Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube
Home Blog Page 9750

Hitachi interested in PHL transportation projects

By Victor V. Saulon
Sub-Editor
THE LOCAL office of Japanese equipment maker Hitachi Asia Ltd. is keen on participating in upcoming projects in the transportation sector as it plans to boost its presence in the country after staying quiet in the past decades, an official of the company said.
“We are monitoring the development of NCC (New Clark City) and also the connection, the connectivity of Metro Manila and Clark,” Mitsuhiko Shimizu, Hitachi Asia general manager for the Philippine branch said in recent interview.
“We are very much excited to hear this kind of development from the current administration,” he added.
Mr. Shimizu’s optimism comes after Hitachi stayed low-key in the Philippines for years.
“Frankly speaking [in the] last 20 years Hitachi was relatively quiet in this market. We focused on the Japanese domestic market,” he said about the time when the company further made its presence felt in the United States.
“In 2013-2014 we decided to focus on this market again,” he said about Hitachi’s initiative to host what it called “innovation forum” from 2016 and the succeeding years.
Founded in 1910, Hitachi in the Philippines is just a small part of the Tokyo-base company with 879 units worldwide, of which 202 are in Japan.
The Philippine branch was established in 1993 and provides solutions to the diverse needs of its customers. It markets a wide range of products and services for industrial sectors like power generation systems, transmission and distribution systems, heavy industrial equipment and components as well as elevators and escalators.
Mr. Shimizu said Hitachi has long been doing business in the country as it had delivered hydro turbines in Davao City in the 1930s, before recording its first trade business in Manila in 1938.
He said Hitachi was the first non-US power generation equipment supplier to distribution utility Manila Electric Co. in the 1960s.
Mr. Shimizu declined to disclose specific numbers on the company’s revenues or profit in the Philippines. But he said the company, which placed global revenues at $88.17 billion as of March 2018, have grown significantly in recent years.
“I would say [in the] last five years, our total sales amount in this market (the Philippines) is growing. The ratio of the growth is more than GDP growth,” he said.
He said the company is keenly observing the development of the subway project in Metro Manila to see how it can participate in terms of supplying the necessary equipment.
For Bonifacio Global City, the company is also interested in cornering a slice of the required transport equipment, as Mr. Shimizu suggested an above-ground monorail system for one of Metro Manila’s most populous commercial districts with heavy traffic during rush hours.
Hitachi’s head count in the Philippines stands at 3,498 as of end-2018 working in the group’s 11 companies in the country.
The Japanese company is offering what it calls “social innovation business” that offers complete solutions in sectors such as artificial intelligence, analytics, energy, research and development, robotics, manufacturing, security, transportation, and urban development.

Hermes becomes latest victim of casual dress as men shed ties

HERMES International has become the latest fashion industry victim of men’s casual dress, signaling weakness in its silk business as neckties lose their allure.
Revenue from silk and textiles rose 3% in 2018, the slowest growth of the French luxury-goods maker’s business units. Chief Executive Officer Axel Dumas said Wednesday the company has been shifting production to adjust to men’s new preferences.
“There’s a structural decline” in neckties, Dumas said on a call with reporters. “We have a lot of novelties coming. We’re launching more scarves for men.”
As Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. pushes a freer dress code, makers of formal wear have been changing tack to maintain sales growth. Hugo Boss AG CEO Mark Langer said earlier this month that men’s dress codes will never return to their strictness of the 1990s, and so it’s branching out more so its portfolio includes more sweaters and casual shoes instead of such a big focus on suits.
Top-end leather goods for women like the $10,000-plus Birkin and Kelly handbags dominate the Hermes balance sheet. But neckties have long been a key driver for the company’s menswear business, as gents could don jumping horses or interlocking “Hs” at the office for a more modest $195.
Hermes has been pushing its silk cashmere blend for men, hoping to win them over with products such as the $780 Last Night Scarf, which features the image of a DJ’s turntable. The company also occasionally throws parties and events where customers are taught how to tie scarves while being entertained with music and Champagne.
The French maker of Birkin bags also said demand from Chinese consumers kept rising in the start of the year after operating profit rose 6% in 2018, maintaining its margin at the top among luxury-goods makers. The company raised prices globally by about 3% on average last year. — Bloomberg

