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Jollibee to open 1st store in Guam amid continued overseas expansion

JOLLIBEE Foods Corp. (JFC) will be opening its first store in Guam this April, as part of its efforts to increase revenues from its international business.
The homegrown food giant said in a statement over the weekend that it will open a Jollibee store in the United States territory on April 6, located near Micronesia Mall in Dededo.
This will be added to the 37 Jollibee stores that JFC currently has in the US, spread out across several states such as New York, Florida, Texas, California, and Hawaii.
“This is a special moment in Jollibee’s history. We’ve long dreamed of the day we could serve the beautiful island of Guam, with its unique blend of Pacific, Asian, and American cultures and cuisine,” JFC Head of International Business for Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia Dennis M. Flores said in a statement.
While looking to attract overseas Filipinos working in the area, JFC also targets to cater to the local market. The company noted that they have started to bring in more local customers in its Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Manhattan stores.
“The milestone store opening comes as JFC continues to even the split between its domestic and international sales,” the company said.
JFC Founder and Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong earlier said that they want revenues to be equally provided by their local and international businesses.
The listed company allocated to spend P17.2 billion in capital expenditures this year, almost double its actual spending of P9.6 billion in 2018, in order to support its aggressive store expansion both locally and overseas. Part of the budget will also go to the renovation of existing outlets and investments in manufacturing plants.
JFC said it targets to have 8,000 stores by 2022 coming from both organic growth and acquisitions.
By end-2018, JFC had a total of 4,521 stores across several brands such as Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Burger King, Pho 24, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, and Highlands Coffee, among others. It also entered four new markets last year, namely Italy, Macau, United Kingdom, and Malaysia.
The firm’s latest acquisitions include American burger chain Smashburger, which was fully purchased by the group last December. It has also recently invested in Mexican restaurant chain Tortas Frontera LLC founded by chef Rick Bayless.
JFC booked a net income attributable to the parent of P8.33 billion in 2018, 17% higher than the P7.11 billion it generated in the year before. Systemwide sales grew 24% to P212.19 billion, including sales from both company-owned and franchised stores. — Arra B. Francia

Australia-backed NGO taps indigenous groups for goat’s milk project

DAVAO CITY — Noble Endeavors Mindanao, Inc. (NEMI), a non-profit based in President Roxas, Cotabato and funded by Global Development group (GDG) of Australia, is working with indigenous people (IP) communities to make goat’s milk.
“It started when I retired as a provincial nurse supervisor in Amas, Kidapawan City and was informed that NEMI was looking for experts on health and agriculture,” Virgie O. Laquihon, NEMI project manager for North Cotabato, told BusinessWorld in an interview.
Ms. Laquihon’s son, a doctor who was part of a team that conducted a medical mission in the area, introduced her to Ian Mckay, GDG managing director.
She said the area, mostly inhabited by Manobos along with Terurays and Muslims, is among the poorest villages in the country and used to be in the top five with the most malnourished children.
The barangay used to have a school set up by GDG with eight teachers, but lack of local government support, particularly in terms of teachers’ salaries, did not make it sustainable.
“We suggested to Mr. Mckay that we should instead just provide a scholarship program for the children and establish an income-generating project,” she said.
With her husband, Generoso A. Laquihon, as agricultural consultant, they put up a goat-raising project in 2014 starting with 10 head that were all pregnant. Within a month’s time, the project was generating extra income from milk.
“The Australians were impressed so they decided to expand the project,” she said.
With a P5 million in financial support from the Australian group, NEMI established the Ethical Harvest Goat’s Milk brand with 200 goats.
NEMI now has a processing plant with modern equipment for milk processing, set up using P2.4 million in financial assistance from the Australian government.
The plant processes an average of 53 liters of milk per day, packaged and sold either fresh or chocolate-flavored.
“We are fully mechanized and we now have 12 outlets in Kidapawan City,” she said.
Ms. Laquihon, also president of the micro, small and medium enterprises group in Cotabato province, wants to expand the brand’s reach by signing up distributors outside the province.
Aside from the goats in the barn, NEMI has also turned over some goats to be raised by the IP families.
“We have eight family raisers and for every family we provide them five goats as part of the dispersal project,” she said, adding that the children in the household are also scholars of the group.
NEMI now assists 257 scholars from the area.
“The Australian group plans to expand the project by putting up a gelato ice cream factory in Davao so that’s extra income for the IP again since the goats milk will be the main material for the ice cream,” she said.
“We are happy that we are able to provide the IP with extra income but our end goal is to encourage the community to become self-supporting and self-determining so they can help the community in alleviating poverty,” she added. — Carmencita A. Carillo

