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Bourse to tighten delisting rules

By Denise A. Valdez
Reporter

THE PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE, Inc. (PSE) is preparing stricter rules for companies that want to delist, in order to protect minority shareholders.

PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Monzon told reporters on Wednesday that the bourse operator has drafted proposed revisions of voluntary delisting rules.

This draft, he said, will have at least two significant changes: shareholders will need to approve any delisting plan of a company, and the tender offer price for delisting will consider the company’s highest price in the last six months.

Mr. Monzon said PSE’s existing rules require a delisting company to get the approval only of its board. The PSE wants to also require approval of all independent directors and 67-75% of a company’s shareholders.

On the tender offer valuation, Mr. Monzon said existing rules allow delisting companies to use the price given by a fairness opinion provider. Under the proposed amendment, the PSE will look at the highest price of the company for the last six months versus the fairness opinion price, and follow whichever is higher.

“We presented this to our board. Our board has approved it. But now we’ve brought it out to the stakeholders for public comments,” he said.

Once comments and suggestions are gathered, which the PSE expects by first week of December, the proposed amendment will be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval.

The PSE’s review of its delisting rules follows the delisting announcement of Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc. in August and Melco Resorts & Entertainment (Philippines) Corp. last year. Analysts noted then that some small shareholders felt disenfranchised in these firms’ exit. In the former’s case, some cited a tender offer price that was higher than its volume weighted average price and lower than its initial public offering (IPO) price.

With the PSE’s proposed changes, Diversified Securities, Inc. Equity Trader Aniceto K. Pangan said small shareholders will be more protected from similar occurrences in the future.

“This would be a much better system wherein the minority shareholders get to participate in the delisting so they wouldn’t feel duped by majority owners, especially if (the tender offer) price is lower than the IPO,” he said in a mobile phone message.

“This is a much predictive pricing rather than the current means of valuation wherein it’s hard to accept how they arrive at the pricing,” he added, referring to the current practice of basing the tender offer price on fairness opinion.

Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said via text message: “That move would give a voice to small investors… Also most likely, even though they have a smaller pie in the company, they represent many individuals/corporations as well.”

The PSE also said on Wednesday it is looking at requiring a higher minimum capitalization for registered brokers amid the rogue clerk case that rocked R&L Investments, Inc.

“We are looking at some steps that hopefully will rationalize the broker industry some more,” he said. “We’re looking at some things, like increasing their capital, things like that.”

He said that, with this safeguard measure, brokerages “can afford to hire enough people to be able to have those correct internal controls,” noting that the R&L issue was caused by an employee that handled both the front and back end of transactions.

P1B collected so far with tax amnesty under way

taxpayer
BW FILE PHOTO

By Beatrice M. Laforga

EIGHT MONTHS into its implementation, the ongoing tax amnesty program has yielded over P1 billion in collections so far as more than 3,000 individuals have availed of the chance for a clean slate in their obligations, according to data from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay said in a mobile phone message on Monday that as of end-October, the BIR collected P887.07 million as 1,005 taxpayers availed the tax amnesty program for delinquent accounts.

For estate tax amnesty, Mr. Dulay said that 2,656 taxpayers have availed with P360.5 million in collections, as of Oct. 15.

The Finance department (DoF) had estimated that the government could raise up to P21 billion from tax amnesty for delinquent accounts, while estate tax amnesty could yield P6 billion.

BIR Deputy Commissioner Marissa O. Cabreros said the relatively small number of those availing of the offer was expected since Filipinos are known for procrastination. “We all know na behavior ng taxpayer natin is always near deadline mag-comply,” Ms. Cabreros said in a texst message.

Republic Act No. 11213, signed into law in February, states that taxpayers have a two-year window to avail of estate tax amnesty while those who want to avail of amnesty for delinquent accounts have a year to do so. Those periods start from the months when the BIR released guidelines for these amnesty offers: April forRevenue Regulations (RR) No. 4-2019 on delinquent accounts up to 2017 and May for RR 6-2019 for estate tax amnesty.