Rates on T-bills, bonds likely to move sideways

By Karl Angelo N. Vidal
Reporter
RATES OF the government securities on offer this week will likely move sideways amid ample demand after the local central bank both kept interest rates and banks’ reserve levels steady during its latest meeting.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) is offering P20 billion worth of Treasury bills (T-bill) today, broken down into P6 billion each for the three- and six-month instruments and another P8 billion in one-year papers.
The BTr will also offer on Tuesday reissued seven-year Treasury bonds (T-bond) amounting to P20 billion with a remaining life of six years and 10 months.
A trader interviewed said rates of the T-bills on offer will likely move sideways from the previous auction.
The BTr made a partial award of the T-bills offered last week, borrowing just P13.4 billion out of its P20-billion program at its auction on Monday.
Rates of the 91-, 182- and 364-day papers picked up slightly to 5.786%, 5.987% and 6.052%, respectively.
Meanwhile, another trader said the T-bills on offer today may remain steady or move lower by 10 basis points (bp), as the market “might see some demand” for the papers.
For the T-bonds, the first trader expects it would fetch an average rate between 6% and 6.125%, while the other gave a 5.95-6.05% range.
In January, the government made a full award of the seven-year bonds it placed in the auction block, borrowing P20 billion as planned out of the P66.917 billion worth of tenders raked in. The seven-year notes fetched a 6.25% coupon rate.
At the secondary market on Friday, the three-month, six-month and one-year papers fetched a rate of 5.751%, 5.921% and 6.081%, respectively, while the rate of seven-year IOUs stood at 5.981%.
“As the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) kept its policy rates and RRR (reserve requirement ratio) untouched, we might see some demand for the T-bills,” the first trader said in a text message on Friday.
The central bank kept borrowing costs steady on Thursday, saying it was not yet time to start reversing the 175 bps it fired off in 2018, as it flagged risks to economic growth this year even as inflation has been easing steadily.
From a nine-year peak of 6.7% in September and October, inflation has steadily dropped to 3.8% in February, the lowest in a year and returning to the BSP’s 2-4% target range.
The BSP also adjusted its full-year forecast to three percent from 3.1% previously.
Meanwhile, the central bank also kept the RRR untouched during its last meeting, as it considers the timing of reducing banks’ reserve requirement from the current 18%.
“The seven-year bonds may get good demand as well especially for end user clients,” the trader added.
Meanwhile, the other trader said the rates of the T-bills will move sideways given the abundance of supply.
“There is still a lot of supply because of the weekly Treasury bill auctions. There’s not a lot of breathing room for market participants, so the tendency for the rates is to move sideways,” the trader said.
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 T-bonds will also be issued through six fortnightly auctions.

Onion stockpiling plan to provide cold storage

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) will provide a P200 million loan to onion farmers’ associations to fund a stockpiling scheme for their produce which will allow them to wait out low-price periods, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said.
Stockpiled onions “will be kept in reefer vans” while awaiting release to the market, Mr. Piñol said in a social media post over the weekend.
He said farmers’ groups will be validated prior to the supply of refrigerated vans,” Mr. Piñol added.
The DA has banned imports of bulb onions, pending the conclusion of an investigation into alleged cartels manipulating the price of domestic onions.
Mr. Piñol said that the moratorium on the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) permits for onion imports will run until the investigation is completed.
“Earlier, the DA asked the Philippine Competition Commission and the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate reports that at least four cold storage facilities have been leased in advance by traders and closed to force farmers to sell at low prices,” Mr. Piñol said.
Mr. Piñol said that DA has also already ordered its Field Operations office to source reefer vans to be used as temporary storage facilities by the farmers.
“The traders are expected to consolidate local production as they await the time when they are allowed to import,” Mr. Piñol has said.
“With the farmers’ produce bought at very low prices cornered and consolidated, traders cab control the pricing of onion and generate huge profits,” according to Mr. Piñol. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

