Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) posted an 11 percent fall in net profit during the second quarter of 2012 as a nearly saturated mobile phone market crimped revenue growth and rising competition ate into margins.

PLDT said its net income in April to June 2012 was P9.4 billion compared with P10.6 billion in the same period last year.

Analysts had expected a net profit of P10.1 billion for PLDT in the second quarter, based on consensus estimates of Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Core net profit, which excludes currency and derivatives-related items, also fell 11 percent to almost P9.4 billion. PLDT said it was maintaining its core profit guidance of P37 billions for the full year.

The stock market was shut on Tuesday due to heavy monsoon rains and flooding in the capital. PLDT has risen only 8 percent this year, lower than the market’s nearly 21 percent rise.

PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said earlier that the decline in earnings is due to the continued pressure on average revenue per user and margins on the legacy cellular phone, the decline in traffic and pricing for international and national direct dial services, and increased depreciation and capital.

Pangilinan said in a statement the company will pay an interim dividend of 60 pesos per share, in line with its plan to pay out at least 70 percent of core earnings.

Service revenues in the second quarter rose 11 percent to 42 billion pesos. The wireless phone business now accounts for more than two-thirds of total service revenues.

However, PLDT expects its earnings to grow again in 2013, as a result of heavy investments for network upgrade and expansion since 2010.

By 2014, PLDT expects to match its 2010 record profit of P42 billion. “That was our highest core net income in the history of PLDT. We want to match that in 2014 . We are on track,” Pangilinan said.

The three-year core profit guidance has factored in the impact of PLDT’s acquisition of Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel) from the Gokongwei group.

PLDT posted P9.3 billion in consolidated core net income in the first quarter of 2012. This was 12 percent lower year on year and was attributed to higher operating expenses, lower equity share in earnings of Manila Electric Co. (through Beacon Holdings) and a higher provision for income taxes.

Digitel contributed P200 million in core earnings during the first three months.

PLDT’s mobile phone subscriber base expanded to 67.4 million at the end of June from 66.1 million at the end of March.

 

source: mb.com.ph

Globe Telecom 2Q Net Profit PHP2.26 Billion; Down 9.7% on Year

 

Globe Telecom (GLO.PH), the Philippines’ second-largest telecommunications company by sales, said Tuesday its second-quarter net profit declined by 9.7%, as the pace of increase in revenue failed to keep up with rising costs.

 

Globe Telecom said in a statement its net profit fell to 2.26 billion pesos ($54.2 million) in the second quarter, down from PHP2.51 billion it recorded in the year-earlier period.

Revenue in the second quarter increased by 4.8% from a year earlier to PHP21.33 billion, while costs climbed 8.1% to PHP12.33 billion.

Globe’s April-June net profit is also 16% lower than the PHP2.70 billion it posted in the first quarter as revenue declined 1% from the previous quarter.

For the six months to June, net profit fell 10% to PHP4.97 billion, revenue climbed 6% to PHP42.79 billion, while costs and expenses increased 12% to PHP25.11 billion.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2012/08/06/globe-telecom-2q-net-profit-php226-billion-down-7-on-year/#ixzz231yXjMq4

BPO industry giving agents 30% extra pay to work on rainy day

The business process outsourcing industry (BPO) is not suspending operations on Tuesday despite a Malacañang memo canceling work in the private sector because of inclement weather, an official of Business Processing Association of the Philippine said Tuesday.

“We have a commitment to our global clients to operate 24/7, and because of that we cannot suspend operations,” BPAP executive director for external affairs Genny Marcial told GMA News Online.

Call center agents and other BPO workers who will report for work will get premium compensation of 30 percent over their basic pay, said Marcial.

In a separate interview with GMA News Online, BPAP president and CEO Benedict Hernandez said some BPO centers could operate even with a high level of absenteeism while other agents work at home.

Employee safety is a “priority” for BPAP even if the outsourcing contract calls for a 24-hour operation, Hernandez noted.

 “Nobody can force (agents) to go to work just because we have a contract,” he added.

The BPAP president said he has not encountered a situation where BPO workers did not report for work due to bad weather.

BPAP’s member-companies will comply with the rule on premium pay and safety standards for their employees including office food and shuttle service, Hernandez said.

BPO agents who are already at work “should better stay put” in their respective offices, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told GMA News Online.

Confusion in BPAP

Marcial said there was confusion earlier Tuesday within the BPAP on the supposed exemption of the BPO industry from the no-work memo.

“Some were saying we’re exempted (from the Palace directive), some were saying we’re not,” said Marcial.

The association was “caught by surprise” when Malacañang issued the no-work order, she noted.

 Thus, BPAP tried to clarify with Malacañang what the Palace memo “meant for us,” said Hernandez.

“We were requesting for a clarification…” said Marcial. “Are we really included? This is the first time… We were caught in a dilemma,” she added.

source link: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/268695/economy/companies/bpo-industry-giving-agents-30-extra-pay-to-work-on-rainy-day

Sy bank raising $2B from IOU sale abroad

The country’s leading financial institution Banco de Oro Unibank is raising up to $2 billion from an overseas debt facility to boost funds for long-term relending, including funding for big-ticket infrastructure projects under the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, the bank unveiled plans to set up a $2-billion Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) program and retire P10 billion in tier 2 debt by November this year.

The EMTN program is a medium-term foreign currency funding facility that gives flexibility to issue foreign currency-denominated notes in the international capital markets. These are offered on a continuing basis rather than a one-time deal like a bond issue, thus making it easier for an issuer like BDO to tap offshore capital markets.