Rates of T-bills to move sideways as retail bond issue saps demand

By Karl Angelo N. Vidal
Reporter
RATES OF THE Treasury bills (T-bill) on offer today will likely move sideways with an upward bias amid tepid demand for the short-term securities following the recent retail Treasury bond (RTB) sale.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) is offering P20 billion worth of T-bills on Monday, broken down into P6 billion each for the three- and six-month papers and P8 billion in the one-year instruments.
A trader said yields on the T-bills on offer today will climb by five basis points (bp) across all tenors from the previous offer.
Last week, the government raised P20 billion as planned from the T-bills auction as tenders reached P31.771 billion.
Rates went down across all tenors to 5.716%, 5.936% and 6.018% for the three-month, six-month and one-year papers, respectively.
At the secondary market on Friday, the 91-, 182- and 364-day IOUs were quoted at 5.676%, 5.905% and 6.054%, respectively.
“The question is the liquidity. There was still a supply overhang on the RTB, so most of the banks’ money are in the recently issued security,” the trader said in a phone interview.
“For the T-bills auction, it will still be fully awarded, but probably 1.5 times. Most of the liquidity went to the RTB,” the trader added.
The government raised P235.935 billion from its 22nd RTB sale but offers from individual and institutional investors were “much higher,” according to the Treasury, although no exact figure was given.
The five-year bonds carry an interest rate of 6.25%, which is higher than rates at the secondary market and from the yield fetched in previous offerings.
Another trader said the one-year T-bills will likely fetch a rate between 6-6.1%, while the three- and six-month debt instruments will fetch steady to slightly higher yields.
“I’m not really watching [the three- and six-month papers] now… We see more demand for five to 10 years tenor now,” the second trader said in a text message. “Normally this happens when investors are convinced on CPI (consumer price index) outlook.”
“That said, people normally demand higher yields for short tenors because there’s reinvestment risk,” the second trader added.
Headline inflation in February stood at 3.8%, easing for the fourth straight month and settling within the 2-4% target of the government for this year.
On the other hand, the first trader noted that expectations of a cut in banks’ reserve requirements will likely temper the upward bias in yields.
Some economists in a BusinessWorld poll see the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas trimming the reserve requirement ratio of big banks by a percentage point from the current 18% at its meeting this week. Doing so will unleash billions of pesos into the market, which may be parked in debt papers.
For this quarter, the government is planning to borrow P360 billion from the domestic market. Some P240 billion will be borrowed this quarter through 12 weekly T-bill auctions. On the other hand, P120 billion worth of Treasury bonds will also be issued through six fortnightly auctions.

Iconic Barbie doll celebrates 60 years of evolution

Barbie doll
A Barbie doll in the likeness of Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka. — REUTERS