It’s shoe time — new releases for both road and trail


ATTENTION, runners. Here is a roundup of recent releases from adidas and Columbia.
ADIDAS: REBOOSTED AND NEW COLORWAYS
It has been a busy stretch of drops for global footwear maker and lifestyle brand adidas, particularly in its running shoe line with a “reboosted” Ultraboost and new seasonal colorways of the PureBoost Go.
Released on Feb. 21, the Ultraboost 19 is an upgrade of the original UB from 2013 with adidas hailing it as its “most responsive” shoe in the market.
adidas said the Ultraboost 19 is the result of the collaboration among its designers, product developers, and thousands of runners around the world, trimming the 17 parts from its original model to four to provide it with 20% more boost but with a far lighter feel.
The four key components of the Ultraboost 19 — Optimized BOOST, Torsion Spring, Primeknit 360, and 3D Heel Frame — give this shoe more support, adaptability, and responsiveness than ever before, adidas said.
To show off the features of Ultraboost 19, the local office of adidas hosted the Recode Running Festival on March 16 in Bonifacio Global City.
At the event, adidas invited runners to explore an urban setting like BGC with a pair of Ultraboost 19 on their feet.
“The Recode Running Festival is a great way for our runners to experience a redefined way of running with the Ultraboost 19. Along with our adidas Runners Manila core team, guests of the event were able to explore the city and test out the shoe’s capabilities through the different challenges and checkpoints,” said Jen Dacasin, adidas Brand Communication and Sports Manager, at the event.
Response to the reboosted Ultraboost was overwhelmingly positive.
“It’s really a good shoe. To be honest, I like the Ultraboost for walking and comfort and for leisure. But the UB 19 is good for long-distance running. I can really feel the difference. I feel more agile and explosive and run lighter. In the Phlippines, people use the Ultraboost for lifestyle. But with the UB 19 you can use it for both running and leisure,” said Jules Aquino, a member of adidas Runners Manila and an all-around athlete, in an interview.
The Ultraboost 19 retails for P9,300 and is available in-store and online at adidas.com.ph/running_ultraboost.
PUREBOOST GO
A month after unveiling the Ultraboost 19, adidas released the PureBoost Go in new seasonal colorways inspired by military and industrial rawness.
Coming in new black with ivy/orange details and clear mint colorways, the PureBoost Go is refreshed to include Clima Moisture Management Yarns as well as reflective post-treatment for better protection when running at night.
adidas said that this latest version of the PureBoost Go is a continuation of its focus on sustainability, with better efficiency in the shoe’s pattern production for less material waste.
The brand went on to say that the PureBoost Go was created specifically to elevate the street running experience, with an Expanded Landing Zone to provide the agility and adaptability required to explore the city with confidence while combining it with adidas’ industry-defining Boost technology which delivers endless energy return.
The new colorways of the adidas PureBoost Go are available online at adidas.com and in-store.
COLUMBIA MONTRAIL
The new set of Columbia trail running shoes was recently released with the brand promising the collection as giving high performance and affording one the ability to go the distance.
Columbia Montrail, a shoe designed for the elite athlete and trail runner is available with three new styles — the men’s Rogue F.K.T. II, the women’s Trans Alp F.K.T. II, and the Fluidflex X.S.R. — as part of its latest collection.
Montrail’s high-performance trail running shoes, Columbia said, should keep the wearer comfortable and protected at any time and whatever trail conditions they may be in.
The men’s Rogue F.K.T (Fastest Known Time) II trail running shoe is touted to deliver superior lightweight protection and stability even in tough, uneven terrain. The women’s Trans Alp F.K.T. II shoes sport an abrasion-and-water-resistant forefoot shield which protects the feet from rocks and debris.
The Fluidflex X.S.R., meanwhile, is a versatile cross-surface running shoe that combines a composite bootie and a lockdown lacing system for ultra lightness and support. It also boasts firm cushioning and deep grooves for easy transition from road to trail.
All the shoes in the collection are equipped with a full-length FluidFoam midsole which enhances cushioning, flexibility and support.
The men’s Rogue F.K.T. II and the Fluidflex X.S.R retail for P6,990 while the women’s Trans Alp F.K.T. II is sold for P7,690.
The new Columbia Montrail collection is available at select Columbia stores and R.O.X. BHS. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