EMTNs, which are issued and traded outside of Canada and the United States, are sold directly to the market with maturities of less than five years. The issuer maintains a standardized document and usually sells through preselected buyers.

“Setting up the EMTN program is a preparatory move on the part of BDO as this will enhance the bank’s ability to access longer-term funding for relending to projects like infrastructure under the government’s PPP program,” the disclosure said.

BDO also plans to exercise the early redemption option on its series 1 Tier 2 notes by November 21.

“Part of the proceeds from BDO’s recent stock rights offer has already been earmarked for the redemption of these higher-cost notes, which carry a coupon rate of 7 percent. The retirement of these notes will reduce the bank’s cost of funding as well as improve its capital structure in favor or higher quality core or tier 1 capital,” the disclosure said.

source:

“These are part of the bank’s liability management initiatives to tap longer-term funding sources and lower funding costs,” the disclosure said.

source: http://business.inquirer.net/75405/sy-bank-raising-2b-from-iou-sale-abroad

Who is Mr. Henry Sy?

Henry Sy, Sr. (Chinese: 施至成; pinyin: Shī Zhìchéng; born December 25, 1924) is a Chinese Filipino businessman with interests in retailing, real estate, hospitality, banking, mining, education including healthcare services. He pioneered the establishment of SM Malls, anchored by Shoemart Department Store and Supermarket earning him the title; the Philippines‘ Retail King. He is the chairman of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., the holding corporation for all his business interests in his vast business empire. In 2011, Forbes Magazine listed him as the no. 1 billionaire in the Philippines.

• Early life

Henry Sy was born to a poor family in Xiamen, China on December 25, 1923. He is the son of Henry H. Sy. He immigrated to the Philippines and got his start by selling rejected and overrun shoes from Marikina.

He completed his secondary education in a school now known as Chiang Kai Shek College and earned his Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Studies at Far Eastern University in 1950.

• Foray into business

In 1958, Sy established a small shoe store in Quiapo, Manila that marked the establishment of SM Prime Holdings. In November 1972, the small shoe store became SM Quiapo, SM’s first standalone department store.

On November 25, 1985, he established his first SM Supermall, SM City North EDSA.

He is the Philippines’ richest man, gaining $5 billion in 2010, amid the global financial crisis. The huge gain was due to his holding company, SM Investments Corporation, which has interests in Banco de Oro, inter alia. Forbes magazine’s 2008 list of 40 wealthiest Filipinos, revealed the Sy family’s net worth was $6.2 billion. Earlier, he was the second wealthiest individual in the Philippines, next to Lucio Tan, and (as of 2010) 201st in the world.

Sy is considered a tai-pan. The Sy group is the operator of Banco de Oro and owner of Chinabank. In 2006, he bought the remaining 66% of Equitable PCI Bank, the Philippines third largest lender, in which he already had a 34% stake, and merged it with Banco de Oro in 2007. The merger created the Philippines’ second largest financial institution with resources of close to $17 billion. Rumors say that the Sy family has a personal stake of $4 billion in these three banks, although there is no sufficient evidence to strongly substantiate that.

Sy sold his 11% stake in San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia’s largest food and beverage conglomerate for $680 million.

Henry Sy, Sr., was named “Management Man of the Year” by the Makati Business Club in 1999 and was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Business Management by De La Salle University in January of that year. He organized the SM Foundation Inc., which helps underprivileged and promising young Filipinos. Several of his children hold senior management positions in his companies, although he has groomed daughter Teresita Sy-Coson and his grandchildren Hailey Sy-Coson, Darcie Sy, Patrick Carlo Sy, Cheska Sy, Sarita Sy, Sam Ong-Sy and Josiah Sy as his successors. Sy’s holding company, SM Investments Corporation, has consistently been cited as one of the Philippines best-managed companies. On May 20, 2006, the SM Mall of Asia, built in the reclamation area of Pasay City, was opened to the public. It is the sixth-largest mall in the world.

source: wikipedia

Philippine stocks to remain buoyant this week

The local stock market may consolidate above 5,300 this week on positive second-quarter local corporate earnings and a recovery in US equities.

 

Last week, the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 1.27 percent to close at 5,285.91.

 

“Economic trends in the US might help [end the] weakness in the euro area, although more spotlight might be made on the latter this week,” said Freya May Natividad, an analyst at 2TradeAsia.com.

 

Natividad said chartists were keeping an eye on whether 5,400 could be retested or could consolidate “smaller highs” slightly above the 5,300 territory. She said the key factor would come from interim results for the first semester, especially for upcoming announcements this week from heavyweights PLDT, Globe, Manila Water, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Metro Pacific Investments and Ayala Corp.

 

“Anticipate occasional breathers following a rally and check for momentum build-up,” she said, noting that immediate support was at 5,200 and resistance at 5,300-5,350.

DA Market Securities said the stream of first-half earnings last week was generally positive and that “moving forward, we think that stellar first-quarter earnings will contribute to generally positive first semester results and keep the market buoyant.” It has recommended buying on dips.

 

Resistance was seen at 5,300, followed by 5,400 while support levels were seen at 5,100 and 5,000.

 

“The market could still be susceptible to weakness amid external concerns. The investor must also monitor possible lackluster earnings for individual companies,” it said.

 

AB Capital Securities said the decrease in the market volume and value might be mirrored this week. “Investors are recommended to stay on the sidelines while waiting for more earnings report and pursuing profit-taking as the ‘ghost month’ draws near,” it said.

 

AB Capital Securities expects the index to range between 5,372.03 and 5,143.99 given the lower market volume and anticipation of the “ghost month.”

source: Philippine Daily Inquirer