Villar firm applies for P20.7-B IPO

July 19, 2019 | 12:30 am

By Arra B. Francia
Senior Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES’ richest man, Manuel B. Villar, Jr., is taking his home improvement chain public this year in a bid to raise up to P20.7 billion to finance its expansion.

In a preliminary prospectus posted on its Web site Wednesday, All Home Corp. said it will offer up to 1.125 billion shares priced at up to P16 each, consisting of 750 million primary shares held by the company and up to 375 million shares to be offered by a selling shareholder, All Value Holdings Corp.

The initial public offering (IPO) will also include up to 168.75 million shares as part of the over-allotment option.

Considering only the primary shares in the offer, All Home expects to net P11.46 billion from the IPO. The company said it will not receive proceeds from the sale of shares held by All Value Holdings.

Of projected net proceeds, All Home plans to use P6.858 billion for capital expenditure and initial working capital for store expansion.

It plans to disburse the funds from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2020.

The company has 19 new stores lined up for this semester, in addition to 19 new stores in 2020.

It will also expand AllHome Alabang to boost its net selling space to about 12,340 square meters (sq.m.), from 5.845 sq.m. currently.

About P4.565 billion will be used for debt repayment by the fourth quarter of 2019, as the company has P4.603 billion in loans from several local banks.

The remaining P37 million will go to general corporate purposes.

On the other hand, All Value Holdings could net up to P5.635 billion from the sale of its shares in All Home, and up to P8.198 billion including the over-allotment option.

The company looks to finalize the IPO price on Sept. 16, then offer the shares to investors from Sept. 18 to 24 in time for listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Oct. 1 under the ticker “HOME.”

All Home engaged UBS AG, Singapore Branch as the offer’s sole global coordinator and joint book runner, while CLSA Limited and Credit Suisse (Singapore) Limited were tapped as joint book runners.

PNB Capital and Investment Corp. will act as local lead underwriter, while China Bank Capital Corp. will be a co-led local underwriter.

Incorporated in 2013, All Home has since established 25 stores with a net selling space of about 196,327 sq.m. Nineteen of these are in Mega Manila, three in Luzon and three in the Visayas and Mindanao.

It operates three formats, namely large mall-based store, large free-standing store and small specialty store.

All Home booked a net profit of P207.1 million in the first quarter of 2019, almost five times the P43.6 million it recorded in the same period a year ago. This came on the back of a 68% uptick in revenues to P2.38 billion in the same period.

If approved and should it proceed, All Home could be the first company to go public this year after drought in maiden offerings last semester. This comes amid a recovery in the benchmark PSE index, which is now trading at the 8,200 level.

“I think it is perfect timing for them to do this IPO. Market has started to go up. Villar stocks have very good performance which is a good sign for investors,” AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John Mangun said in a mobile phone message when sought for comment.

Mr. Mangun also noted that news of the firm’s IPO could be the reason why its competitor, Wilcon Depot, Inc., has dropped by a total of seven percent in the last four trading sessions to P15.70 on Thursday.

Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco also noted that the company’s IPO comes alongside the PSEi’s rally, which could boost its debut.

“The company has bright prospects. At the same time, we have a market that’s already trying to hold its ground in the bull territory,” Mr. Tantiangco said in a separate text message.

“Given these, I believe there will be appetite from investors if the IPO pushes through.”

Ten films for 15th Cinemalaya

July 19, 2019 | 12:10 am

A SURPRISING turn of events as a midwife applies to work abroad, a student’s act of theft turns into viral video, a robot’s friendship and adventure with a young boy, are among the diverse stories that will be told in this year’s Cinemalaya films.

Celebrating 15 years of independent Filipino movies, this year’s film festival will be held nationwide on Aug. 2 to 11.

Since 2005, the film festival has showcased over 1,000 works by independent filmmakers including short and full-length features, documentaries, and art films.

“[This year] political, environmental, social, technological upheavals find their way into the changing phase of independent films,” Cinemalaya President Laurice Guillen said in her speech at the film festival’s launch on July 8 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The festival will open with Lav Diaz’s Ang Hupa (The Halt) on Aug. 2 and close with Kerwin Go’s Mina-Anud on Aug. 11.