For Maria Lourdes P. Lim, tax managing partner of Isla Lipana & Co., PwC Philippines, “[t]he BIR should continuously urge taxpayers to avail of the program and not wait for the deadline. There should be more information dissemination of the benefits of the amnesty so taxpayers will be encouraged to avail.

DoF data show there were 18 tax amnesty programs implemented between 1972 and 2008, with the last one yielding P4.913 billion in collections.

BSP sees no inflation impact from halt to rice importation

SUSPENSION of rice importation amid the ongoing harvest, as ordered by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, should have no impact on inflation, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said on Wednesday.

“It will not [affect inflation]. Walang (There will be no) impact sa (on) inflation,” Mr. Diokno told reporters at the BSP headquarters in Manila City.

Mr. Duterte said in a late-night press conference on Tuesday that he had ordered the suspension of rice importation as farmers reeled from falling prices.

He clarified, however, that the suspension was only for the duration of the current harvest season that runs from late September to mid-December.

Mr. Duterte was to meet Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar on Wednesday to discuss specifics of his order.

Republic Act No. 11203 — which liberalized importation of the staple after it was enacted on Feb. 19 and came into effect early the following month — resulted in an estimated P8 per kilogram (/kg) drop in retail prices of the staple, as intended.

Average farmgate prices, however, have fallen by 16.26% to 17.17/kg as of September from P20.51/kg in 2018’s comparable nine months, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

A surge in prices of rice, which accounts for 9.6% of the theoretical basket of goods widely used by households that is the basis for computing year-on-year price changes, due to delayed importation caused headline inflation to hit successive multi-year peaks last year. Inflation has been on a general downtrend this year, falling back into the BSP’s 2-4% target range for 2019 at 2.6% in the 10 months to October after clocking in at a decade-high 5.2% in 2018.

On the flip side, however, farmers have been reeling from smaller incomes since the government was not able to adequately implement safeguards that came with RA 11203.

“Di naman nakaka-apekto kasi marami namang mga imports na darating pa lang e. Tapos ang concern nga is harvest season so baka lalong bumaba ang presyo. So temporary lang naman ’yun (It won’t affect inflation because there are still a lot of imports that have yet to arrive. Also, the concern is that it’s harvest season so prices might continue to go down. This is temporary),” Mr. Diokno explained.

For one farmers group, however, safeguard measures have more legal basis under RA 11203, which is otherwise silent on suspension of rice importation.

“Matagal na naming pinu-push ’yung (We have been pushing for the implementation of) general safeguard duties, kasi pag na-impose nga sana iyon (because if the higher rates were imposed), it becomes more expensive for importers to bring in more rice,” Federation of Free Farmers Chairman Leonardo Q. Montemayor said by phone.

“Ang isang problema dito (One problem) is how will the suspension of importation be carried out kasi under the law, free importation na,” he added.

“You cannot just say bawal na yung (say stop) importation. It’s against the law,” he said.

The Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food, Inc. said imports could resume in January or February next year “to ensure that imports will not coincide with harvest by dry season in March-April 2020.”

Besides allowing a special safeguard duty to protect rice farmers sudden or extreme price fluctuations, RA 11203 also allows the president to increase, reduce, revise or adjust import duty rates when Congress is not in session.

If there is an expected shortage, or any event that may require intervention from the government, he is also authorized “for a limited period and/or a specified volume, to allow the importation at a lower applied tariff rate to address the situation.”

Mr. Duterte on Tuesday night also said he has ordered the National Food Authority (NFA) to purchase all of farmers’ rice.

“NFA must procure them without condition and regardless of moisture content; especially in areas devastated by typhoons, monsoon floods and earthquakes — at P19/kg, just so our farmers will have something for their families this coming festive season,” Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura Chairman Rosendo O. So said in a statement. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang with LWTN

Canva looks to double workforce

By Zsarlene B. Chua
Reporter

THE local headquarters of graphic design company Canva is looking at doubling their workforce, especially their design and operations team, by 2020 as the country continues to be “design hub” for the company.

