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8990 Holdings forecasts year’s revenues to hit P20 billion

By Denise A. Valdez, Reporter

8990 Holdings, Inc. is expecting to record revenues of about P20 billion for 2020, driven by the partial opening of its Urban Deca Homes Ortigas project by year’s end.

In a topping-off ceremony at the project’s site in Ortigas yesterday, 8990 Holdings Chairman Mariano D. Martinez, Jr. told reporters the company is expecting four of the 22 buildings that comprise the project to be completed within the year.

“This year, they’re going to turn over to us four buildings beginning August until December. Those four buildings will be more or less 3,800 units,” he said, noting the average price per unit is P2.5 million.

Including 8990 Holdings’ other projects, the company’s expected revenue by end-2020 is P20 billion, of which 40% or about P8 billion will be the net income.

Urban Deca Homes Ortigas is 8990 Holdings’ largest project to-date: a 13-hectare development along Ortigas Avenue Extension with 19,000 units across 22 buildings, a mall and a one-hectare open space. Once completed, the whole project is expected to generate close to P40 billion in sales.

Mr. Martinez said around six to eight more buildings are expected to be turned over next year, and the rest over the next three to four years.

8990 Holdings has set its capital expenditures for 2020 at P12 billion, where P8 billion will be allocated for construction, P2 billion for replenishment of land and P2 billion for advanced land development.

This will be supported through the company’s receivables, which stand at about P22 billion, plus an additional P16 billion to be raised from the Urban Deca Homes Ortigas project. In line with previous disclosures, Mr. Martinez said the receivables will be sold and securitized for financing.

Asked about other fundraising plans, Mr. Martinez said the company may issue bonds this year as the bulk of its P9-billion debt issuance in 2015 is set to mature.

“Since we’re approaching our fifth year, there’s an intention to raise again in order to pay off the maturing portion of that bond,” he said. “[W]e don’t really see a need to do a big fund-raise. This pretty much covered already the operational and cash requirements for the…big major projects,” he added, referring to sales from the Urban Deca Homes Ortigas project.

Moving forward, Mr. Martinez said 8990 Holdings may venture into new businesses such as commercial malls to diversify its portfolio. “It’s always been observed that 8990 does not have a strong value chain insofar as rentals are concerned… So that would be of interest to me if somebody wanted to sell their malls or anything like that. That would take up another leg,” he said.

But he noted the company is not actively looking into malls yet, as its focus is still on horizontal developments and building halfway houses. “We don’t want to veer too far away from that because that’s what we all need. We all need to sleep somewhere, and the nearer it is, the more we want,” Mr. Martinez said.

Earnings of 8990 Holdings in the first three quarters of 2019 increased 23% to P4.21 billion, driven by a 21% jump in revenues to P10.51 billion. Its shares at the stock exchange slipped four centavos or 0.27% to P14.70 each on Monday.

Yolanda short documentary wins Slamdance film fest prize

CEBUANA filmmaker Joanna Vasquez Arong’s short documentary film on the harrowing effects of the 2013 Supertyphoon Haiyan/Yolanda on the residents of Tacloban City in Leyte and Guian, Samar won the Grand Jury Prize for documentary short at the recently concluded Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

The Slamdance Film Festival is a 25-year-old festival focused on emerging artists and low-budget independent films. Its feature competition is limited to films made by first-time directors with budgets under $1 million and without US distribution. It is held at the same time as the Sundance Film Festival in Park City.

Titled Ang Papakalma sa Unos (To Calm the Pig Inside), the festival described the documetnary as a “contemplative film that ponders the effects a typhoon leaves on a small town where myths are woven to help cope with the devastation and trauma.”

According to other media reports, the award qualifies Ms. Arong’s film for consideration in the Academy Awards’ best documentary (short subject) category next year.

The 19-minute film was created by Ms. Arong as a “reflective essay pondering on trauma that’s passed on from both family schisms as well as from calamities. How does one heal from personal trauma and how does a community cope and likewise heal from collective trauma,” according to an interview she gave with Slamdance.

“After spending weeks line producing on a film production on the devastation super typhoon Haiyan wreaked around the Philippines in 2013-2014, I felt there was another layer to the stories which hadn’t been shared yet. Locals recounted to me their reflections, disappointments, dreams and even the jokes they shared with each other in order to cope with the trauma. And through time, they continued to express their growing frustration towards the government response to their plight,” she explained, before adding that since she’s from a neighboring island, she felt “it was not my story to tell” and thus approached the documentary as a personal film essay.