As a way of bringing the films to a wider audience, Cinemalaya has partnered with the following micro cinemas to show the films: Cinema Centenario in Quezon City; Cinema ‘76 in Anonas, QC and San Juan; Black Maria in Mandaluyong, the CBRC-Dream Theater in Manila; and the FDCP Cinematheques in Manila, Iloilo, and Davao.

Aside from screenings at various venues in CCP and Metro Manila, the country’s biggest independent film festival will be simultaneously be held on Aug. 7 to 13 at selected Ayala Cinemas and Vista Malls in Pampanga; Naga and Legaspi in Bicol; Bacolod; Iloilo; and Davao.

Ten full-length movies will be shown during the festival. They are:

• Ani (The Harvest), directed by Kim Zuniga and Sandro Del Rosario. Set in Bicol in 2050, a 14-year-old orphan boy and a malfunctioning robot go on an adventure to search for magical grains that may cure the boy’s sick father.

• Belle Douleur (Beautiful Pain), directed by Joji V. Alonzo. Liz, a 45-year-old clinical psychologist and Josh, a young antique dealer have both recently suffered the loss of family members. When Liz decides to downsize and meets Josh, their loneliness draws them close.

• Children of the River, directed by Maricel Cabrera-Cariaga. Inspired by the 2017 Marawi siege, Elias and his three best friends promise to look out for each other even through difficult times.

• Edward, directed by Thop Nazareno. Edward is looking after his ailing father in the public hospital. Estranged from the rest of the family, he makes the hospital ward into his own playground. Then he meets Agnes, a young patient with whom he finds comfort.

• Fuccbois, directed by Eduardo Roy, Jr. Two beauty pageant contenders’ images and celebrity status online are threatened when an ex-lover exposes a secret on social media.

• Iska, directed by Theodore Boborol. Iska is a loving grandmother who looks after her 10-year-old autistic grandson despite being deemed an unfit guardian by the media and government.

• John Denver Trending, directed by Arden Rod Condez. An 8^th grader’s life is threatened when a video of him stealing an iPad in school is uploaded online.

• Malamaya (The Color of Ash), directed by Danica Sta. Lucia and Leilani Cruz. Nora, a 50-year-old single artist, embarks in a May-December affair with a young photographer, failing to realize how the man has invaded her privacy, body, and art.

• Pandanggo sa Hukay, directed by Sheryl Rose M. Andes. The film explores the role and voice of women in society and follows a midwife who prepares for her application to work in Saudi Arabia when she finds herself in unfamiliar territory.

• Tabon, directed by Xian Lim. Ian returns with his wife and step-daughter to his hometown after the murder of his father, and seeks the help of a senior inspector to investigate the murder as three suspects have their own versions of the truth.

Aside from the full-length films, the festival will also show several short features, namely: Glenn Lowell Forneste Avera’s Disconnection Notice; Harold Lance Pialdal’s Gatilyo (Trigger); Julius Renomeron, Jr.’s Heist School; Norvin De Los Santos’ Hele ng Maharlika (Lullaby of the Free); Gilb Baldoza’s Kontrolado ni Girly ang Buhay N’ya (Girly is in Control of Her Life); Don Senoc’s Sa Among Agwat (In Between Spaces); Francis Guillermo’s Sa Gabing Tanging Liwanag ay Paniniwala (Belief as the Light in Darkness); Shaira Advincula’s Tembong (Connecting); Sheron Dayoc’s The Shoemaker; and, Josef Gacutan’s ‘Wag Mo ‘Kong Kausapin (Please Stop Talking).

OTHER REASONS TO WATCH
The Cinemalaya Film Festival will also be hosting the 31^st edition of the Gawad Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video which will screen and select films to compete in various categories. The selected participating entries will be shown on Aug. 3 to 5 at the CCP Dream Theater. The awarding rights for the competition is on Aug. 5, 7 p.m.

Cinemalaya is also introducing the Mini-Versity, a new component envisioned to spur interest about filmmaking among the youth. Interested participants may engage with industry practitioners from Aug. 2 to 11 at the CCP’s Silangan Hall.

Meanwhile, a selection of films will also be screened at the CCP as tribute to the late actor Eddie Garcia, actress Armida Siguion-Reyna, and production designer Cesar Hernandez.

The Cinemalaya Awards Night will be held on Aug. 11, 7 p.m. at the CCP Main Theater.