FNI earnings decline amid higher taxes, costs

LISTED GLOBAL Ferronickel Holdings, Inc (FNI) reported a 34.6% drop in net income to P509.5 million in 2018 from P779.7 million posted in 2017, mainly due to higher taxes and increased operational costs.
In a statement, FNI said its bottomline was affected by the 200% increase in local business taxes, alongside a rise in excise tax to 4% from 2%.
“Due to the strong regulatory requirement and the new Temporary Revegetation Program (TRP) imposed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the company’s Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program (EPEP) cost printed at P56.2 million versus P42.4 million in 2017,” the nickel producer said.
“However, these were tempered by the decrease in royalties to claim owner and the reduction of contract hire expenses following re-negotiation with mining contractors,” it added.
FNI’s sales of nickel ore slipped 5.7% to P5.48 billion in 2018, from P5.81 billion in the previous year.
“The Company’s revenues in 2018 remained strong despite challenging market conditions due to management’s decision to shift to selling higher grade ores and favorable foreign exchange rates,” FNI said, noting this decision was prompted by the continued weakness of nickel ore prices.
For 2018, the company shipped a total of 5.7 million wet metric tons (WMT) of nickel ore, 4.4% down from the 5.97 million WMT shipped in 2017.
The company said that it has shipped 47% low-grade ore and 53% medium-grade ore in 2018, as compared with the 61% low-grade ore and 39% medium-grade ore it has shipped in 2017.
Even though the price of medium-grade nickel ore and low-grade nickel ore dropped by 8.7% and 18.4% year on year respectively, FNI said its average realized price only slipped by 6.3%.
“We have proven time and again that our organization remains resilient to withstand changing regulatory landscape, tax regime, and market conditions,” Dante R. Bravo, FNI president who also heads the Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA), was quoted as saying in a statement. — R.J.N.Ignacio

Pag-IBIG Fund profit hits P33B in 2018

THE HOME Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) saw its net income rise by 10% to a record P33.17 billion in 2018, driven by robust loan payment collections and improved operational efficiencies.
“We previously said that 2017 was our best year ever. But the year 2018 was even better. Pag-IBIG Fund earned P33.17 billion in net income which is the highest net income in the history of the Fund,” Eduardo D. del Rosario, chairman of the Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees, was quoted as saying in a statement.
The Pag-IBIG Fund said it has sustained double-digit growth in the last five years and doubled its net income over a four-year period. Total assets also grew by 9% to P533.72 billion as of end-2018.
Mr. del Rosario said 86% of Pag-IBIG’s net income or P28.23 billion will be given back to its members in the form of dividends. He said this was the highest dividend the fund has declared in its history.
Dividend rates were at 6.91% for regular Pag-IBIG savings program, while 7.41% for the Modified Pag-IBIG 2 (MP2) savings program, a special savings mechanism offered to members and retirees.
Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti, chief executive officer of Pag-IBIG Fund, said the higher collections from loans and operational efficiencies helped drive its net income to a new high.
Last year, home loan payments went up by 9% to P55.73 billion, also a record. Mr. Moti attributed this to the fund’s high performing loans ratio (PLR) recorded at 90.26%, which means nine of 10 borrowers are consistently paying their loans.
Cash loan payments also jumped 4% to P53.21 billion in 2018.
“Pag-IBIG Fund’s success story in 2018 is built on the trust and support of its members. Because of our members’ trust, they continuously avail of Pag-IBIG programs and ensure timely payment of their loans, which result in Pag-IBIG Fund’s strong and stable financial position,” Mr. Moti was quoted as saying.
Earlier this year, Pag-IBIG Fund reported its collections in members’ savings grew by 11% to P40.27 billion in 2018. This included P4.47 billion from the MP2 Savings Program. — V.M.P. Galang