“Ninety-nine percent of the over 50,000 templates available on Canva is made in the Philippines,” Yani Hornilla-Donato, Canva PH country manager, said during the launch of their first Christmas campaign on Nov. 18 at their offices in Makati City.

From their 220 employees, Ms. Hornilla-Donato expects it will “double” by 2020 though she said they may reach it before long as “historically there’s a 20% increase in workforce by the end of the year.”

The company is looking for more designers especially with the introduction of their Canva for Enterprise tier and more customer service representatives because of the service’s growing number of users which Ms. Hornilla-Donato pegged at “over 20 million monthly active users.”

“When we launched [the enterprise package] one of the things that makes enterprise stand out is that we have a template service where we have dedicated designer to recreate the client’s existing templates,” she said.

The enterprise package was launched in October and is priced at $30 per team member per month for a team with a minimum of five members. No localized pricing is available for the Philippines just yet though Ms. Hornilla-Donato said they will introduce it soon.

As a freemium app, users can use Canva for free though more storage and a bigger selection on templates, stock photos, and fonts can be accessed for P505/month.

In 2020, aside from growing their design and customer service team, she said that they will be focusing on “increasing brand awareness in the Philippines.”

And that’s where its Christmas promotion comes in as Canva PH recently launched “Canva Pasko,” a design competition where five weekly winners will have their works on a billboard along the Guadalupe northbound part of EDSA.

“For times when words arent’s enough, we’re encouraging every Filipino…to mark the occasion with a very special tribute — design a beautiful card on Canva for free for a chance to see it displayed on a huge billboard in EDSA. Sitting in traffic has never been so meaningful,” Ms. Hornilla-Donato said in a release.

The campaign, open to Filipinos 13 years and above, runs until Dec. 18. Five entries per week starting Dec. 2 will see their Christmas cards on the digital billboard.

To enter, one must visit the contest homepage (www.canva.com/canvapasko) and register for a free Canva account to design the entry using pre-made Instagram portrait templates. Entries must be submitted on the website and register their contact details through the link provided. Entrants may also post their submissions on the Canva PH Facebook and Instagram accounts and include a caption about the entry.

To date, Ms. Hornilla-Donato said they have received over 300 entries which is more than the company’s projection.

Apple bans vaping apps from its App Store on growing health concerns

APPLE INC. said it is removing 181 vaping-related apps from its App Store amid growing health concerns about e-cigarettes.

The company said it never allowed apps that sell cartridges on the store, but other vape-related software, such as apps that control vaping pens or provided industry news or vape-focused games, were allowed.

Apple initially stopped approving such apps in June, and now it is pulling them from the App Store entirely. If a user has already downloaded one of these apps, the software will continue to work on iPhones, but it will no longer show up on the App Store for new customers to download.

“We take great care to curate the App Store as a trusted place for customers, particularly youth, to download apps,” Apple said in a statement. “We’re constantly evaluating apps, and consulting the latest evidence, to determine risks to users’ health and well-being.”

The company said it made the decision following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s determination that vaping products resulted in 42 deaths in the US and contributed to over 2,000 cases of lung injury.

Apple’s decision is already being praised by the American Heart Association, which said, “we are grateful that Apple is joining with us and others on this historic day to stand against big Vape and their lies by removing all vaping apps in the App Store.”

Removing an entire category of apps is a rarity for Apple, but it has an extensive set of review guidelines that bans apps that promote pornography, facilitate the sale of illegal substances, promote physical harm or defame other people. — Bloomberg

LRMC launches app for LRT-1

LIGHT RAIL Manila Corp. (LRMC) launched its free ikotMNL mobile app which gives commuters travel route information for the LRT-1 train line, LRMC said in a statement on Tuesday.