For more information on the festival, visit www.cinemalaya.org, www.culturalcenter.gov.ph, and the Cinemalaya Facebook page; or contact the CCP Film and Media Arts Division at 832-1125 local 1704 and 1712. Tickets and festival passes are available at the CCP Box Office (832-3704). — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

iflix partners with Viva on content, development deal

July 19, 2019 | 12:09 am

KUALA LUMPUR-based video-on-demand (VOD) service, iflix, has announced its partnership with Philippine media and entertainment company, Viva Communications Inc., which includes “a substantial” investment in the streaming service and plans to launch several films and series within the next three years, according to an iflix executive.

“[The Viva investment] includes co-producing 30 movies within three years and nine TV shows,” Sherwin dela Cruz, country manager of iflix Philippines, told BusinessWorld during the July 10 event at Common Ground in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

The partnership, which took three years of meetings to put together, is line with Viva’s direction of going regional.

“We’re happy because we’re bringing our content on the platform and we’re even happier we’re getting our stars exposed in an international platform… and hopefully some of them can break through,” Vincent G. del Rosario III, COO and President of Viva Communications Inc., said during his speech.

“Viva is now looking at expanding regionally and I think what better way to execute a dream is to enter a partnership with iflix,” he added.

The deal with iflix also includes Viva’s entire library which Mr. Dela Cruz pegged at 9,000 hours worth of content.

Mr. Dela Cruz said that the first film to be co-produced with Viva has a tentative December release date but that their plans for producing films are being adjusted to comply with the recent Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) memorandum released in June that states that a film which has had a theatrical release will have to wait 150 days before being shown in other screening platforms.

The FDCP memorandum noted that the policy is to “maximize the movies’ revenue opportunity in local cinemas.”

“We were eyeing to release it sooner after the theatrical release,” Mr. Dela Cruz said before admitting that the new policy threw a spanner into their plans. He said that five months is too long as the audience may have already forgotten about the film before it drops in screening platforms.

“I’m not complaining about it. I understand the pros of the new policy but it does have its cons,” he said.

The first film off of the partnership is a comedy, though he said that they are planning to release films of various genres “every month or every 45 days” for three years.

Currently, the Philippines has 3.2 million monthly active iflix users, a number Mr. Dela Cruz said will be bolstered by the Viva library and the slew of original content to come as he noted that Filipinos are fans of local content.

iflix is currently available in 22 countries in Asia and North Africa including Morocco, the Sudan, Egypt, Southeast Asia, the Maldives, Kuwait, and Bahrain. In March this year, the company reported that it has more than 25 million subscribers on the service, 19 million of whom are monthly active users, according to a presentation made during the launch.

Last year, iflix launched a free tier where users can watch content without paying although it does include advertisements. — Zsarlene B. Chua

Meralco seeking ERC nod for emergency capex

July 19, 2019 | 12:08 am

By Victor V. Saulon, Sub-Editor

MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power distribution utility, is seeking approval from the energy regulator for an emergency capital expenditure (capex) of up to P15.19 billion to cover its 2020 projects, nearly a third of which are to fund “very urgent major projects.”

In its filing with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the listed electricity seller listed 21 of these urgent projects, while 50 are what it called “residual” projects.

Meralco, which is seeking provisional authority to implement its capex program for next year, said the emergency filing is in view of the continuing delay in the approval of its fifth regulatory period, which spans July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2023.

Meralco said its “very urgent” capex program for next year “is geared towards providing reliable service to its customers by maintaining an adequate, safe, efficient, and viable distribution network, while providing the needed capacity to address the forecasted load growth within its franchise area.”

Of the expenditure items, the biggest project costs were for distribution transformers at about P1.79 billion; poles, towers and fixtures at P1.42 billion; and overhead conductors and devices at P1.28 billion.

The ERC set the hearing of Meralco’s application on Aug. 20, 2019 for determination of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, pre-trial conference, and presentation of evidence.

Meralco said its capex application was driven by several factors, including renewal or refurbishment projects to ensure sustained network efficiency, reliability and power quality.

“Capital expenditures are required to maintain existing assets so as not to degrade its network performance and customer service performance in the current regulatory year,” the listed company said.

It said the budget is required to build adequate infrastructure to meet growth in peak demand and customer connections. It expects its customer base to expand to 7 million and peak demand to grow to 7,750 megawatts by 2020.

“This increase in peak demand and customer count will require [Meralco] to increase the capacity of the electric distribution system in order to continue accommodating customer connections, while maintaining the reliability and power quality of its distribution system,” the company said.