BARBIE, the fashion doll famous around the world, celebrates her 60th anniversary this month with new collections honoring real-life role models and careers in which women remain under-represented.
This has been part of Barbie’s evolution over the decades since her debut at the New York Toy Fair on March 9, 1959.
To mark the milestone, manufacturer Mattel, Inc. created Barbie versions of 20 inspirational women from Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka to British model and activist Adwoa Aboah.
The company also released six dolls representing the careers of astronaut, pilot, athlete, journalist, politician and firefighter, all fields in which Mattel said women are still under-represented.
Barbie is a cultural icon celebrated by the likes of Andy Warhol, the Paris Louvre museum, and the 1997 satirical song “Barbie Girl” by Scandinavian pop group Aqua. She was named after the daughter of creator Ruth Handler.
Barbie has taken on more than 200 careers from surgeon to video game developer since her debut, when she wore a black-and-white striped swimsuit. After criticism that Barbie’s curvy body promoted an unrealistic image for young girls, Mattel added a wider variety of skin tones, body shapes, hijab-wearing dolls, and science kits to make Barbie more educational.
Barbie is also going glamorous for her six-decade milestone. A diamond-anniversary doll wears a sparkly silver ball gown. — Reuters

ATI hikes capex to $300 million

ASIAN TERMINALS, Inc. (ATI) is increasing its capital expenditure (capex) to around $300 million this year to fund its port development plans at the Manila South Harbor and Batangas Port.
Asked about the listed firm’s capex for 2019, ATI Senior Vice-President for Commercial and Outports Sean James L. Perez told reporters on Friday: “Something like $300 million… (To be used) for expansion, port development. We’re expanding both the South Harbor here in Manila and we’re also expanding in Batangas.”
Last year, ATI set its capex at P8 billion, or approximately $152 million, which also went to capacity expansion projects in its ports in Manila and Batangas.
Mr. Perez explained the higher investment is necessary this year given the company’s target of increasing ATI’s total volume by around 5%.
“The two ports now will be really expanding all our facilities. And that’s also including equipment. We just brought in two new quay cranes in Batangas for rubber-tired gantries. We brought in some cranes for South Harbor,” he said.
In January, ATI added two new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and four rubber-tired gantry cranes to increase the capacity at the Batangas Port. In February, it also joined international shipping lines in an agreement to share vessels and terminal resources to improve operations at the Manila South Harbor.
Mr. Perez said the company expects an improved financial performance this year.
“Now is an election year. You have importations now that are coming in. (The) Build, Build, Build program of the government (is there). All of these have been fueling consumer spending. So we see that we’ll grow hand-in-hand with all those developments,” he said.
ATI is scheduled to open by the second quarter a five-hectare container yard facility outside the Port of Manila. It is also on track to finish by end-April the expansion works at the Batangas Container Terminal, which will increase its annual capacity to 450,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs).
The listed port operator posted an attributable net income of P2.2 billion in the nine months ending September, up 24% on higher revenues at P7.2 billion. — Denise A. Valdez with report from Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