The app, which is available for both iOS and Android, allows users to plan trips ahead of time. It features real-time train arrivals, departures, fare information, crowd monitoring in twenty stations, information on tourist spots, safety reminders, passenger advisories, and announcements.

It also has a chat box for customer service assistance and a feedback form to help improve passenger experiences.

LRMC President and CEO Juan F. Alfonso talked about innovation as a tool to improve customer experience.

“This is the first railway and tourism app in the Philippines. We constantly look for modern ways to change the way we move people and this ikotMNL app is an innovative tool to delight our passengers with a comfortable, safe, and convenient experience when riding the LRT-1,” he said.

For tourists, the app contains detailed directions to tourist spots close to LRT-1 stations and information about local tour operators.

LRMC Corporate Communications Head Jacqueline Gorospe said the organization has spent time and effort in making the app “the best it can be” in its early stages.

“We already have more features in mind to add to the app. It is our way to keep improving it so that those who have downloaded and yet to download the ikotMNL mobile app may continue to enjoy using it,” she said.

LRMC said the app is a unified urban mobility and transport app, and could be developed into a lifestyle app.

The company plans to further upgrade the app by including beep card and QR code options for fares as well as participating in tie-ups with merchants.

LRMC is a private joint venture company of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.’s Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., Ayala Corop.s AC Infrastructure and Holdings Corp., and the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure’s Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings.

LRMC took over operations of LRT-1 in September 2015, through a P65 billion three decade long concession agreement with the Department of Tourism and the Light Rail Transit Authority.

LRMC in Oct. acquired 90% of the right of way for the Phase 1 of the LRT-1 Cavite Extension Project, a P64.9 billion public-private partnership. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Monga’s bird in the hand

TWO INCHES doesn’t sound so big, until we’re talking about the thickness of a chicken fillet.

That’s what Monga, a fried chicken fillet outlet from Taiwan, is boasting about. A press release says two inches, while other sources say it’s two centimeters, and that’s a big difference. Either way, BusinessWorld was quite full. Besides, we didn’t have time or tools to measure.

The chicken is handed to you on white paper, then you use your hands to consume the chicken. BusinessWorld didn’t immediately enjoy the experience of the bird in the hand (despite one being better than two in the bush), because it was steaming hot, a point I should have typed with an exclamation point. We got The King (P199 with rice), wrapped in a simple salt and pepper batter. Once you get past the steam and you’ve cooled your fingers and mouth down with the selection of teas (with the tea leaves coming straight from Taiwan), it really is a pleasurable experience. The bird is about as big as a face, and it has been marinated for 24 hours, according to Charles Lee, Marketing Director of the Vikings Group, which brought the franchise of Monga here from Taiwan (itself founded by Taiwanese comedian, Nono). The result is a fillet that’s juicy and tender, just the way any bit of poultry should be.

While there are other chicken patty places around, Mr. Lee emphasizes that with Monga, save for one tiny strip of bone, you’re mostly getting meat. No biting through batter there. Other items on the menu include the Hot Chick (chicken fillet seasoned with chili powder), Taiker (seasoned with Japanese sauce and seaweed powder), and the Nuggets and Crispy Chicken. Those familiar with the brand Monga (which opened in Megamall earlier this month) are looking forward to the Chee-Z Signature (P209), a few fillets tossed with cheese and tomato sauce or special chili.

As we’ve mentioned above, Monga was brought in from Taiwan by The Vikings Group, and based on Mr. Lee’s statements, the group is on a roll. Known for buffet restaurants (and the Vikings helmet birthday greeting), the group currently operates several branches of Vikings, the specialty Vikings Niu, Four Seasons Hotpot, and just last year it acquired the classic Tong Yang restaurants. But they are not all buffets — looking at their à la carte basis restaurants, they’ve opened an Italian restaurant called La Vita in The Podium, Monga, and on Nov. 15 they opened Putien, a Chinese cuisine concept from Singapore that earned one Michelin star in its home country.