Meralco said it had lined up automation and technology projects to continue its advanced infrastructure metering (AMI) program.

It said the projects are also meant to comply with a number of “regulatory requirements and government prescriptions.”

The distribution utility said with the government’s “Build, Build, Build” programs and projects, it would need to relocate and replace existing facilities so as not to hamper the construction and development of critical infrastructure.

Separately, Meralco said a fault occurred on Thursday inside its Gardner substation in Muntinlupa that resulted in the interruption of four of its downstream substations in Taguig, Urdaneta, Kamagong, and Bonifacio Global City at around 10:53 a.m.

Some parts of Makati, Manila, Pasay, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, and Taguig City experienced power interruption as a result of the incident.

“The root cause of the outage is yet to be determined. Rest assured, Meralco will further look into this matter as a part of our post-outage operations procedure,” Meralco Spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said in an online message.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Game of Thrones dominates Emmy nominations

July 19, 2019 | 12:08 am

LOS ANGELES — Medieval fantasy Game of Thrones scored a record 32 Emmy nominations on Tuesday, but the contenders for the highest honors in television were dominated by newcomers, many of them women, and shows about political and social justice.

The 2019 lineup for the Emmys represented the widest array of first-time nominees in eight years, the Television Academy said, with nine new shows contending for the top prizes of best drama and best comedy series.

They included female-driven BBC America thriller Killing Eve, which also won nods for stars Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh; dark comedy Fleabag, from Amazon.com’s Amazon Studios, which got 11 nominations including for its British creator and star, Phoebe Waller-Bridge; and surreal Netflix time-loop comedy Russian Doll, written by its star, Natasha Lyonne.

Laura Linney, a best actress nominee for her role in Netflix drug smuggling drama Ozark, said she was “thrilled that I somehow ended up in this group of kick-ass women, who all raise the bar over and over again.”

In a crowded landscape of top-quality shows, A-list stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney were seen as the biggest snubs on Tuesday, failing to get nominations in their high-profile returns to the small screen in Homecoming and Catch-22 respectively.

The Big Bang Theory, which ended its run in May as the most-watched comedy on US television, was shut out of the major categories.

HBO got a leading 137 nominations, an Emmy record. The Emmy awards will be handed out at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sept. 22.

VEEP TAKES ON MRS. MAISEL
HBO’s haul included three-times best drama series winner Game of Thrones, and recognition for actors Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams in the show’s final season.

While the nods for Game of Thrones were expected, despite a fan uproar over the series finale in May, HBO also scored 19 nominations with its limited series Chernobyl, a dramatization of the 1986 nuclear accident in Ukraine and Soviet efforts to cover it up.

“Word of mouth has probably been the most significant way in which this show has achieved this impact,” Jared Harris, a best actor nominee for Chernobyl, told Reuters.

The series has played in Russia and brought curious tourists to the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

Netflix scored 117 nominations, led by When They See Us which racked up 16 nods for director and writer Ava DuVernay’s heart-wrenching dramatization of the wrongful imprisonment of five black teens for a rape in New York in 1989.

“Thank you @Netflix for believing in this story and letting me tell it the exact way I wanted. Appreciate the faith and the fearlessness,” DuVernay wrote on Twitter.

In the comedy category, returning Emmy champ The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel from Amazon Studios got 20 nominations, including for lead actress Rachel Brosnahan.

It will face off against HBO’s political satire Veep, which ended its seven-season run in May, and its six-time Emmy- winning star Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the foul-mouthed politician hell-bent on becoming US president.

FX’s groundbreaking LGBTQ series Pose, about the drag ball culture in 1980s New York, will contend for best drama and won a first-time nomination for star Billy Porter.

“I’m so grateful to have lived long enough to see this day. Pose speaks a truth that has the power to transform hearts and minds,” Porter said in a statement.

Popular shows and past Emmy winners Big Little Lies and The Handmaid’s Tale were not broadcast during this year’s Emmy eligibility period. — Reuters

ICTSI unit to take over container terminal in Rio de Janeiro

July 19, 2019 | 12:07 am

A WHOLLY OWNED subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) is poised to take over the operations and management of Terminal de Conteineres 1 (T1Rio) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange Thursday, the Razon-led port operator said its subsidiary ICTSI Americas B.V. won the bid to acquire 100% of the shares of Libra Terminal Rio S.A. (Libra Rio) from Boreal Empreendimentos e Participacoes SA.