The film festival, which ran from Jan. 24 to 30, gave its top award, the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize, to Murmur by Canadian filmmaker Heather Young. The film is about an older woman who compulsively adopts her loneliness. The had previously won the Fipresci Discovery Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Ms. Arong has directed four other shorts/documentaries, starting with Neo-Lounge in 2007, which IMDB describes as “a look at an eclectic international group of people who gather at a hip Beijing nightclub.” The film won Best Documentary at the 2007 Brussels International Independent Film Festival. She also won a Gawad Urian award for Best Documentary for 2010’s Sunday School. — ZBC

Fruitas buys soybean products store and rice-meal operator

FRUITAS Holdings, Inc. is acquiring a soybean product company and the store assets of a Filipino food stall firm as part of expanding its business, it told the stock exchange on Monday.

In a statement and in corresponding disclosures, the listed food and beverage kiosk operator said it had acquired 100% of the outstanding shares of SoyKingdom, Inc., and through its subsidiary Negril Trading, Inc., bought two owned-stores of Kuxina.

SoyKingdom is the operator of The Tofu Store, a 14-year-old company that sells soy milk, taho, tofu and other soybean-related products. It currently has storefronts in Little Baguio, San Juan and Sta. Mesa Heights, Quezon City.

Fruitas is buying 1.2 million shares or 100% of SoyKingdom in cash, which will be an additional subsidiary of the company.

“Fruitas believes that demand for freshly made and conveniently available soymilk, taho, tofu, and other soybean-related products will further increase in the Philippines as more Filipinos discover its versatility as a standalone beverage or snack and key ingredient in everyday meals,” it said.

Kuxina, on the other hand, is the operator of the Kuxina Filipino Fusion and Kuxina Ihaw Na! stores located in Fruitas’ Le Village food park in Quezon City. Negril Trading, which handles De Original Jamaican Pattie Shop and Juice Bar for Fruitas, will enter the transaction with Kuxina.

“Kuxina will complement Sabroso Lechon, Heat Stroke Grill, [Fruitas’] other recent acquisition and rice meals concepts,” the company said of the deal. It noted the transaction covers the acquisition of two stores in Quezon City, equipment, recipes, leasehold improvements and marketing collateral and continuing arrangement with eight franchised stores.

Fruitas ended 2019 with 1,068 stores in its network through more than 20 brands such as Fruitas Fresh from Babot’s Farm, Buko Loco, De Original Jamaican Pattie, Johnn Lemon, Shou La Mien Hand Pulled Noodles, Sabroso Lechon and more.

As the company celebrates its 18th year this year, Fruitas President and Chief Executive Officer Lester C. Yu said the company will continue finding innovative and suitable additions to its portfolio.

“We will further strengthen our existing brands and seamlessly integrate our latest acquisitions, broadening our offerings to include both traditional and contemporary Filipino food and drinks,” Mr. Yu was quoted as saying.

Shares in Fruitas at the stock exchange inched up two centavos or 1.22% to close at P1.66 each on Monday. — Denise A. Valdez

You oughta know Alanis is coming

GRAMMY-WINNING singer Alanis Morissette is set to make a stop in the Philippines as part of her ongoing 2020 World Tour celebrating the 25 years of her breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill.

The tour starts on April 2 in Tokyo and will have stops in Australia and the US. The Philippine concert will be on April 6 at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Born in 1974, Ms. Morissette released her eponymous debut album in 1991. While that album did go platinum in her native Canada, it wasn’t until her third album, Jagged Little Pill, that the world finally tuned in to the singer with an emotive mezzo-soprano voice.

Her first single off the album, “You Oughta Know,” signaled her departure from dance music to alternative rock, the genre she is now best known for. With its explicit and vengeful lyrics directed at an unnamed ex-boyfriend, the song became such as hit that the following year, it was named the Best Rock Song at the Grammy Awards while Morissette won the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance award. The song was also nominated for Song of the Year but lost to Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose.”

Jagged Little Pill went on to spawn more hits including “All I Really Want,” “Hands in My Pocket,” and her biggest hit yet, “Ironic.”

Despite criticism about its misuse of the word “ironic,” the song — which listed unfortunate situations like “rain on a wedding day” and a “free ride when you’ve already paid” — topped Canadian charts for six weeks and reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 list in the US. It’s still her highest-charting single on the chart.