“The market now is changing. People are now travelling more often,” said Mr. Lee about bringing in more foreign brands to the country. “On a business sense, it’s good, because it expands our portfolio.”

While one can say that the buffet experience in the Philippines was pioneered by the late Vicvic Villavicencio and his Dads group of restaurants, Vikings can be seen as a bit of a progenitor for a second (or third) buffet wave, mainstreaming buffet culture in the country and making it more accessible. “We always believe in customer experience. Besides putting up a restaurant for the sake of putting up a restaurant, we look at it as a whole, the overall customer experience: from waiting, to dining, until going home.”

Monga is located at the Lower Ground Level Mega A, SM Megamall. — Joseph L. Garcia

ALI eyes over P100-B capex for 2020

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

AYALA LAND, Inc. (ALI) is looking to allocate over P100 billion for capital expenditures (capex) in 2020, of which about P15-20 billion will be financed through local debt.

In a media briefing in Makati City yesterday, ALI Chief Finance Officer Augusto Cesar D. Bengzon discussed the company’s borrowing plans for next year, saying ALI is looking at reaching a similar level of borrowing this year.

“Probably in between P15-20 billion of debt financing. Most likely most of those will be from the debt capital markets, in a bond format,” he said.

The proceeds will finance the company’s capex, which he expects “should breach the hundred billion mark.”

But Mr. Bengzon noted the financial plan of ALI is still subject to board approval.

This year, ALI was able to raise a total of P21 billion from the bond market.

Mr. Bengzon said for next year’s borrowing plans, ALI would prefer to have longer tenors in its issuances.

The company was able to book a net income of P23.2 billion in the nine months to September, up 12% year on year, driven by the robust performance of its office segment, commercial and industrial lot sales and commercial leasing revenues.

Capital spending during the period stood at P78.2 billion, which ALI used for expansion of its residential and leasing assets.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bengzon said he is starting to look at the possibility of issuing green bonds. “I’m challenging our underwriters to come up with something appropriate. I’d like it to be peso,” he said.

A green bond, also called climate bond, is a kind of debt financing that is specific to projects that have environmental impact. The Securities and Exchange Commission previously said it is adopting the ASEAN standard for green bonds, which require such bonds to be issued for projects located in ASEAN.

Mr. Bengzon said green bonds are interesting for ALI because it is also targeting to be carbon neutral by 2022. As part of this plan, the company is shifting its leasing assets to renewable energy and adopting forests to offset carbon footprint.

“It’s a lot of things we need to sort out. I don’t want it to be a green bond just for the sake of. I want it to be a true green bond,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bengzon was named ING-FINEX CFO of the Year on Wednesday, making him the sixth CFO from the Ayala group to receive such award.

In his speech at the awarding program at New World Makati Hotel, he praised the finance teams of companies, which he said comprise the “most under appreciated, and overworked, employees.”

“They commonly toil in what is commonly called the back office, giving one the impression that they are doing chores that are best kept out from public view. I know that this is farthest from the truth… I believe that it is the Finance group that provides the backbone on which the company rests, it provides the foundation which determines whether the company will flourish for generations, or fold up at the first sign of economic stress,” Mr. Bengzon said.

Shares in ALI at the stock exchange grew 0.70 point or 1.56% to P45.70 each on Wednesday.

Google CEO opens new Japan campus in Tokyo’s trendy Shibuya district

GOOGLE Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai was in Tokyo Tuesday to inaugurate the relocation of the company’s Japanese head office to an expansive new complex in the trendy district of Shibuya.

As part of the new office facility, taking up the majority of the 35-floor Shibuya Stream skyscraper, the company also opened its seventh Google for Startups Campus in the world, second in Asia after Seoul. The Campus initiative extends Google’s effort to combine education and training for startups with evangelism for the use of its cloud and business services. Pichai said that Google would run an accelerator program in Japan that would focus on “established startups” working on artificial intelligence and machine learning, both critical aspects of Google’s current and future operations.

