BAIPHIL Market Watch – 01 March 2016

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BAIPHIL

MARKETWATCH

01 Mar

2016 Legend Improvement / Up Deterioration / Down No Movement

FINANCIAL MARKETS AT A GLANCE

PHILIPPINES

Financial Rates Current Previous

USD/PHP 47.5500 47.5150

30-D PDST-R1 2.5100% 2.4033%

91-D PDST-R1 1.4749% 1.4999%

180-D PDST-R1 2.0067% 2.0167%

1-Y PDST-R1 2.1317% 1.6750%

10-Y PDST-R1 3.8278% 3.8104%

30-D PDST-R2 2.5100% 2.3867%

91-D PDST-R2 1.4748% 1.4999%

180-D PDST-R2 1.5762% 1.6895%

1-Y PDST-R2 2.1317% 1.6714%

10-Y PDST-R2 3.8275% 3.8074%

Stock Index Current Previous

PSEi 6,671.04 6,771.30

Market Cap (Php Trillion) 10.698 10.779

Total Value (Php Billion) 8.491 6.458

PSEi Performers Closing % Change

Top Gainers

Medco Holdings 0.58 11.54%

LBC Express Holdings 9.24 8.83%

Premiere Horizon 0.44 8.54%

Top Losers PLDT 1,830.00 -17.68%

Island Information 0.20 -13.50%

Phil realty and Holdings 0.40 -11.11%

ASIA-PACIFIC

Stock Index Current Previous

NIKKEI 16,026.76 16,188.41

HANG SENG 19,104.59 19,364.15

SHANGHAI 2,687.83 2,767.21

STRAITS 2,660.70 2,649.38

SET 1,338.94 1,343.07

JAKARTA 4,756.13 4,733.15

Currency Exchange Current Previous

USD/JPY 113.4000 113.9900

USD/HKD 7.7765 7.7747

USD/CNY 6.5482 6.5390

USD/SGD 1.4097 1.4075

USD/THB 35.7330 35.7000

USD/IDR 13,395.00 13,365.00

REST OF THE WORLD

Stock Index Current Previous

FTSEuro First 300 1,310.12 1,305.00

FTSE 100 6,097.09 6,096.01

DAX 9,495.40 9,513.30

CAC 40 4,353.55 4,314.57

DOW JONES 16,516.50 16,639.97

S&P 500 1,932.23 1,948.08

NASDAQ 4,557.95 4,590.47

Various Current Previous

EUR/USD 1.0875 1.0933

GBP/USD 1.3917 1.3873

Gold Spot (USD/oz) 1,241.00 1,222.90

Brent Crude(USD/bbl) 36.66 35.10

3-M US Treasury Yield 0.31% 0.30%

10-Y US Treasury Yield 1.74% 1.76%

30-Y US Treasury Yield 2.61% 2.64%

PHILIPPINES

The local equities market lost ground as several large caps reported disappointing earnings results for the full year 2015. The PSEi index

dropped by 100.26 points or -1.48%, closing at 6,671.04. Most of the sectors declined, led by the services sector (-8.35%) as TEL fell by 18%. Meanwhile, properties (+1.84%) and industrials (+0.17%) bucked the trend. Market breadth was positive with 90 advances and 88 declines while 46 were unchanged. Total value turnover is at Php8.49 billion. Foreigners were net sellers at Php606.41 million.

The Peso traded flat today, hardly depreciating at all despite the robust economic data out of the US over the weekend. US consumer spending expanded at the fastest pace (+0.5%, vs. Mkt. Est. 0.30%) in 8 months last January and headline and core CPE indices of 1.3% and 1.7% beat consensus of 1.2% and 1.5%, bucking dovish expectations as to the timing of next Fed rate hike. The USD/PHP pair rose

3.0 centavos, or +0.06%, to close today's trading at the 47.55 level.