Yields on government debt end flat on RTB settlement

By Mark T. Amoguis
Researcher
YIELDS ON government securities (GS) ended flat last week as investors took profit following the settlement of the government’s retail Treasury bond (RTB) offering.
Bond yields, which move opposite to prices, slightly increased by an average of 5.4 basis points (bp) week-on-week, according to the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates as of March 15 published on the Philippine Dealing System’s Web site.
“Market players traded in reaction to the settlement of the retail Treasury bond with action muted given lack of liquidity,” said Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa, senior economist at ING Bank N.V.’s Manila Branch.
“Some dealers opted to take profit as well given recent risk-off tone on the reversal in fortunes for the peso and delays to the US-China trade negotiations,” he added.
For his part, Michael L. Ricafort, economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said local benchmark rates “mostly corrected higher week-on-week, largely triggered by the weaker peso exchange rate [last] week to the weakest levels in more than a month, after the latest hints about possible monetary easing.”
“The latest 5-year RTB issuance totalling P236 billion also siphoned off supply of money from the financial system and also partly caused the upward correction in local interest rate benchmarks this week,” he said.
The government raised a total of P236 billion from its offering of five-year RTBs due 2024 with a 6.25% rate.
It was offered to the general public from Feb. 26 to March 8 through 21 authorized selling agents at denominations of P5,000.
These bonds were settled last March 12.
To support the funding requirements of the government, the Bureau of the Treasury plans to borrow P360 billion domestically during the first quarter of the year through a mix of short- and long-term notes.
Meanwhile, last Tuesday, the peso declined to a six-week low against the dollar to P52.70 after newly appointed Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said he is looking to cut the banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) in four successive moves this year.
Big banks’ mandatory reserves currently stand at 18% after the central bank trimmed the RRR in two 100-bp moves in March and June last year.
Should the planned cuts materialize, the RRR will be at 14% by early 2020.
Meanwhile, the meeting between the heads of US and China to resolve the ongoing trade war will not take place this month and is likely to occur in April, according to a Bloomberg report. US President Donald J. Trump and China President Xi Jinping were supposed to meet at the former’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this March.
At the close of trading last Friday, yields on three- and six-month debt went up by 24.2 bps and 2.7 bps, respectively, to fetch 5.676% and 5.905%. The one-year paper, however, declined by 2.6 bps to 6.054%.
The belly of the curve inched up, with the two-, three-, four-, five-, and seven-year bonds climbing 3.4 bps, 6.7 bps, 10.2 bps, 12.5 bps, and 12.4 bps, respectively, to 6.006%, 6.049%, 6.099%, 6.142%, and 6.18%.
The yield on the 10-year note also increased by 7.9 bps to 6.18%, while the 20- and 25-year papers dropped 5.3 bps and 12.8 bps, respectively, to fetch 6.311% and 6.437%.
For this week, market watchers pointed to the upcoming policy meeting of the central bank’s Monetary Board on Thursday. This will be the first meeting of Mr. Diokno as the new central bank chief.
This week, “local benchmarks interest rates could be steady to a bit lower, in view of the upcoming BSP monetary policy-setting meeting on Thursday, March 21, 2019, after the latest hints about further monetary easing in the coming months amid the easing/declining trend in inflation,” RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort said.
For his part, ING’s Mr. Mapa said “investors will be looking to the BSP policy meeting where the BSP is expected to keep rates steady although there is a growing consensus that rates may be lowered sometime in 2Q given decelerating inflation and the dovish central bank governor.”

AEV unit Pilmico Foods turns over 9-M research facility to Bukidnon university

PILMICO FOODS CORP., the agribusiness and food arm of the Abotiz Equity Ventures (AEV), said that it has turned over P9 million livestock research and training facility to the state-owned Central Mindanao University (CMU) in Bukidnon to boost agricultural research in the region.
The complex turned over by Pilmico will be called the CMU Agri Hub, which will facilitate research in swine genetics, animal nutrition, artificial insemination, and farm management.
The College of Agriculture is considered the premier college of CMU.
Carmelita T. Bajarla of the Department of Agriculture’s Region X office, said that the project is expected to “bring in mutual benefits for both students and farmers, while boosting rural development.”
Aboitiz Foundation First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Maribeth L. Marasigan, meanwhile, said that AEV hopes the facility will create opportunities for growers in the region.
“We envision this facility to be significant in creating many possibilities for the fish, poultry, and swine sectors,” Ms. Marasigan said in a statement.
Jefferson C. Abian, Pilmico Vice President for Feeds said that the facility “is a tangible expression of our promise to empower the backyard sector, and ultimately the agriculture industry as a whole.” — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

Traditional weaves for a contemporary lifestyle

GREAT WOMEN has partnered with Makati Shangri-La, Manila for a month long celebration of International Women’s Month focusing on women weavers and food producers, celebrating local artisanship and revitalizing Philippine culture.
Currently on view at the hotel lobby is Tapestry: Innovations & Inspirations, A Textile Collection exhibit featuring local Philippine textiles from different cultural weaving communities, as well as women cooperatives. The collection features new expressions by traditional weavers eager to embrace innovations in design, material and motifs. Traditional textiles are revitalized for the use in a contemporary lifestyle. It is on view until March 31.
A highlight of the month is a fashion show unveiling the GREAT Women 2019 Spring Summer Collection, contemporary urban wear of handwoven textiles made by community weavers around the Philippines. This will be on March 30, 3 p.m., at the Lobby Lounge. The event will also feature Filipino High Tea using sustainable ingredients from women producers of ECHOStore. Table reservations are suggested (P1,600++ for two persons).
The month ends with a three-day trunk show on March 29 to 31, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., at the Makati B Function Room. This features lifestyle fashion apparel and accessories by GREAT Women under the GW label. Partner fashion designers and brands who have collaborated using GREAT Women textiles will showcase their capsule collections especially for this event.