How women can be key to ‘unicorn’ start-ups

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez
Senior Reporter
PROGRESS has been made in getting more women in the work force — but now, the focus is shifting towards getting females on top.
To this day, the corporate world remains largely a man’s game, with boardrooms ran by suit-and-tie wearers and few ladies in blazers.
The International Finance Corp. (IFC) has a fresh take to prod investment firms and venture capitalists to take gender parity more seriously. Their latest study shows that a more diverse panel of asset managers may be the key to bigger profits.
Henriette Kolb, head of IFC’s gender secretariat, said an ideal mix of at least 30% of one gender in an investment team can lead to substantially bigger yields for the company.
“The mix is what you really need… We’re seeing that correlates to better fund performance,” Ms. Kolb said in an interview with BusinessWorld during her visit to Manila this March.
“What it brings is that you understand your customers better. Usually, women are taking 60-80% of most of the financial decisions in the Philippines… You have to be mirroring your consumer base.”
IFC’s recent report titled “Moving Toward Gender Balance in Private Equity and Venture Capital” found that gender-balanced teams of investment decision makers generate about 1.7 percentage points higher returns compared to male or female-dominated funds.
“The median gender balanced fund outperformed median unbalanced peers by as much as 20% in annual returns,” the report read. “Our research suggests this is primarily driven by enhanced investment decision making and expanded deal sourcing through broader entrepreneurial networks.”
Few fund managers in emerging markets have seized this opportunity, with only 15% of senior investment teams deemed gender-balanced while 70% remained all-male.
In turn, this has given limited opportunities for women-owned start-ups. The study found that only 7% of private venture capital firms are invested in female-led businesses, with the latter receiving financing that is worth only 65% of what male-owned companies are getting.
Making the shift could mean huge gains for small businesses in the Philippines, which make up 99% of all private firms in the country.
Ms. Kolb said having more women as venture capitalists would help address barriers to capital for SMEs, especially when two-thirds of local businesses are led by Filipinas.
“There’s a lot to build on when it comes to the Philippines,” she added.
For one, having more Pinays choosing which start-ups to fund broadens the investment pipeline to cover women-led firms, as the network expands versus those from an all-male circle.
“What we anticipate is that most yields are being sourced in the equities side through networks. If you have 70% all-male investors, your network also tends to be male-dominated,” Ms. Kolb added. “In order to really make sure that you get that ideal flow, you can expand the networks you are sourcing from just by including more women.”
The IFC, which is the World Bank’s arm for financing private companies, is trying to walk its own talk. The firm is targeting to strike a perfect 50-50 balance in its boards by 2030. Now, they are at 35%.
The global lender has also extended about $2 billion in credit to women-owned firms.
More diverse decision makers also open up “different ideas for innovation,” as well as a bigger pool of talent.
“You have a bigger pipeline of deals to source from, and therefore you have a larger chance of making into a unicorn situation… That enriches your portfolio investment,” Ms. Kolb added. “Diverse teams invest in more diverse portfolio companies, and portfolio companies that are diverse are higher-valued.”