“The parties will work to sign a share purchase agreement in due course,” ICTSI said.

Libra Rio holds the concession rights for the operations, management and development of the T1Rio until 2048. The concession started in 1998, and was extended in 2011.

“ICTSI will assume the operational, development and other responsibilities under the current concession contract. The transfer of the facilities to ICTSI management is expected to take place after all conditions precedent and required regulatory approvals have been obtained,” the company said.

T1Rio recorded a throughput of approximately 135,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last year, out of its capacity of 530,000 TEUs. The terminal has a total land area of 18.8 hectares, quay wall of 715 meters and a design water depth of 16 meters, making it capable of receiving large container vessels.

The facility is also equipped with five ship-to-shore gantry cranes and more than 16 rubber-tired gantry cranes.

This will be ICTSI’s second in Brazil, where it also operates the Suape Container Terminal.

The company also operates terminals in Port of Guayaquil in Ecuador, Port of La Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Port of Manzanillo and Port of Tuxpan in Mexico; Port of Buenaventura in Colombia; and Puerto Cortes in Honduras.

Volume from the Americas segment, which is composed of the terminals in Brazil, Ecuador, Honduras and Mexico, rose 7% to 745,615 TEUs for the first quarter of 2019, on new shipping lines and higher trade volumes. ICTSI said the Americas operations accounted for 30.1% of its consolidated volume for the January to June period.

In the first quarter, ICTSI posted an attributable net income of $72.4 million, up 77% on the back of a strong operating income and lower financing charges.

The company is setting aside $380 million for capital expenditures this year, which will be allocated to the acquisition of new equipment, maintenance works and expansion in Manila, Mexico and Iraq. — Denise A. Valdez

Massachusetts prosecutors drop Kevin Spacey sex assault case

July 19, 2019 | 12:07 am

BOSTON — Massachusetts prosecutors on Wednesday dropped a criminal case accusing former House of Cards star Kevin Spacey of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man at a Nantucket bar in 2016 after the alleged victim refused to testify.

Prosecutors said they made the decision to drop the felony indecent assault and battery charge against the Oscar winner after the alleged victim invoked his right under the US Constitution against giving self-incriminating testimony.

Spacey’s lawyers had previously accused the man of deleting text messages that would support his defense. The man invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during a hearing earlier this month concerning the whereabouts of his cell phone, which was missing. A lawyer for Spacey, 59, did not respond to requests for comment.

Spacey, who has won two Oscars, including the best actor Academy Award in 2000 for his role in American Beauty, had pleaded not guilty to the charge. His lawyers had called the allegations “patently false.”

Mitchell Garabedian, the accuser’s lawyer, said in a statement that his client had “shown an enormous amount of courage under difficult circumstances.”

The allegations emerged after another actor accused Spacey of trying to seduce him three decades ago when he was 14, leading Netflix to drop Spacey from House of Cards, and to his scenes being edited out of the film All the Money in the World. — Reuters

SSS to conduct survey to plug coverage gaps

July 19, 2019 | 12:07 am

THE POLICY-MAKING BODY of the Social Security System (SSS) is set to conduct a nationwide survey to plug coverage gaps and improve social protection.

In a statement sent to reporters on Thursday, the Social Security Commission said it hired a third-party service provider to conduct a detailed nationwide survey.

“The project’s purpose is to identify the segment of the population that should benefit from social security protection but are not yet receiving any,” Aurora C. Ignacio, SSS president and chief executive officer, was quoted as saying in the statement.

“We need to know the socio-demographic profile and the level of vulnerability to life’s contingencies such as economic hardships or disasters of both those covered and not covered by SSS, especially those from the informal sector,” she added.

The survey will cover 4,000 respondents nationwide, including those from far-flung areas.

It is expected to yield additional data not available in databases of other agencies.

These include sources of income across income classes as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of the untapped workforce in the provincial, city or municipality and barangay levels.

“The initiative is designed towards the realization of the pension fund’s vision to provide universal and equitable social protection,” the statement read.

The survey is aligned with the goals indicated in the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 to reduce vulnerability of individuals, as well as the goal to improve protection programs under President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda.

In 2018, the SSS collected P212.63 billion in revenues, broken down into P181.92 billion in members’ contribution and P30.71 billion in investment and other income.

