more money from its lending activities during the quarter and net interest income rose 2%.

Overall revenue rose 2% to $18.76 billion, driven by 4% growth in Citi’s consumer business as customers spent more on their credit cards. Branded card revenue jumped 7% as more customers initially attracted with promotional offers started paying interest. Interest-earning card balances rose 10%.

Strength in its consumer sector helped offset softness in Citi’s Wall Street business and corporate banking.

Trading revenue remained challenged for a third consecutive quarter. Fixed-income trading fell 4%, excluding a gain from Citi’s investment in Tradeweb, while equities revenue declined 9%.

Corporate lending was 9% lower than the year-ago period. Citigroup Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason told reporters on a call that trade tensions have discouraged some corporate customers from taking out loans.

“There’s a bit of caution that many of the corporate clients are exercising, in particularly in Asia,” Mason said.

He said Citigroup’s loans to corporate clients in Asia were down about 5%, partly because of aggressive pricing by competitors, but also because of “some of the trade tensions.”

Overall, Citi continued to add loans and deposits in the most recent quarter, allaying concerns that a weaker economic outlook was hurting consumers’ ability to borrow.

Firmwide loans rose 3% to $689 billion, while deposits increased 5%, excluding foreign exchange fluctuations.

Banks have been under pressure to cut costs as a weaker economic outlook raised concerns about revenue growth. Mason said earlier this year the bank has accelerated some cost-cutting plans to cope with potential headwinds.

Expenses fell 2% during the quarter, putting the bank on track to end the year on the high end of its projected $500 million to $600 million in annual savings, Mason said on a call with analysts.

Return on tangible common equity, one of the broadest measures of performance, improved more than one percentage point to 11.9%, putting Citi in striking distance of its 12% ROTCE goal for the year.

Citi’s per-share earnings have been propped up by a lower outstanding share count due to large stock buy-back programs, but investors have been pressuring the bank to prove it can grow profit organically. Its share count declined 10% in the second quarter from a year earlier.

The stock ended little changed on Monday, off 6 cents, or 0.08%, at $71.71.

Net income rose to $4.80 billion, or $1.95 per share, in the second quarter, from $4.50 billion, or $1.63 per share, a year earlier. Excluding the impact of a one-time gain related to Citi’s investment in electronic trading company Tradeweb. the bank earned $1.83 a share.

Analysts had expected a profit of $1.80 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. — Reuters

Sneakers give art a run for its money at first-of-a-kind Sotheby’s auction

NEW YORK — Move over Monet. Nike is hot on your heels.

Sotheby’s in New York announced last week its first-ever auction dedicated to sneakers, underlining their fast-growing status as collectibles able to command tens of thousands of dollars.

Sotheby’s is teaming up with streetwear marketplace Stadium Goods to auction 100 pairs of the rarest sneakers ever produced, including a sample of one of the first Nike Inc. running shoes with a pre-sale high estimate of $160,000.

The Nike “Moon Shoe” is one of only 12 pairs created. It was designed by Nike co-founder and track coach Bill Bowerman for runners at the 1972 Olympics trials and the pair up for auction is handmade, Stadium Goods said.

Other sneakers include 2011 and 2016 versions of the Back to the Future Part II limited-edition shoes by Nike that were inspired by the 1989 film starring Michael J. Fox.

The 2016 version of the futuristic shoe, complete with self-lacing technology, is expected to sell for between $50,000 and $70,000.

“We’ve long talked about how sneakers are this generation’s luxury fashion, and being able to collaborate with a brand with the history and esteem of Sotheby’s is further proof of that,” John McPheters, co-founder of New York-based Stadium Goods, said in a statement.

Other shoes in the online sale, which began last week and ends on July 23, include sought-after and limited-edition sneakers produced by Adidas, Air Jordan, and rapper Kanye West’s Yeezy collection.

Noah Wunsch, global head of eCommerce at Sotheby’s, said the sneaker sale was bringing together “art, culture and fashion” and marked another step in the auction house’s expansion of offerings of highly coveted luxury goods.

The shoes are on public exhibit at Sotheby’s in New York through July 23.

The highest price fetched at public auction for sneakers is thought to be $190,373 in 2017 for a pair of signed Converse shoes said to have been worn by Michael Jordan in the 1984 Olympic basketball final. The shoes were auctioned through California sports memorabilia company SCP. — Reuters

DoE puts Semirara coal trading suspension order on hold

SEMIRARA Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) said the Energy department had granted the request of the Consunji-led listed company to put on hold an order issued last month for the suspension of its coal trading activities.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, the company said the Department of Energy (DoE) sent a letter putting on hold for 30 days the implementation of the agency’s June 4 cease and desist order and suspension on its coal trading activities.