Davao chili industry call for more small business-friendly FDA

DAVAO CITY — Dabawenyo Capsicum, a group of manufacturers of chili pepper products, said bureaucracy remains their biggest stumbling block despite the strong support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
“We need government support when it comes to the processing of papers, especially with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),” Grace M. Sebanes, social media marketing head of Dabawenyo Capsicum Home of Spices, told BusinessWorld in an interview.
Ms. Sebanes said the DTI-Davao office (DTI-11) has been helping the sector grow since it launched the Program to Accelerate Building Livelihood Opportunities in Davao Oriental, which was launched in the aftermath of typhoon Pablo (international name: Bopha),which struck parts of Davao Region in December 2012.
DTI-11 encouraged the planting of chili peppers as these are easy to grow and can be harvested after four months. The department has also been assisting farmers develop value-added products, along with marketing schemes, through the hot chili project.
“The DTI program covers training in Good Manufacturing Practices and Food Safety to prepare processors for registration with the FDA; it also includes support through Shared Service Facilities,” DTI-11 Regional Director Ma. Belenda Q. Ambi said.
“We just hope that other agencies like the FDA will also be more MSMEs-friendly in terms of the budget and processing of papers,” Ms. Sebanes said.
Members of Dabawenyo Capsicum have started the process of registering their products with the FDA, but cannot proceed without a specified facility.
“We are small entrepreneurs and we cannot afford to put all our capital in just one area such as a facility like the one they require,” she said.
“We are also faced with the challenge of getting more funding especially now that we have opened up the Dabawenyo Capsicum Store and we invested money for renovation,” she added.
Dabawenyo Capsicum is composed of nine brands, all from the Davao Region. These are: ABJ Herbs Condiments and Spices, Arkadyo Pepper Sauce, Chilloy’s Gourmet, Ellie’s Premium Sukang Tuba, GKT Homemade Food Products, Pastil Queen, Test Kitchen, Yummy Kimchi, and Pedas Gila.
The group is now preparing to establish a cooperative and set up its own facilities to obtain an FDA registration.
“I wouldn’t accept the term backyard, but we are start-ups,” she said, with most of the members being home-based.
“All of us are chili enthusiasts who regularly meet during trade exhibits so we decided to form the group to market all our products as one,” she said.
One of the group’s goals is to increase the income of local chili farmers, expand distribution nationwide, and eventually export their products.
“Our advocacy is to help as many local farmers and since our main ingredient is chili. We buy directly from farmers and do away with third parties so the farmers get more income from their produce,” Ms. Sebanes said.
Despite challenges, she said sales are growing via the shop and trade fairs as well as the positive feedback from buyers.
“We personally test the shelf life of our products; our quality is our only guarantee,” she said. — Carmencita A. Carillo