Total expenditures, on the other hand, stood at P189.88 billion, on the back of P180.08 billion in benefit payments and P9.8 billion in operating expenses. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

PLDT delays 5G service launch to next year

July 19, 2019 | 12:06 am

PLDT, Inc. and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. are unlikely to launch fifth generation (5G) network services by yearend, as the telco giant is still searching for a technology partner.

“I don’t think it will happen this year. But certainly…sometime next year, early next year,” PLDT Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a media briefing Thursday.

He said there is a need to “determine the standards by which 5G will operate,” as well as finalize deals with vendors of 5G equipment.

“Over the next few months, we will determine which vendor we’ll choose for 5G,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

PLDT announced last month it was planning to launch 5G services for the Home and Enterprise by the fourth quarter of the year. Rival Globe Telecom, Inc. launched its 5G service for home on June 20.

At that time, Mr. Pangilinan said the company was in talks with five technology providers: China’s Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and ZTE Corp.; Sweden’s Ericsson, Inc.; Finland’s Nokia Corp.; and United States’ Cisco Systems, Inc.

PLDT has been conducting pilot tests for several use cases of the next-generation network the past months.

On Thursday, PLDT launched a “Smart 5G Alliance” to gather technology firms and the academe in determining possible use cases of 5G for customers.

The alliance includes Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei, Microsoft, Nokia, Palo Alto, SMS Global Technologies, Araneta Center, Ateneo de Manila University and Clark Development Corp.

“What we’ve noticed when we go around the world, majority of the time, we see a lot of show cases rather than use cases… The 5G Alliance is different because our approach is we’re working with partners to really develop 5G solutions that can be used in the local setting,” PLDT-Smart Senior Vice-President and Head of Enterprise Jovy I. Hernandez 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. — Denise A. Valdez

Gossip Girl gets a makeover for HBO Max

July 19, 2019 | 12:06 am

LOS ANGELES — Gossip Girl, the show that became a youth culture phenomenon with its trend-setting fashion and chronicling of the romantic lives of elite New York teens, is on its way back to television, this time in a new series for upcoming streaming service HBO Max.

HBO Max, owned by WarnerMedia, said on Tuesday it had ordered a new, 10-episode series that will be set eight years after Gossip Girl ended its original run in 2012, and will follow a new generation of private school kids.

There was no word on casting or whether any of the original stars, including Blake Lively, Penn Badgely, Chace Crawford, and Leighton Meester, will return.

HBO Max said the new series will explore how much social media and the landscape of New York itself has changed in recent years.

Gossip Girl ran for six seasons on youth network CW becoming one of the most popular shows on television, winning 18 Teen Choice awards and inspiring fashion, hairstyles and beauty lines.

The spin-off follows news last week that HBO Max will have exclusive streaming rights to 1990s TV series Friends — currently the second-most watched show on rival Netflix.

HBO Max is expected to launch next spring with a combination of new original content and programming from networks HBO, TBS, and classics from the Warner Bros. film library. It will join a string of other new streaming services including the upcoming Disney + and other digital subscription options as traditional media companies seek to attract online viewers. — Reuters

Bank of Japan’s next move to be more easing: Reuters poll

July 19, 2019 | 12:06 am

TOKYO — Expectations have risen sharply that the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) next policy move will be to ease further, a Reuters poll of economists found, as the US Federal Reserve looks set to cut interest rates this month for the first time in over a decade.

Three-quarters of economists said the BoJ’s next move would be to expand stimulus, up from about half last month and 38% just two months ago. Almost two-thirds of those who predicted easing expect it within the year and some as early as this month.

Speculation had already been growing for further easing as the US-China trade war and weakening global demand threaten Japan’s export-reliant economy.

Fed rate cuts could inflict further damage by boosting the yen against the dollar, making Japanese exports less competitive and eroding profits when repatriated to Japan. A major effect of the BoJ’s massive stimulus since 2013 has been a weaker yen.

“The pace of the yen’s appreciation against the dollar when the Fed starts cutting rates will definitely help decide whether the BoJ needs to adopt more easing,” said Yasunari Ueno, chief market economist at Mizuho Securities.

“If the gap in interest rates between Japan and the United States shrinks and US shares tumble at the same time, the yen could try 100 yen per dollar. Then the BoJ will have to ease further knowing there would be side effects.”

The Japanese currency last strengthened beyond 100 to the dollar in August 2016. It traded around 107.90 on Thursday.