The deferred order is to start on Tuesday or until the DoE has resolved the company’s verified answer, whichever comes earlier.

“SMPC shall continue its coal trading activities only on existing coal supply contracts/agreements,” the company said, quoting the conditions set in the department’s letter.

“SMPC shall not enter into new coal supply contracts/agreements,” it added.

The company should also “faithfully comply with all its commitments and obligations under Coal Trader Accreditation No. CT-208-12-0351(R).”

Last week, SMPC disclosed that it was in talks with the Energy department for the lifting of the cease and desist order on its coal trading activities after issues arose when a buyer failed to produce the required accreditation.

The company narrated the background of the case, which started on May 23, 2019 with the supply of Semirara coal to a buyer. The trial shipment of 4,768.73 metric tons (MT) was aimed at tapping additional market with representation on the part of the buyer that it has submitted and applied for a coal accreditation certificate with the DoE on April 5, 2019.

Under the rules, the DoE will issue the certificate of accreditation and/or registration or reject the application within 15 working days from receipt.

“Unfortunately, on shipment date, the buyer was unable to submit the said accreditation as it was still pending” with the DoE, SMPC said. “Thereafter, SMPC discontinued its supply and any trading with said buyer.”

On July 5, 2019, SMPC said it had submitted its verified answer to the DoE with a prayer for the immediate lifting of the cease and desist order/suspension and for the non-imposition of any administrative fine.

On Tuesday, shares in SMPC rose 5.04% to close at P23.95 each. — Victor V. Saulon

RBA ready to cut interest rates again ‘if needed’

SYDNEY — Australia’s central bank would cut interest rates again “if needed” to support employment, wages growth and inflation, having already eased twice since June to a record low of 1%.

Minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) July policy meeting showed its board decided that cutting rates by another quarter-point, together with a similar move the previous month, would help speed up the economy.

While the door is ajar for further policy easing, the RBA is tightlipped about the timing, as opposed to the past two months when it was more explicit.

“Lower interest rates would provide more Australians with jobs and assist with achieving more assured progress towards the inflation target,” according to the minutes released on Tuesday.

“The Board would continue to monitor developments in the labor market closely and adjust monetary policy if needed to support sustainable growth in the economy and the achievement of the inflation target over time.”

Australia’s A$1.9 trillion economy ($1.3 trillion) is expanding at its weakest pace since the global financial crisis, weighed by a long downturn in the property market and sluggish household consumption.

Financial markets have already priced in a real chance of another rate cut to 0.75% by year-end. Economists polled by Reuters prior to the July 2 meeting predicted a third cut in November.

“There is no clear signal on the timing of another rate cut and we continue to expect a 25-basis-point (bps) cut in November, with a risk of an earlier move depending on the labor market and inflation,” said Kaixin Owyong, Sydney-based economist at National Australia Bank.

Australia’s labor market is rapidly adding jobs but that is still not enough to pull the unemployment rate below 5% as more people are looking for work.

Data due on Thursday will likely show further employment growth in June with the jobless rate still stuck at 5.2%. That spare capacity is putting a lid on wage growth and inflation.

ONUS ON DATA
The RBA board noted that public sector investment in welfare schemes and infrastructure had helped boost first-quarter growth, a nudge to the newly re-elected government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison to do more.

RBA Governor Philip Lowe has openly called for more fiscal stimulus in recent public outings. So far, Morrison has downplayed the need for such support and stuck to plans for returning the budget to surplus in 2019/20.

That means, “the risk is that the burden continues to fall on the RBA,” said Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) economist Su-Lin Ong, who sees the cash rate at 0.5% by 2020.

Tuesday’s minutes showed the board judged lower rates would support the economy by keeping the value of the Australian dollar lower than it would otherwise be, while also reducing borrowing costs for households and businesses.

Yet, despite two rate cuts since June the Aussie has risen from a 5-1/2 month trough of $0.6829 to current levels around $0.7040. The currency eased a bit after the minutes and was last at $0.7030.

The gains owe much to intense speculation the US Federal Reserve will start cutting its rates this month, followed by other major central banks.

That suggests the RBA may have to ease yet further to prevent an unwelcome rise in the Aussie dollar.

For now, RBC’s Ong expects the RBA to shift to the sidelines as it assesses the impact of its cuts, government tax rebates and recent easing of mortgage lending rules.