On the local fixed income space, prices of government securities ended the day mostly unchanged as market players looked to

key data releases this week, including the local inflation figure and the US non-farm payrolls report on Friday. Yields climbed by an average of 6.76 basis points as the short-end and belly of the curve climbed by 11.1 and 9.6 basis points, respectively.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) wants the newly established anti-trust body to come out with relaxed implementing rules and regulations (IRR) on reporting mergers and acquisitions (M&A), as investment banks caution that the interim guidelines may cool the country’s hot deal-making market. PSE President Hans B. Sicat told reporters last week the P1-billion transaction value of M&A

deals that should be reported to the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is “such a small number.” “The problem here is the law

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created potentially an extremely powerful commission which may decide that it wants to look at everything over P1 billion,” Mr. Sicat said, referring to Republic Act (RA) No. 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act. PCC issued on Feb. 16 a Memorandum Circular (MC) 16-002

covering parties to M&A agreements, where one of the involved companies has shares listed on the PSE and the transaction value exceeds P1 billion. The circular -- issued pending the release of the law’s IRR -- outlined transitory rules and guidelines for the notification process for M&A transactions involving companies listed on the PSE. The PSE has been in talks with the PCC several times and has

voiced out that “the issue of control and the issue of what you need to approve needs to be done relative to the type of industry, the type of products and even the geography may or may not be relevant,” Mr. Sicat said. “We cautioned them against utilizing trades on the exchange. There will be a different set of rules on how transactions are done on the exchange because at the end of the day, a fund

manager can be buying a company with no thought of control, with no thought of taking over,” he said. “It will be quite ridiculous for the commission to actually to try to get an approval for something that’s clearly a financial trade as opposed to a transaction geared towards controlling a firm,” Mr. Sicat added. Under the law, the PCC can adjust the threshold for mergers it will review through the IRR, Securities

and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Ephyro Luis B. Amatong said. “Maybe one size (P1 billion regardless of industry) should not fit all and maybe that is something that various concerned government agencies and other stakeholders can talk about,” Mr. Amatong said.

The real estate exposure of Philippine banks increased 6.8 percent in the second quarter of last year compared to the first

quarter amid the steady rise in real estate loans, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported over the weekend. Data showed

the real estate exposures of universal, commercial, thrift banks, and trust departments reached P1.4 trillion at the end of the second quarter in 2015. The BSP traced the increase to the 7.6 percent rise in real estate loans to P1.2 trillion in end-June last year accounting for 86.6 percent of the real estate exposures of the Philippine banking system. On the other hand, investments in real estate securities used to

finance real estate activities inched up 1.4 percent to P182.6 billion and accounted for 13.4 percent of the real estate expos ures in end-June last year. Despite the increase, the BSP said the non-performing real estate loan ratio of big banks and small banks improved to 2.3 percent in end-June 2015 from 2.6 percent in end-March last year. “The non-performing real estate loan ratio has been on a downward

trend since end-December 2013,” the BSP said. The bank regulator said it would continue to monitor the real estate exposures of universal, commercial and thrift banks as part of its broader role of assessing the quality of the banks’ exposures to the di fferent sectors of the economy. “Maintaining high loan quality is essential to the promotion of financial stability, which is a key policy objective of the BSP,”

the central bank added. Initial results of a stress tests conducted by banks validated the assessment made by the BSP that there are no risks from the real estate market. BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo earlier said initial results of the real estate stress tests conducted by banks showed the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of banks would remain above the central bank requirement, even if 25 percent of their

real estate loan portfolio turns sour. “At this point we don’t see any signs of stress in the real estate sector,” he said. The bank regulator has tasked banks to submit data on their real estate portfolio to include exposure in socialized housing as well as debt incurred through the issuance of bonds to finance real estate activities. “We have now a more comprehensive definition of the exposure to real estate. It’s more

dependable,” he added. Based on the new definition of the exposure of banks to real estate, Guinigundo explained that stress tests conducted by big banks revealed their CAR would still be above the 10 percent requirement set by the BSP and the eight percent threshold set under the Bank for International Standards (BIS). “Even if they factored in a 25 percent souring of the loans on rea l estate, they are still

above the 10 percent regulatory capital that we imposed on the banks,” Guinigundo added. Aside from the BIS methodology, he revealed the regulator also used the International Monetary Fund (IMF) identification of asset bubbles. “Those two tests will show that we are far from the so-called danger level,” he added. The CAR of big banks stood at 15.48 percent on a solo basis and 16.42 percent on a

consolidated basis as of end-June last year reflecting their continuous effort to maintain adequate capital buffer against unexpected losses that may arise during times of stress. The BSP stepped up its watch over the real estate sector as early as 2012 by ordering banks to disclose more comprehensive reports on their exposures to the property industry. The BSP has set the cap on real estate loans at 20

percent of the bank’s total loan portfolio.