The song won the Juno Award for Single of the Year and received two Grammy Award nominations in 1997 for Record of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video.

The album, Jagged Little Pill, sold more than 16 million copies in the US and 33 million worldwide.

Her success is credited with having opened doors for fellow female singers like Pink, Michelle Branch, and Avril Lavigne.

Ms. Morissette currently has nine albums in her discography, with the most recent one, Such Pretty Forks in the Road, scheduled for release in May this year.

In 2016, she launched Conversation with Alanis Morissette, a monthly podcast that features conversations with a variety of authors, doctors, educators, and therapists, covering a wide range of psychosocial topics extending from spirituality to developmentalism to art.

On Dec. 5, 2019, Jagged Little Pill, The Musical, made its Broadway debut at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City.

In total, she has won seven Grammy Awards and has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Rolling Stone magazine has called her the Queen of Alt-Rock Angst.

Alanis Morissette World Tour 2020 in Manila will be held on April 6, 8 p.m., at the SM MOA Arena in Pasay City. Tickets go on sale starting Feb. 6 on smtickets.com. Tickets are priced from P2,700 to P12,700. — ZBC

Cebu Landmasters posts 31% reservation sales rise

CEBU Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) reported its reservation sales in 2019 jumped 31% to P12.67 billion, driven by higher demand in its key projects across the country.

In a statement yesterday, the listed property developer said the turnout did not only surpass its P9.6-billion reservation sales in 2018, it also exceeded its target of reaching P12.5 billion in 2019.

“Reservation sales is an indication of future revenue and with the robust sales performance of our projects, we are again anticipating outstanding financial results from CLI,” Jose R. Soberano III, chairman and chief executive officer of CLI, said in the statement.

The high demand last year was traced mostly to CLI’s projects in Cebu City, which contributed 58% of total booked sales. Projects in Davao City comprised 15%; in Cagayan de Oro, 13%; in Bacolod, 12%; and in Dumaguete, 2%.

The company said notable projects such as Mivela Garden Residences propelled the sales turnout last year, as the mid-market residential condominium in Cebu City sold 80% of its available inventory in less than a month.

Other outstanding performers are CLI’s mid-market Garden Series brand in Bacolod and Cagayan De Oro, which comprised 37% of total sales; and the high-end Premier Masters residential brand, which accounted for 30% of total sales.

CLI’s economic housing brand Casa Mira took 29% of last year’s total sales. The rest were from office condominiums and socialized housing.

After completing P18-billion worth of projects last year, the company now wants to focus on developing projects in new locations such as Iloilo, Bohol and Ormoc. CLI currently has a landbank of 1,245,485 square meters.

Mr. Soberano said CLI is also eyeing to buy land in Tacloban, General Santos, Roxas City, Boracay and Palawan as part of the expansion.

“CLI will continue to grow and fortify its presence in VisMin, deliver a diversified range of products aimed towards filling the needs in other major growth centers of the region, and keep our excellent financial performance,” he was quoted as saying.

In 2019, CLI was able to launch new projects in Davao City, Bacolod City, Cagayan de Oro and Mindoro. Its earnings in the first nine months surged 77% to P1.65 billion, backed by a 61% rise in revenues to P5.95 billion.

The company’s shares at the stock exchange saw a four-centavo or 0.90% uptick to end at P4.50 apiece yesterday. — Denise A. Valdez

After more than 40 years, The Jacksons return to the PHL

AMERICAN pop group The Jacksons is coming back to Manila after more than four decades. The concert is part of their 60th-anniversary celebrations and will be held on March 6 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Indiana-based group — originally known as the Jackson 5 — is currently composed of Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon Jackson. The group, which was formed in 1965, served as the launchpad for Michael Jackson who performed with the group until 1982 when he went solo, released Thriller, and became a global superstar.

Considered one of the most successful musical groups in history, The Jacksons has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. In 1980, the brothers were given their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The 1970s was when the group was at its height, a time that music historians call “The Jacksonmania.” The group’s first four singles reached the top of the Hot 100 — “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be There” — in 1970. That was also the year they released three albums in one year: ABC, The Third Album, and Jackson 5 Christmas Album. Thanks to the releases, they replace the Supremes as Motown Record’s best-selling group.

The following year, they released the singles “Mama’s Pearl,” “Never Can Say Goodbye,” and “Sugar Daddy,” giving them a total of seven Top 10 singles within a two-year period.