US Federal Reserve policy makers, moving toward their first interest rate reduction in a decade later this month, on Tuesday sketched out arguments for whether rates should be cut by a quarter or a half a percentage point.

Thirty of 40 economists predicted the BoJ’s next move would be to loosen policy further, while 10 said the bank would tighten, the July 3-16 poll found.

Seven of the economists who forecast more easing said the central bank would ease this month, six predicted September, five selected October and two said December.

Among possible steps, 25 economists expected the BoJ to tweak its forward guidance. The BoJ pledges to keep very low interest rates “at least through around the spring of 2020” and economists predicted the central bank would extend this period.

Eight economists said the BoJ would increase its buying of exchange-traded funds and Japanese real estate investment trusts. Three predicted the bank would deepen its negative interest rates only, while two forecast that it could cut both its negative interest rates and the 10-year bond yield target. This question allowed multiple answers.

Under a policy dubbed yield curve control, the BoJ guides short-term rates at -0.1% and the 10-year bond yield around 0%.

At last month’s policy review, the BoJ kept policy steady but Governor Haruhiko Kuroda signaled its readiness to ramp up stimulus as global risks cloud the economic outlook, joining US and European central banks in dropping hints of additional easing.

JAPAN-SOUTH KOREA FEUD
Tokyo and Seoul are in an escalating row after Japan recently announced tighter controls on exports to South Korea of some materials used to make smartphone displays and chips.

Asked about the Japanese government’s decision, 15 of 23 economists said they did not support the move, while eight responded they did, the poll found.

Asked how the move would affect Japan’s economy, 15 economists saw “little impact” and two said “no impact”, while 12 projected a “moderate impact.”

“The direct impact will be limited,” said Kazuma Maeda, economist at Barclays Securities Japan.

“But we need to watch for an indirect impact on Japanese production of things like electronic parts and devices, if the export curbs have an unforeseen impact on the global supply chain for the semiconductor industry.”

The poll also found Japan’s economy would expand 0.5% in the fiscal year to March 2020, having contracting an annualized 1.8% in the fourth quarter when growth is hit by a scheduled sales tax hike in October. It is projected to grow at the same rate of 0.5% in the next fiscal year.

“We expect Japan will avoid falling into recession thanks to solid domestic demand such as public investment and capital expenditure,” said Yosuke Yasui, senior economist at Japan Research Institute.

The nation’s core consumer price index, which includes oil products but not fresh foods, will rise 0.7% this fiscal year and 0.6% the following year, the poll showed. — Reuters

TV5 franchise renewed for another 25 years

July 19, 2019 | 12:05 am

THE franchise of ABC Development Corp., currently known as TV5 Network, Inc., has been renewed for another 25 years.

This after Republic Act (RA) No. 11320 lapsed into law on April 22, 2019, without President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s signature.

The TV5 franchise was approved by the House of Representatives on Dec. 4, 2018, and amended by the Senate on Feb. 4, 2019. The House approved the amendments on Feb. 8, 2019.

At the same time, RA No. 11319 which extended the franchise of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for another 25 years also lapsed into law without Mr. Duterte’s signature.

A bill may become a law, even without the President’s signature, if the President does not sign it within thirty days from receipt in Malacañang.

“Ibig sabihin kung pina-lapse niya…okay sa kanya. That means, effectively parang pinirmahan niya rin iyon (If he let the bills lapse into law, that means he is okay with the proposed measures. That means, effectively, it is the same as signing the bills into law),” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said during a briefing on Thursday.

Both TV5 Network and CBCP are allowed to continue to “construct, install, operate, and maintain radio and television broadcasting stations in the Philippines.”

TV5 Network primarily broadcasts sports and news programs, through ESPN and News5. Its franchise was first granted in December 1994, under Republic Act No. 7831.

The CBCP, for its part, operates radio stations across the country through its Catholic Media Network arm.

Under their franchises, both media companies should not use their stations or facilities for “obscene or indecent transmission, or for the dissemination of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, or assist in subversive or treasonable acts.”

The franchise of media giant ABS-CBN Corp. is also set to expire next year. Mr. Duterte has previously expressed his opposition to the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise.

But Mr. Panelo said it’s up to Congress to approve ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal, not Mr. Duterte.

1...9,2429,2439,244...12,759 Page 9,243 of 12,759