“Ultimately, we want to make sure the legacy of technology innovation extends far beyond 2020. This Google for Startups Campus is one part of that,” he said at the opening.

AI has been topical in Japan recently, with SoftBank Group Corp. announcing plans to combine its Yahoo Japan internet business with Naver Corp.’s Line messaging service in an effort to create an AI tech leader capable of rivaling US juggernauts like Google and Facebook Inc. On Monday, Peter Thiel visited Tokyo to introduce Palantir Technologies Japan Co., which will use AI to make sense of large volumes of unwieldy data in the fields of health and cybersecurity.

Google has said the move to Shibuya Stream will double its employee headcount in Japan to beyond 2,000. The company’s first office outside the US was in Tokyo, opening in 2001. It said it has “invested heavily” in Japan over the years and earlier this year committed to training 10 million people in digital skills by 2022. Its so-called Grow with Google program is the Campus equivalent for individual job-seekers and students.

“At Google, we are deeply committed to fostering Japanese startups,” Pichai said. — Bloomberg

These quirky East German brands survived the end of Communism

EAST GERMANY wasn’t known as a bastion of consumerism, and when the Berlin Wall fell 30 years ago, most of the communist economy’s brands — like the charming, but sputtering Trabant car — failed to make the transition to capitalism.

But there are a surprising number of GDR products that weathered Western competition to thrive in modern Germany. Here’s a look at five survivors:

KATHI
In 1991, when Rainer Thiele won back control of the Kathi family business the Communists confiscated from his parents two decades earlier, he made good on a promise to his mother Kaethe on her deathbed two years earlier.

Kaethe and her husband Kurt started Kathi in 1951 in Halle near Leipzig, inventing a ready-made baking mixture that soon became a GDR bestseller. In an economy of scarcity, Kathi’s convenience foods — it also made mixtures for dumplings, gravies, and soups — flew off the shelves. Yet expansion didn’t sit well with the authorities, who expropriated the business in 1972.

By the time Thiele got Kathi back, sales had collapsed and the company had to compete with more than 20 western brands. Yet Kathi managed to win back market share thanks to investment in machinery and an expanded product line. It sold €28.5 million ($31.5 million) worth of baking products last year, up from €1.9 million in 1991.

The company, which still produces in Halle, is the second-biggest seller of baking mixes in Germany. And Kathi remains in family hands: Thiele’s son Marco and his wife Susen now run the company.

Competitors: Dr. Oetker (Germany’s No. 1), Betty Crocker

VITA COLA
Forget Coca-Cola. In a corner of eastern Germany, a soda developed six decades ago by a GDR scientist has forged ahead of the mighty US brand as the most popular soft drink.

Vita Cola reigns in the state of Thuringia thanks to its unique blend of citrus oil, vanilla, and caffeine. The brand sold a record 89 million liters last year, making it Germany’s most popular domestic cola.

It first hit the shelves in 1958 to fulfill the Communist party’s second five-year plan to improve the supply of non-alcoholic beverages. Meant as the GDR’s answer to Coke, Vita Cola quickly became the country’s dominant soft drink, with more than 200 factories filling up bottles with the state-owned recipe. The soda temporarily vanished after East Germany’s collapse in 1990, but local producer Thueringer Waldquell Mineralbrunnen — now owned by Hassia Group, based near Frankfurt — revived it four years later.

Vita Cola consistently grabbed market share, first beating Coke to the top spot in Thuringia in 2000. It’s the No. 2 cola brand in the eastern states and is also sold in western Germany.

Vita Cola still uses the original recipe, meaning it tastes just as it did behind the Iron Curtain.

Competitors: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Afri-Cola

ROTKÄPPCHEN
The name of the much-loved bubbly wine comes from the distinctive red bottle top and means “Little Red Riding Hood.” The brand traces its roots to the Kloss & Foerster wine business started in Freyburg near Leipzig in 1856 and was first produced under the Rotkäppchen brand in 1894.