In 1976, The Jacksons came to Manila to conclude the Jackson 5 Final Tour at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The group continued to perform after youngest brother Michael went solo. Then in 1989, the group released its last album before going on an extended hiatus: 2300 Jackson Street. The group reunited 17 years later, in 2001, to celebrate Michael Jackson’s 30th anniversary as a solo artist. In 2009, after Michael’s death, the group provided backing vocals for a previously unreleased Michael Jackson song “This Is It” (the main theme for the documentary film of the same name).

The group went on to do a Unity Tour in 2013, with performances in Canada and the US.

The group influenced succeeding boy bands including Menudo, Backstreet Boys, and New Kids on the Block, to name a few.

The Jacksons in Manila will be held on March 6, 8 p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Tickets are now available at Ticketnet, with ticket ranging from P1,590 to P15,900. For more information and inquiries, visit Ticketnet Online (www.ticketnet.com.ph), https://www.smartaranetacoliseum.com/, or call (+632) 8911-5555. — ZBC

Damosa inks franchise deal for IWG shared workspace centers

DAVAO CITY — Homegrown Damosa Land Inc. (DLI) has inked a franchise agreement with International Workplace Group Co. (IWG) for the establishment of eight co-working centers in Mindanao over the next five years.

“The franchise program is part of our global strategy,” Matthew James Kenley, IWG-Asia Pacific head of partnership growth, said during the signing ceremony on Jan. 24.

The franchising deal with DLI is its second in the country, with the first located in Cebu.

IWG, formerly Regus, has been operating two Regus centers in Davao City. The first one, located at DLI’s Topaz Tower in Davao City, was opened in 2016 and considered the biggest in the country at 1,600 square meters (sq.m.). Another Regus center can be found in Felcris Centrale since 2018.

IWG — whose brands include Regus, Spaces, HQ and Signature by Regus — currently has 28 centers in the Philippines. Mr. Kenley said they target to increase the number of centers to 40 in five years.

DLI First Vice President Ricardo F. Lagdameo, for his part, said the new venture will expand their footprint in the real estate sector and attract new investors to their spaces.

“This one is a perfect complement to our existing office leasing business, and one of the directions of Damosa Land is to really grow our office portfolio,” said Mr. Lagdameo.

DLI, the real estate arm of the Floirendo-owned Anflo Management and Investment Corp., has about 15,000 sq.m. in leasable space and this will increase to about 40,000 sq.m. when its Diamond Tower starts operating in April.

The new 15-floor tower will be the location of the company’s first franchised IWG center. The IWG center will have a 1,600-sq.m. floor area and is expected to open before the end of October.

Mr. Lagdameo said they are confident that demand for workspaces “will continue to grow in the next couple of years.”

Two IWG centers are planned to be set up at DLI’s Valley High commercial complex in General Santos City, and in Cagayan de Oro City where the company has partnered with Ayala Land Inc. for the Centrio Mall.

Mr. Lagdameo said they are open to establishing the other shared workspaces in office buildings not owned by DLI.

“Any office building in the future will really have to have some kind of a (shared) workspace,” he said.

Lars Wittig, IWG country manager for the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and South Korea, said these workspaces have become a “good launch platform for local entrepreneurs,” noting that they have 600 members in the city.

“We have enabled them to much faster growth,” Mr. Wittig said. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

Dennis Uy says Duterte’s lesson taught him to toughen up

PHILIPPINE tycoon Dennis A. Uy has built an empire spanning oil, shipping, casinos and telecommunications, but eight years ago his oil-trading business was in trouble over government allegations of fuel smuggling.

Mr. Uy went to see the local mayor, a family friend from childhood, for advice. The mayor was Rodrigo R. Duterte, the country’s current president.

“He said my image is soft, so I should practice before a mirror saying, ‘You son of a b****,’ 100 times,” he said in an interview. “He doesn’t like when a person is bullied.”

Mr. Uy says Mr. Duterte has not played a direct role in his businesses, but the advice worked. He was cleared of the smuggling charges and went on to quadruple profit at his Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. in the five years through the end of 2018. Along the way, he says, he gained the toughness Mr. Duterte had been trying to instill in him.

“If you survived petroleum and shipping, it trains you to be battle ready,” said Mr. Uy, 46. “In petroleum, to get your one-peso margin, you watch everything from storage to trucking, and it’s common to give credit and deal with currency and oil price fluctuations.”