‘Found it!’ NY button shop saves the day

NEW YORK — Since the 1960s, a narrow little New York shop has specialized in solving the fashion crises of customers who are desperate to find just the right button, a list that includes a US first lady, a renowned academic, and even Kermit the Frog.
Tender Buttons, housed in a 12.6-foot-wide (3.8-meter) brownstone on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, is stuffed to the ceiling with a cornucopia of clothing fasteners. For decades, it has been providing relief to anyone who has lost an unusual button and needs to replace it.
“Each button has its charm, its quality, its aesthetic,” said Millicent Safro, who opened the store in the 1960s with her friend Diane Epstein as an artistic jaunt inspired by New York’s burgeoning pop art scene. Safro runs the shop, named after a book of poems by Gertrude Stein, following Epstein’s death in 1998.
Decades later, the shop is stuffed to the rafters with buttons, some dating back to the 17th century, organized in multiple floors of Ms. Safro’s slender townhouse.
“A woman bought a dress in Rome and lost a button on the airplane. And we had the button. It was a very proud moment,” Ms. Safro said.
She steadfastly maintains the store’s tradition of sharing the often rich history of each button with the customer in pursuit of it.
“When you came to buy a humble shirt button, you got the entire history of that button,” Ms. Safro said.
That includes the metal and faceted glass buttons from 1890 that sell for $225 each and that collectors describe now as “Victorian jewels” but once called the less-politically correct “Gay 90s,” Ms. Safro said.
“It was a time when the railroads were being built and everyone was prospering,” she said, explaining why the enormous, showy knobs emerged as status symbols just before the turn of the 20th century.
In the 1890s, such a button may have secured a cape. In the 1980s, they were snapped up for couture wear by Chanel’s newest creative director, a rising designer named Karl Lagerfeld, who died last month, she said.
The fashion visionary who dressed former first lady Nancy Reagan, the late James Galanos, also was a customer. As was Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who sat down for a cold beer with then-President Barack Obama in the Rose Garden of the White House in 2009.
When Kermit the Frog needed to secure his raincoat for an appearance on the US children’s television show Sesame Street, the Muppets’ clothing designer turned to Tender Buttons for help.
Much of the store’s inventory is contemporary. But it also includes antiques such as early American buttons made of copper, tin and brass and engraved with “Long Live the President — GW” to commemorate George Washington’s inauguration as the nation’s first president. The buttons sell for up to $4,000 apiece.
Ms. Safro was unable to provide a figure for the total number of buttons in the store. A Columbia University professor did manage to count them, but she said she had forgotten the total.
This week, Fabio Malaver, 53, a household butler, clutched a Mulberry suit bag and scoured the wall displays for an exact match to replace a long-lost button. Asked if he had found what he was looking for, he replied emphatically: “Yes, yes!” — Reuters

Peso to strengthen slightly against dollar

THE PESO is expected to strengthen slightly against the dollar this week as it will likely sustain the upward trajectory seen last Friday following the pronouncements of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
On Friday, the local unit ended the week at P52.32 against the greenback, up one percent or 52 centavos from Thursday’s P52.84 finish, boosted by the decision of the BSP to keep both interest rates and bank reserve levels steady.
Week-on-week, the peso strengthened from the P52.65-per-dollar finish last March 15.
A foreign exchange trader said the peso will “likely sustain” its strength versus the dollar after the BSP kept borrowing costs steady during its meeting on Thursday.
BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said the decision of the Monetary Board to keep interest rates at bay is “based on its assessment that prevailing monetary policy settings remain appropriate.”
The reserve requirement ratio (RRR) was also left untouched at 18%, with policy makers keeping a close eye on its effects.
“For next week, the peso strength will likely be sustained, especially with the weak dollar…” the trader said on Friday.
Meanwhile, a market analyst said the dollar is expected to “remain at least flat” on Monday on the back of concerns on slowing growth in Germany amid mixed US data on existing homes sales, manufacturing, and services.
“German manufacturing activity showed a sharper contraction in March 2019, increasing worries on decelerating growth in the currency bloc and amplifying risk aversion in the market due to Brexit uncertainties,” the analyst said in an e-mail on Sunday.
The market watcher added that news about another round of US-China trade talks in Beijing this week “may also help temper” the pessimism in the market.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will head to Beijing on Thursday for another round of trade talks between China and the US. Mr. Lighthizer said the trade negotiations had made some progress, although he noted that there were “few hurdles” remaining.
Toward the end of the week, the greenback is seen to dip anew due to likely dovish speeches from various US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials, before recovering on Friday amid bets of an upward revision in the fourth quarter US GDP growth.
Last week, the US central bank said there will be no interest rate hikes this year amid an economic slowdown, a departure from its previous pronouncements that it will raise benchmark rates thrice this year.
For this week, the trader expects the peso to move between P52.10 and P52.35, while the market analyst gave a wider P51.90-P52.70 range.
Meanwhile, Security Bank Corp. chief economist Robert Dan J. Roces projected the peso to end the first quarter at P53 against the dollar amid “risk-off sentiment.”
“We’re seeing risk-off sentiment. We’re seeing this all around. US-China trade war, very dovish Fed again, those are the factors,” Mr. Roces said on the sidelines of Security Bank’s economic forum in Mandaluyong City on Thursday. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