“The timely confidence, housing, and consumption data are likely to be at the top of the RBA’s watch list in the coming months,” Ong added. “The RBA will be expecting some improvement and the onus is on the data to show this.” — Reuters

Philippine stock bulls unfazed amid sharpest drop in 6 weeks

THE bull run for Philippine stocks still has legs amid tailwinds of stronger corporate earnings, cooling inflation and continued monetary stimulus.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index entered the bull market on Monday after climbing more than 22% from a November low. The gauge is now the best performer in Southeast Asia and one of the top gainers in Asia this year. The surge was also propelled by a stronger peso, which has been among the best performing currencies in the region. The equities index shed 1.2% at the close Tuesday, the biggest loss in six weeks.

“This is a healthy pullback considering the backdrop of favorable fundamentals from slowing inflation and prospect of further monetary easing,” says Cristina Ulang, head of research at First Metro Investment Corp. “It’s a good opportunity to add names that have earnings growth visibility.”

Foreign investors have returned to the market — which was among the worst performing last year, pouring more than $455 million into equity funds this year. That improvement was partly due to fund inflow after investors finished adjusting allocation on the back of MSCI, Inc.’s expansion of China weighting in some of its benchmarks.

“After building momentum in the last two months, the market has convincingly broken the ceiling at 8,100 and it looks like there’s still enough gas in the tank for it to move higher,” said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc. “Some of those who were hesitating jumped in for fear of getting left behind.”

The nation’s market was roiled by the US-China trade war, escalating inflation and a weakening peso last year. Foreign investors pulled over $1 billion out of the nation’s stocks in 2018 — their biggest withdrawal in three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A double-digit growth in second-quarter earnings at SM Prime Holdings, Inc., the nation’s largest shopping mall operator, supports expectations that household spending has recovered and corporate results will be better than the first quarter, according to Mr. Ravelas. SM Prime fell 0.6% Tuesday, after soaring 3.1% on Monday.

Stronger corporate earnings combined with falling inflation and a less tighter monetary condition will help propel the index to 8,500 in the near term, he said.

All but three of the PSEi’s 30 components have gained since the low in November with JG Summit Holdings, Inc. and First Gen Corp. surging more than 60%. About half of the gauge lagged the index’s 21% gain from the November-low through Tuesday, including SM Investments Corp. and Jollibee Foods Corp.

While the bull market will be well supported with valuation still at “reasonable“ level, “investors should rotate money from the winners to the laggards as the round of portfolio adjustments that will come with changes in the MSCI in August will provide headwinds and temper gains,” said Miguel Ong, analyst at AP Securities Inc. — Bloomberg

Leòn holding its 12th online auction

THE Leòn Exchange Online Auction Edition 12, under the Leonexchange platform, will be held on July 20 and 21 starting at 11 a.m. All bidding will be purely online at www.leonexchange.com.

Among the paintings in the auction are a large 6 X 5 feet oil painting by Andres Barrioquinto entitled 100 Flowers Bloom, an untitled Macario Vitalis oil painting, Diosdado Lorenzo’s Barrio Scene from 1978, Romulo Galicano’s Old House from 1982, Elias Laxa’s Binondo Church from 1967, Romeo Tabuena’s Three Villagers from 1960, Fernando Zobel’s oil on paper Botijo from 1964, Jose Joya’s pastel on paper Mother and Child from 1989, Jason Montinola’s untitled oil on canvas painted in 2009, Dicher Alarcon’s untitled rendition of the Mona Lisa, and Iya Consorio’s resin sculpture.

Also included in the sale are pieces of crystal and silver, Chinoiserie, early Filipino furniture, China, books, and photographs.

“One can indulge his or her taste for the beautiful items at various price points at the upcoming online auction and all that from one’s armchair or boudoir. The online auction gives clients the convenience of bidding through their mobiles, tablets or laptops, without having to trek all the way to where physical auctions happen,” Leòn Gallery Director Jaime Ponce de Leon was quoted as saying in a press release.

The exhibit of items to be auctioned is open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Leòn Gallery in Warehouse 14 La Fuerza Plaza, 2241 Chino Roces Ave. and at the G/F Eurovilla 1 Legazpi corner Herrera St., Legazpi Village, Makati City.

To join the auction, got to www.leonexchange.com and registering as a buyer. For more information, visit www.leon-gallery.com or contact info@leon-gallery.com or call 856-2781.

Toyota replaces airbag computers in some Rush units

TOYOTA Motor Philippines is launching a “special service campaign” to replace the curtain shield airbag computer on some Toyota Rush units.