Before Mr. Duterte’s rise, the southern province of Davao was better known for its tropical fruit and an endangered species of monkey-eating eagle than for business powerhouses like Mr. Uy’s.

But in the past few years, Mr. Uy, who donated to Mr. Duterte’s presidential campaign, has spread far beyond the region, assembling assets that are eating into industries ruled by some of the country’s richest and oldest business dynasties.

In 2018, Mr. Uy teamed up with China Telecommunications Corp., to win a telecommunications license to challenge the duopoly of Smart Communications, Inc. and Globe Telecom, Inc. He had no previous experience as a carrier, but his company, now called Dito Telecommunity Corp., emerged as the sole bidder. Mr. Duterte has repeatedly called for greater competition in the industry, which has some of the highest mobile rates and slowest service in Southeast Asia.

After Mr. Duterte encouraged the Chinese wireless giant to join the competition, Norway’s Telenor ASA and Austria’s Mobiltel AG, which had bought documents to participate, did not bid. Streamtech Systems Technologies, Inc., led by the Philippine’s richest person Manuel B. Villar, withdrew from the race.

Smart is owned by PLDT Inc., whose Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan has been repeatedly criticized by Mr. Duterte as an out-of-touch elite. The carrier’s largest shareholders include JG Summit Holdings, Inc., the banking, aviation and retail conglomerate now run by Lance Y. Gokongwei, founder John L. Gokongwei Jr.’s son.

The other telecom operator, Globe, has Ayala Corp. as one of its largest shareholders. Ayala is led by Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II, a frequent Duterte target.

Mr. Duterte has also been a strong critic of the current telecommunications duopoly.

“The Philippines has been gravely fooled by the rich people in the Philippines,” he said on Jan. 23. “Just like Ayala and Pangilinan who own Globe and Smart. They are all thieves, those sons of b******,” he said, according to the official transcript of his speech.

A spokesmen for Ayala Corp. said the company did not want to comment on Mr. Duterte’s speech. A PLDT spokesman, who also represents Mr. Pangilinan, said he would not comment. Mr. Duterte’s spokesman has not responded to requests for comment. — Bloomberg

1917 wins best film and director at BAFTA awards

LONDON — First World War drama 1917 was the big winner at the BAFTAs on Sunday, picking up seven awards including best picture and director for Sam Mendes, at a glittering ceremony that made headlines for a glaring lack of diversity among nominees.

The thrilling drama, shot in what appears to be a single take, was also honored in the outstanding British film, sound, production design, cinematography, and special visual effects categories.

Britain’s top movie awards have been criticized for having all-white shortlists in its acting categories and an all-male one for director, triggering the use of the hashtag #BaftasSoWhite on social media.

BAFTA boss Amanda Berry had said she was “very disappointed” by the lack of diversity.

Joaquin Phoenix, voted best actor for his critically acclaimed transformation from vulnerable loner into confident villain in Joker, addressed the issue head on in his acceptance speech.

The industry was sending “a very clear message to people of color that you’re not welcome here,” he said, adding it “was on us” to dismantle a system of oppression.

Award presenter Rebel Wilson drew the biggest laughs and cheers of the evening when, after reading out the all-male best director list, said: “I don’t think I could do what they do, honestly I just don’t have the balls.”

Actress Scarlett Johansson, who missed out in the leading and supporting actress categories, told Reuters the all-male directing shortlist showed women were being held back and the industry had to be mindful of the issue.

“It’s pretty disappointing, especially because there were so many great films this year that happened to be directed by women,” she said.

Renee Zellweger beat Johansson to the best actress gong for her portrayal of Judy Garland in Judy. The two will go head-to-head again at the Oscars on Feb. 9.

It was a frustrating evening for Netflix’s The Irishman, Martin Scorsese’s star-studded gangster drama, which was nominated in 10 categories but left empty handed.

The streaming giant, however, fared better with divorce drama Marriage Story, which saw Laura Dern win best supporting actress.

Brad Pitt picked up best supporting actor for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, the only success for a movie nominated for 10 awards.

Bong Joon Ho’s darkly comic film Parasite triumphed in the original screenplay and film not in the English language categories at the ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall. — Reuters

Online mortgage brokerage platform launched in PHL

By Bjorn Biel M. Beltran
Special Features Writer

ASPIRING homeowners know the struggle of applying for a mortgage. Going to banks with different requirements, interest rates, and a mountain of paperwork — acquiring real estate to call your own is no easy task.