How Philam Life’s digital shift helps craft products for Filipinos

By Karl Angelo N. Vidal
DIGITAL transformation has been a buzzword, an overused one, for quite some time across industries, especially in the financial services sector. Banks around the world continuously enhance their online and mobile platforms as they veer away from merely setting up more branches. Investment firms and asset managers are venturing into robo-advisors to broaden the market for clients who do not have enough funds for traditional advising.
Given the ever-changing business landscape, insurance companies too must employ digital innovations to improve sales, quicken underwriting, reduce costs and eventually increase profits. For Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (Philam Life), digital transformation has been its commitment for years.
In an interview, Philam Life Chief Agency Officer Eric G. Nicdao said the insurer sees the value of harnessing digital innovations as these enhance customer experience.
“Philam Life puts premium to technological and digital innovation to make every step of our consumer journey easier and more efficient, from the time they find out about our products to the time they make claims,” said Mr. Nicdao, who is also in charge of managing Philam Life’s digital transformation journey.
He said Philam Life is “leading” in terms of digital transformation in the industry, as the company was the first to adapt interactive point of sale (IPOS) and other mobile platforms, allowing customers to learn, buy, pay and claim their policies completely paperless.
“Looking at that journey, we mapped out what digital platforms we can set up to help and give the client the ease of doing business with us: learn, buy, after-sale, and claim,” he said.
Through IPOS, Philam Life’s financial advisors allow clients to fill out policy forms, understand the terms and conditions and sign the document using a tablet. The accomplished form will be immediately transmitted to the insurer’s underwriter and be approved within days. Clients can also pay for their premiums, update their information and eventually claim for the policy through online and mobile channels.
“Through IPOS, on the spot, we can tailor-fit the product and the proposal and the program according to the needs of the client,” Mr. Nicdao added.
For the agents, they can also track their productivity through a separate application, wherein they can monitor commissions and premiums collected, among others.
With these technological innovations, Mr. Nicdao said digital transformation translates to quicker turnaround time, more efficient agency pool and eventually wider customer base.
“For getting clients, it’s a lot easier as well because it’s ease of doing business. Definitely, it makes things a lot easier… It’s creating quality business,” he said, adding that the reception of the new ways of transacting was more or less well-received by both clients and agents.
“There are more people who are receptive than those who are not. Those who are not are those who are pretty old,” he said.
Currently, Philam Life’s IPOS system has a utilization rate of 93%, as some seasoned agents are “pushed back for change.”
Even as Philam Life has been rapidly adopting new ways of doing business, Mr. Nicdao noted that digital channels can never replace its agents.
“For me, digitalization is just an enabler or a tool. It makes doing business easier and convenient, but it cannot replace totally the human person or the human touch. High tech can never replace high touch,” he said.
“All a gadget can do is compute how much insurance you need, but it can never really match a person’s sentiments with the numbers. And financial advisors can do both of that,” he added.
Apart from making the business more efficient, Mr. Nicdao said digitalization also enables the company to tap more uninsured Filipinos, as insurance penetration in the country remains low at 1.76% as of end-September 2018.
“Our mission and vision is to bring a Philam Life policy in every Filipino home. If that is the vision, I guess digitalization can pave the way so that even those in the outskirts can also experience the beauty of life insurance,” Mr. Nicdao said.
The Philam Group is the biggest life insurer in the country. As of end-2017, Philam Life and its bancassurance affiliate BPI-Philam Life Assurance Co. posted a combined total premium income of P40.2 billion.
It is servicing over 700,000 clients nationwide with over 66 offices nationwide and 7,000 active agents.

1...9,7499,7509,751...12,789Page 9,750 of 12,789
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Youtube