In a letter to the Department of Trade and Industry Consumer Protection and Advocacy Bureau Director Domingo R. Tolentino, Jr., Toyota Philippines First Vice-President Rommel R. Gutierrez said the service campaign covers 12,124 units of Toyota Rush sold in the Philippines. The units were produced from April 2, 2018 to Feb. 7, 2019.

“Due to inappropriate airbag computer programming of the involved units, the Curtain Shield Airbags may deploy upon impact on the rear wheel,” he said in the letter dated June 27.

Mr. Gutierrez said the company will inform the concerned customers through official notification letters.

“As safety is Toyota’s number one priority, we strongly urge our customers to bring the unit to their preferred dealership immediately upon receipt of our notice. While servicing of the unit is pending, we urge our customers to take extra precautions when driving on uneven roads,” the company said in a separate statement.

Customers can bring their Toyota Rush units at any authorized Toyota dealer nationwide for replacement of the airbag computer at no cost.

The Toyota Rush is an entry-level sport utility vehicle, with five-seater 1.5E and seven-seater 1.5G variants.

PNB completes P12-B stock rights offering

PHILIPPINE National Bank (PNB) completed its P12-billion stock rights offer (SRO) on Monday, with the raised funds allotted to grow its assets.

The Tan-owned PNB said in a disclosure to the local bourse on Tuesday that its pre-emptive rights offering of 276.63 million common shares priced at P43.38 apiece was completed on July 15.

The bank did not provide other details.

PNB said in a previous disclosure it is set to raise about P12 billion via SRO with an offer period from July 3 to 12.

Eligible shareholders were entitled to subscribe to a share for every 4.516 common shares as of the June 21 record date. Ex-date was yesterday.

PNB said proceeds of the fundraising activity will be used to fund the asset growth of the bank.

Apart from the rights offering, PNB also set a euro medium-term note (MTN) program amounting to $2 billion, double than the initial $1 billion announced.

The lender established its euro note program in April last year. During that month, it allocated $300 million in proceeds from the program to support its dollar lending.

In May, the lender said it wants to draw another $300 million in fresh funds from the MTN program.

PNB booked a net profit of P1.9 billion in the first quarter, up 30% from the same period last year.

Shares in the bank stood at P55 apiece on Tuesday, up P1 or 1.85% from the previous close. — K.A.N. Vidal

Instituto Cervantes holds exhibit on literary legacy of Miguel Hernández

FROM July 25 to Sept. 16, the Instituto Cervantes de Manila will be holding the exhibition, Miguel Hernández, a plena luz, in its center in Intramuros.

Organized by the Provincial Government of Jaén, this exhibit is one of the projects done in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the death of the poet Miguel Hernández, who hails from Orihuela, Alicante. Its purpose is to make people aware of his literary legacy, which is safeguarded by Jaén’s provincial government through the Instituto de Estudios Giennenses (IEG).

Curated by Juan José Téllez, the Director of the Centro Andaluz de las Letras, Miguel Hernández, a plena luz was first opened in Jaén in December 2017.

In 2018, the exhibit went on an international tour, taking the poet to three continents. The exhibit has been seen in Instituto Cervantes branches in London, Manchester, New York, Chicago and Dublin. After Manila, the only Asian city in the international tour, the exhibit will be heading to Toulouse and Paris.

During the planning of its international tour, Instituto Cervantes Manila had already been marked as an obligatory destination since the center’s library is named after Miguel Hernández. For more than a decade the Manila center of Instituto Cervantes had been programming cultural events to commemorate the poet.

Considered as one of the most authentic figures in 20th century Spanish literature, the literary beginnings of Miguel Hernández were marked by religiosity, which was predominant during that period, and a self-taught literary education based on the classics of the Spanish Golden Age.

His book, El rayo que no cesa (1936,) made him famous in the poetry circles of Madrid, where he had decided to move in order to try his luck as a poet.

The Spanish Civil War did not disrupt his literary career and in fact, during this time, he published Viento del pueblo (1937) and El hombre acecha (1938).

After the war, he was arrested and imprisoned, where he had died in subhuman conditions in 1942.

Centering on Miguel Hernández as an icon of poetry and enlightenment, the exhibition offers viewers a glimpse of his life through photos and interactive devices which display digital copies of his works and various documents.

The exhibition also contains original pieces, such as manuscripts, letters, book editions, photographs, and other personal objects. These were acquired by the Provincial Government of Jaén through the writer’s heirs.

The Exhibit Room of Instituto Cervantes de Manila is located in San Luis Complex, Intramuros, Manila. Entrance to the exhibit is free.

For details, visit the website of Instituto Cervantes at http://manila.cervantes.es and its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.