Nook, the Philippines’ first online mortgage brokerage platform, seeks to remedy that.

With the goal of streamlining and simplifying the property loan application process in the country, the platform aims to enable Filipinos to conduct property search, do loan comparisons, and experience a seamless loan application process online.

“Applying for a home loan here in the Philippines can be a tedious and intimidating process. Before prospective clients even begin, they are already overwhelmed with the long list of requirements or the time they need to set aside to accomplish all the application steps,” Chris Elder, chief executive officer of Nook, told the media at a event last month.

“We aim to address this with Nook. We offer users an end-to-end platform, from property search to bank approvals, empowering more Filipinos to gain seamless access to financial options available to them,” Mr. Elder said.

To facilitate this, the company has partnered with top banking institutions in the Philippines, including Asia United Bank (AUB), BDO Unibank, BPI Family Savings Bank, Bank of Commerce, CTBC, China Banking Corp., Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation and Security Bank. Talks with five other banks are ongoing.

Mr. Elder noted the increasing purchasing power of Filipinos and thousands of new residential options built each year present opportunities for the property market, as seen with the continued surge in office and residential demand from locals and foreign nationals.

According to the latest numbers released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the purchase of new housing units accounted for 74% of residential real estate loans in the third quarter of 2019, with most of the RRELs granted in the National Capital Region intended for the purchase of condominium units (43.1%).

Real estate consultancy firm Colliers International Philippines also predicted in a report last December that it is seeing a “sustained” property market over the next two years, with mid-income condominium units contributing towards the stronger demand.

Mr. Elder added that Nook intends to tap Filipino consumers who are intimidated to begin their home loan search due to various reasons, including not knowing whether they are qualified to apply for a bank loan.

Nook is designed to make applying for a home loan simpler and easier through its website, which allows users to evaluate the most optimal loan option for their target properties.

At the same time, the platform offers a more efficient way for banks to verify prospective clients by removing applicants who do not meet their particular criteria.

Through Nook, an applicant will be able to preview the amount of monthly repayments they have to make, fees, and other requirements from each bank and get pre-qualified in just a few minutes.

The company will help clients in every step of their housing loan process, together with its Nook Home Loan Consultant, free of charge. The platform is based on Amazon Web Services and secured with 128-bit encryption.

Mr. Elder also believes that this is an opportune time for the Philippines to adopt the trend and practices of the industry in countries such as Australia and the United States, where over 60% and 68% of borrowers respectively go through mortgage brokers instead of direct-bank applications to secure a housing loan.

“What Nook offers is direct access to bank partners for your home loans with the easiest application process you can get,” Mr. Elder said.

“It is time that the Philippines recognize how technology can transform the home loan process from application to closing,” he added.

Gov’t makes full award of T-bills as rates decline

THE GOVERNMENT fully awarded the Treasury bills (T-bills) it auctioned off on Monday as rates mostly dropped on strong liquidity and the market’s growing appetite for papers in the short end of the curve.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) raised P20 billion in T-bills yesterday as the offer was more than twice oversubscribed, with total tenders reaching P49.3 billion.

Broken down, the Treasury borrowed P6 billion as programmed via the 91-day papers from total bids worth P20.947 billion. The three-month T-bills fetched an average rate of 3.187%, 11 basis points (bps) lower than the 3.297% quoted in the auction last week.

The government raised another P6 billion as planned from the 182-day T-bills, with the tenor attracting tenders worth P15.799 billion, at an average rate of 3.523%, down by 7.4 bps from 3.597% previously.

Likewise, for the 364-day papers, the Treasury accepted P8 billion as planned out of total tenders of P12.522 billion. The one-year securities were quoted at an average rate of 3.964%, up by just 0.1 bp from the 3.963% quoted last week.

At the secondary market on Monday, the rates for 91-, 182- and 364-day T-bills ended at 3.28%, 3.47% and 3.902%, based on the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon said yesterday’s auction was met with strong demand amid ample liquidity in the local market and as investors continue to prefer short tenors.

“We have a very good auction for today given the preference now of investors moving to the short end of the tenor. Also, rates dipped despite a higher inflation median coming from analysts’ expectations — 2.7% (against) 2.5% last December — so we are very satisfied with the results of the auction today,” Ms. De Leon told reporters after the auction on Monday.