Emperor Wilhelm II was a big fan and boosted the firm’s standing when he ordered the wine to be served in German officers’ messes around the beginning of the 20th century.

The hyperinflation and economic crisis that followed World War I hit the company hard, but the 1933 abolition of a tax on sparkling wine helped them get back on their feet before production dwindled almost to nothing during World War II.

Following seizure by the East German state after hostilities ended, output rose steadily to around 15 million bottles a year by the 1980s. Geopolitics interfered again after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when competitive struggles following reunification caused the company to shrink its workforce to a fifth of its 1989 size within two years. A group of former managers joined forces with an investor from West Germany to take control in 1993.

The company now commands more than half the German market for “Sekt,” which accounted for about 60% of sales last year, reaping €660 million. Sales of Rotkäppchen, Germany’s leading brand of sparkling white, rose 6.7%.

Competitors: Freixenet, Martini Asti Spumante

BAUTZ’NER
Bratwurst wouldn’t be complete without mustard, and the medium-spicy variety from Bautzen in Saxony is ubiquitous in supermarkets in the former GDR and also available in western states, making Bautz’ner one of Germany’s best-selling condiment brands.

The yellow paste has been produced since the 1930s. The firm was part of the GDR’s state-enterprise structure and was then snapped up in 1992 by Munich-based Develey Senf & Feinkost GmbH. Within three years, they had ramped up output threefold and today more than two million tubs roll off the production line in Upper Lusatia every month.

“Today, Bautz’ner is not only the clear market leader in East Germany but has made a name for itself far beyond its original distribution base,” said Volker Leonhardi, Develey’s head of marketing.

Competitors: French’s, Colman’s, Thomy

SPEE
East Germans fed their washing machines the same stuff for decades, and Spee was by far the country’s most popular detergent.

It was produced from 1968 in Genthin near Berlin at a plant the Russian military expropriated from West Germany’s Henkel AG at the end of World War II. At its height, the factory supplied as much as 80% of the GDR’s detergent.

When the Communist regime collapsed in 1990, Henkel bought the plant back and soon introduced Spee to western consumers, with growing success. Today, Spee is the third-most popular detergent in Germany, after Henkel’s Persil and Procter & Gamble’s Ariel.

While the brand survived, hundreds of jobs at the Genthin plant did not. Henkel moved production to its headquarters in Dusseldorf about a decade ago.

Competitors: Persil, Ariel, Tide — Bloomberg

Consunji-led SMPC ordered to suspend coal mining activities

THE Department of Energy (DoE) has ordered Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) to suspend its coal mining activities as a result of the mudflow incident in Semirara Island in Antique province last month, the Consunji-led listed company told the stock exchange on Wednesday.

“In compliance with this directive, the Company has suspended its mining operations effective immediately,” SMPC said.

The company said it had received late afternoon on Tuesday a letter from the DoE dated Nov. 14, 2019 directing the mining and energy company to “suspend any and all mining activities under Coal Operating Contract No. 5.”

“The DoE orders of suspension will result to opportunity loss in production per day from 40,000-45,000 MT (metric tons). The financial impact, however, shall depend on the prevailing price of coal,” it added.

“We advised however that as of today, total production is already at 14.5 million MT which is 12% higher than total 2018 production of 12.9 million MT. Moreover, coal shipment already reached 14.6 million MT, 26% higher compared to 11.5 million MT total shipment in 2018,” it added.

The DoE directive will remain in effect until the conditions set by the agency are met, the company added. The mudflow incident happened on Oct. 2, 2019. SMPC’s mining operator went missing after the incident and his remains were found after a three-day search and rescue operation, the DoE said on Oct. 5.

The number one condition is for SMPC to address the “existing and continuing apparent risk” in the Casay Lake area near and adjacent to the operations of its Molave pit.

In line with this, the company “must immediately conduct” a geo-hazard assessment of the Casay Lake area and submit a specific plan to remove the hazard, for evaluation and approval of the DoE. It should also implement the DoE-approved plan subject to assessment and approval of the department.