IPOPHL wants DTI to regulate SMEs selling on Facebook

THE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is seeking the regulation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that sell products via Facebook, as part of efforts to protect intellectual property rights.
IPOPHL Deputy Director General Teodoro C. Pascua told reporters on Friday they are working with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to trace intellectual property (IP) violators among online sellers.
“All of us know, in Facebook, i-open mo, may nagtitinda eh. Remember, walang tindahan. But nakatinda, you can contact us, ganyan. Illegal ’yun eh [All of us know that on Facebook you could find sellers. They don’t have stores, but they could sell. That’s illegal],” he said, referring to online sellers of brands under trademark owners.
Mr. Pascua said they had a meeting with Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez a few weeks ago to present the National Intellectual Property Strategy, and his feedback was positive.
While the mechanism has not been finalized, Mr. Pascua said what they want is for online sellers to register their businesses with the DTI, so if they are found without the regulatory documents, they may be removed from Facebook.
Aside from tapping the DTI, Mr. Pascua said they also want help from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to gain authority in asking Facebook to take down illegal sellers.
“We want to have that mechanism where… if for example, Facebook would say we would listen to the Philippines pag sinabi ng NTC nila [if their NTC says so], which is an authorized government agency, we will block it off or cut if off,” he said.
The IPOPHL is the government agency mandated to uphold intellectual property rights in the Philippines. Mr. Pascua said coordination with government agencies and Facebook is important in curtailing the proliferation of IP violations in the online space.
But he also noted a key instrument in enforcing intellectual property rights is the cooperation of trademark owners, who sometimes tend to ignore violations when they are not directly affected.
“The (National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights) will do a representation, but we need the trademark owners to work with us… We’re working for trademark owners to trust the (Intellectual Property Office),” Mr. Pascua said. — Denise A. Valdez

DoST touts hybrid abaca advantages

GOVERNMENT researchers said hybrid abaca has some advantages in spinning fabric because of its finer fibers.
The Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) said in a statement: “As fiber inputs to yarn production, the critical parameter is fiber fineness. After pre-treatment, the S2 grade abaca has a fiber fineness of 296 D. Hybrid abaca (H7), on the other hand, is almost three times finer at 117 D. This fiber redounds to more efficient spinning performance, thus, higher productivity in yarn manufacture,” PTRI said.
D or Denier is a measurement used to define fiber linear mass density expressed as the mass in grams of 9,000 meters of fiber.
The Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) defines S2 as a normal grade of hand and spindle/machine stripped abaca fiber extracted from next to the other leaf sheath, with a fiber strand of 0.20 to 0.50 millimeters (mm), with a color of ivory white, slightly tinged with very light brown to red or purple streak, which stripping quality is categorized as good, and the texture soft.
According to PTRI, hybrid abaca offers reduced fabric stiffness, decreases the yarn’s torsional rigidity, eases in the spinning process, and results in more luster, better dye absorption, and greater uniformity in yarn and fabric.
The PTRI noted that yarns produced using the cotton system show that at a 75% cotton and 25% abaca blend, the S2 grade can reach 8.7 Ne while the hybrid abaca can spin up to 11 Ne.
Ne represents yarn count; the higher the number, the finer the yarn.
“Final yarn composition also show that there is better uptake of abaca during yarn production. The S2 resulted in 83% cotton/17% abaca in the blend while the hybrid efficiently maintained a 76% cotton/24% abaca in the blend,” the PTRI said.
The DoST said hybrid abaca is still in its research stage and is not yet available for marketing, and distribution of planting materials is prohibited.
Last week, PhilFIDA Executive Director Kennedy T. Costales called on the University of the Philippines Los Baños — Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB) and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) to stop its joint research project on the cross breeding of pacol — a form of wild banana — and abaca and instead should focus on breeding a true-to-type abaca varieties. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