Sought for comment, Robinsons Bank Corp. sovereign debt trader Kevin S. Palma shared the same sentiment, adding that market expectations of a policy rate cut by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Monetary Board this week contributed to the strong turnout and lower yields.

“The market continues to put liquidity to work and show good appetite for short-term bonds as reflected in the very strong turnover of the offering… Icing on the cake was the reinvestment demand from a P14-billion T-bill maturity on February 5,” Mr. Palma said in a Viber message.

The Philippine Statistics Authority will report official inflation data for January on Wednesday, Feb. 5, while the BSP’s policy-setting Monetary Board will have its first rate-setting for the year on Thursday, Feb. 6.

BusinessWorld’s poll of 13 economists yielded a median estimate of 2.7% for January headline inflation, with analysts citing upside risks from the Taal Volcano eruption and a rise in some food prices still due to the African Swine Fever.

Meanwhile, 10 out of the 13 economists who joined the inflation poll were of the view that the BSP Monetary Board will ease rates by another 25 bps this week.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno last week said the central bank is still looking to bring down rates by around 50 bps in 2020. He said a 25-bp cut could also be considered as early as this quarter.

The BSP last year cut rates by a total of 75 bps, partially unwinding the 175 bps worth of hikes implemented in 2018 to quell multi-year high inflation.

RTBS BREACH P200 BILLION
Meanwhile, for the three-year retail Treasury bonds (RTBs) still on offer, Ms. De Leon said the demand has been “overwhelming,” with the volume raised breaching the P200 billion level so far, both from new money and tenders for the switch offer.

During the rate-setting auction of the 23rd RTB offering last week, the Treasury awarded a total of P134 billion in fresh funds, upsized from its initial offer of P30 billion, out of total tenders worth P149.827 billion.

The three-year papers, which have a coupon of 4.375%, will be offered until Thursday, Feb. 6.

“So far, (the) RTB offering has been met with overwhelming, good reception from investors… We have already breached the P200-billion volume, combined, switch and new money,” Ms. De Leon said.

The official said majority or three fourths of the initial volume raised was from new money, while the remaining are from tenders for the switch or the exchange offer program.

Under the exchange program, bondholders of the RTB 3-08 issued in 2017 which will mature this April can exchange these papers for the latest RTB issue.

“If we’re going to cap, then we should have already capped (the volume). We just want to give opportunity to the individual investors. We recognize that we just completed the roadshows, so there should be some time for investors to make their own decisions whether they want to move to the new RTB or tender new money for the RTB,” she said.

Ms. De Leon said usually, individual investors account for 20-30% of the total investor pool for the Treasury’s retail government securities.

With the online platform, she said they are expecting more small investors to avail of such securities, like the RTBs and the Premyo bonds.

The government plans to raise P1.4 trillion this year from local and foreign lenders to plug its budget deficit, which is expected to widen to as much as 3.2% of gross domestic product. — Beatrice M. Laforga

Real Steel ties up with Italian firm for Pampanga rolling mill

REAL STEEL Corp. is partnering with an Italian steel equipment manufacturer to build the Philippines’ first high-speed rolling mill in Pampanga.

The steel manufacturing company said in a statement on Monday that it had signed a deal with equipment and physical plants supplier Danieli Group to build a plant that uses “fully automated and environmentally sound technology.”

The plant will use an induction heating system that eliminates pollution caused by the natural gas and oil used in heating steel.

“Many of the solutions we implement are included in this new high-speed rolling mill, especially features in technology that improve environmental impact and safety,” Danieli Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Menocci said.

Real Steel said that the facility, which it expects to be fully operational by 2022, will be one of the fastest rolling mills in Asia.

“[Real Steel] will continue to strive for excellence in technological advancement and modernization to improve [the] quality of our products using clean and energy efficient equipment,” he said.

San Simon, Pampanga Mayor Abundio Punsalan, Jr. said he supports the project.

“This investment also means higher income for the local government, employment security, and safety for our local workers,” he said.

Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ruth B. Castelo said that the project would be good for consumers.

She said Real Steel’s partnership with Danieli “manifests the company’s commitment in improving the quality of their products to be at par with international standards with green technology. This will ultimately redound to the benefit of the consumers for their increased protection.”

The Philippine Iron and Steel Institute last year listed Real Steel among manufacturers that it found to have produced substandard steel bars. — Jenina P. Ibañez

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