The second main condition for SMPC relates to areas under the development and production stage.

The DoE said the company should conduct geo-hazard assessment “in all existing and proposed mining areas to identify and determine the risks and appropriate mitigating measures to these geo-hazards such as landslides, mudflows, flooding, storm surge, liquefaction, among others,” to be approved by the agency.

It should also conduct a “comprehensive review of health and safety program which must include, management leadership, worker participation, hazard identification and assessment, hazard prevention and control, education and training, program evaluation and improvement and coordination and communication, among others.”

SMPC was also directed to reorganize its safety department to address its deficiencies and provide appropriate competencies to implement a DoE-approved health and safety program, and allocate sufficient budget for its implementation.

The company said that since the Oct. 2 incident, it had been in “close coordination and full cooperation” with the Energy department on its legal and regulatory compliance, particularly its operations’ safety aspect.

SMPC said it was completing the DoE requirements for submission and “is confident that the conditions for resuming operations can be speedily met.”

“Lastly, SMPC is committed to providing all the needed health and safety trainings and amendments to further enhance the safety and welfare of our employees,” it said.

The company’s disclosure on the suspension comes a day after it told the stock exchange that it had received a DoE resolution dated Oct. 15, 2019 finding SMPC in violation of a department circular that set the guidelines on the accreditation of coal traders and registration of coal end-users.

The company was suspended for a month for its coal trading or transaction with an entity that is not accredited as a coal trader. It was also fined P1.735 million because of its “unabated and continuous coal trading despite suspension of its accreditation.”

SMPC said it would file a motion to the DoE seeking reconsideration of the resolution. It said it would continue its coal trading activities to serve its existing customers considering that the said resolution is not yet final and executory.

On Wednesday, shares in SMPC fell by 6.62% to P21.85 each. — Victor V. Saulon

Mario Shopping Kart: Nintendo unveils Tokyo store to lure gamers

TOKYO — Nintendo Co. Ltd. unveiled its first Japanese store on Tuesday in Tokyo’s trendy Shibuya shopping district, in a step towards greater commercialization of its cast of popular characters.

The Nintendo Tokyo store in the fashion-focused Parco department store marks the latest move into the mainstream for Japan’s gamer culture and gives Nintendo a key location to attract more casual fans.

The store — previewed to the media on Tuesday ahead of its public opening on Friday — offers a range of goods featuring prized characters including Italian plumber Mario, adventurer Link and pink alien Kirby, with exclusive products from Legend of Zelda-branded ties to Animal Crossing-themed oven gloves.

The Kyoto-based company will look at how the store performs before considering further openings, a spokesman said.

“Nintendo is a company that thinks over a very long time-horizon,” said Hirokazu Hamamura, head of game magazine publisher Famitsu Group.

The Kyoto-based company, which already operates a store in New York, is building on the success of the Pokémon Center retail chain, which will also have space on the 6th floor of the new Parco.

That chain is managed by the Pokémon Company, which was set up with investment from gaming companies Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures to help manage the franchise.

Pokémon’s broad offering spanning video games, movies and soft toys, has made the franchise a home-grown contender for a Disney-style pop-culture empire.

That contrasts with Nintendo’s tight grip over its characters, with moves to broaden its appeal including Super Nintendo World, a new attraction set to open at the Universal Studios Japan theme park in Osaka next year.

The new outpost of Pokémon Center, which last month proved wildly popular when it opened a pop-up store in London, features black walls and graffiti-splashed Pikachu toys in a nod to its location in Shibuya — a street-fashion mecca.

Parco’s 6th floor also features stores from companies such as games maker Capcom Co. Ltd.

Nintendo’s push to drive sales beyond hardcore gamers comes as two Pokémon titles received a positive reception when they launched for the Switch console last week, bringing a game with full Pokémon battling mechanics to the device for the first time.

The game is expected to drive demand for the Switch and the lower-cost Switch Lite into the year-end shopping season. — Reuters

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