Peso to weaken ahead of BSP meeting

THE PESO is seen to weaken against the dollar this week amid expectations of a cut in banks’ reserve requirements and mixed US data.
The local currency closed last Friday’s session at P52.65 versus the greenback, five centavos weaker from the previous close, due to a reported delay in the meeting between US President Donald J. Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Week on week, the peso also declined from its P52.25-per-dollar finish last March 8.
A market analyst said the peso may move sideways with a downward bias in the latter part of the week as “expectations of dovish remarks and actions from the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) might offset similar cautious comments from the US Federal Reserve.”
A BusinessWorld poll of 13 economists showed some market watchers believe the central bank will cut the reserve requirement ratio of big banks by a percentage point from the current 18%, taking cue from the previous pronouncements of BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno.
“The BSP might reduce the reserve requirement ratio by 100 bps and hint of looser monetary policy settings ahead in response to easing inflation,” one market watcher said.
“Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve is expected to affirm its “patient” stance on monetary policy and could signal a softer path of future interest rate normalization. The dovish tilt of US policy makers might temper the dollar’s gain from the BSP’s potential policy shift.”
The analyst however noted that the dollar may weaken today following the comments of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang saying the US and China can achieve a mutually beneficial trade deal.
The dollar is also expected to weaken as US reports on industrial production and manufacturing came out weaker than expected even as consumer sentiment improved.
Meanwhile, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. chief economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion expects the peso to weaken as local data on the current account deficit and trade balance weigh on the currency.
“This is actually why [UnionBank’s Economic Research Unit] is expecting P54.50 peso ending this year,” Mr. Asuncion added.
For this week, he expects the peso to move between P52.70 and P53.10, while the market analyst gave a P52.35-P52.95 range. — K.A.N. Vidal

SSS now accepting penalty condonation applications

THE SOCIAL Security System (SSS) has started to accept applications for the condonation of penalties on delinquent contributions following the passage of its amended charter.
In a statement sent on Sunday, the state pension fund urged more than 132,000 delinquent employers to avail of the condonation program as the one-time amnesty is expected to waive about P13.91 billion worth of penalties.
“This is good news for employees of delinquent employers who may soon avail of the condonation program and make themselves compliant with the social security law,” Social Security Commission (SSC) Chairman Carlos G. Dominguez III said on Wednesday following the SSC meeting.
“As much as possible, we want to avoid lengthy judicial processes.”
Delinquent employers may now submit their letters of intent to avail of the condonation program, which will run until Sept. 6, at any SSS branch.
SSS officer-in-charge Aurora C. Ignacio said about P10.66 billion in unpaid premiums based on established collectibles are expected to be collected from the amnesty program.
Mr. Dominguez said close to 1.4 million employees in the private sector will benefit from the condonation program.
“SSS contributions are savings for the future and hardworking Filipino workers deserve to benefit from the contributions employers are duty-bound to remit throughout their productive years,” he added.
In a February press briefing, resigned SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel F. Dooc said the pension fund will accept applications to condone penalties imposed on employers due to unpaid contributions within six months from the effective date of Social Security Act of 2018.
The new SSS charter took effect on March 5.
The circular approved on Wednesday is covered by Section 31 of the Transitory Clause of Republic Act No. 11199, granting a six-month period for employers with unpaid contributions to file requests for condonation of penalties.
Apart from the condonation of penalties on delinquent contributions, the SSS also launched a loan restructuring program with penalty condonation in April last year to help members who have outstanding short-term obligations, which will run until April 1.
Mr. Dooc filed his voluntary and irrevocable resignation following the effectivity of the amended SSS charter. — KANV

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