The country’s financial regulators are investigating what could be the biggest single money laundering activity ever uncovered in

the Philippines—a total of $100 million that was brought into the country’s banking system, sold to a black market foreign exchange broker, transferred to at least three large local casinos, sold back to the money broker and moved out to overseas accounts, all in a matter of days. More importantly, the suspected illicit funds are said to be part of funds stolen by computer hackers

recently from the accounts of a bank overseas, which Inquirer sources said was a financial institution in Bangladesh. “The in itial report is that some funds went missing in Bangladesh and the suspicion is that this bank—or the central bank of that country, itself—was hit by hackers based in China,” said one banking source, relating a story that was corroborated by at least three ranking government officials and

four other bankers. “Somehow, those funds found their way into the Philippine financial system.” This was acknowledged by ranking officials at the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) who said that an investigation was ongoing as to the extent of the laundering activity, indicating that larger sums and other parties might be uncovered as part of the ongoing probe. Since learning about the story, the

Inquirer agreed to the request of an AMLC official to hold off on its publication by several days to allow the group to uncover more details about the operation and take the appropriate action against the suspects. Details gathered by the Inquirer from several government and banking sources showed that the suspected illicit funds first entered the Philippine financial system through a Makati City b ranch of Rizal

Commercial Banking Corp. through a transaction handled by one of its branch managers with foreign exchange broker Philrem. Once converted into pesos, the funds were consolidated from five individual bank accounts into a single corporate account of a Chinese-Filipino businessman who runs a “junket operation” flying in high networth gamblers from overseas to play in local casinos. A ranking RCBC official

told the Inquirer that the bank immediately filed what is called a suspicious transaction report with AMLC once its officials got wind of the activity, thus alerting regulators. This was in addition to a notice sent to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas by its foreign counterpart warning about the illicit funds. According to banking and gaming industry sources, the funds are owned by a Macau-based client of the junket

operator. These funds were used to either “buy chips” or “pay for casino losses” incurred at Solaire Resort and Casino, City of Dreams Manila and Midas Hotel and Casino, the sources said. “In fact, that client is in town right now and playing at our tables this very moment,” a source at one of the casinos told the Inquirer last Friday. Another industry source said the funds were soon moved back to bank accounts

overseas. Other local banks mentioned by sources in the course of the probe are Philippine National Bank, which holds the corporate funds of the Chinese-Filipino junket operator, and Banco De Oro Universal Bank, whose only participation, according to an official, was to remit the sum of $1.5 million to a bank account in Hong Kong as part of its regular dealings with Philrem, an accredited remittance partner of the

bank. BDO was not cited for any violation by authorities. “What regulators are now looking at is whether the financial institutions involved followed the know-your-customer rule in handling these funds,” the source said. “It’s a big amount. Under the law, they were supposed to ask their client where the money came from before accepting it.” Contacted by the Inquirer, a ranking AMLC official said the probe of the

transaction was ongoing.

Companies are expected to hire more in the second quarter with the expected rebound in economic activity after the usual

slowdown in the first quarter, results of a survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed. BSP’s Department

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of Economic Statistics director Rosabel Guerrero said results of the Business Expectations Survey (BES) for the first quarter showed the employment outlook index rose to 27.2 percent from 19.5 percent in the last quarter. “This indicates expectations of an overall increase in

the number of new employees to be hired for the second quarter of the year,” Guerrero said. In line with the bullish outlook on business activity for the next quarter of the construction and services sectors, she said their employment indices reached record-highs of 48.2 percent since third quarter of 2014 and 39 percent since the second quarter of 2012. Furthermore, she said out the percentage of

businesses with expansion plans in the industry sector for the second quarter of the year remained broadly steady at 31.3 percent. Guerrero said agriculture, fishery, forestry, mining and quarrying recorded stronger expansion plans while those of manufacturing were steady from a quarter ago. According to Guerrero, average capacity utilization for the current quarter decreased to 74.8 percent from the 77

percent registered last quarter. Guerrero said the results of the survey showed business outlook turned more optimistic for t he second quarter of the year with the confidence index rising to 49.6 percent from 43.9 percent in the last quarter’s survey. “The next quarter confidence index suggests that economic growth could be higher for the next quarter,” she added. Factors cited by respondents , she said,

included election-related spending in the run-up to the elections in May 2016, sustained increase in orders and projects leading to higher volume of production, and the anticipated increase in demand during summer. She explained respondents also cited the introduc tion of new and enhanced business strategies and processes as well as expansion of businesses and new product lines. Although more

respondents continued to expect inflation to rise for the current and next quarters compared to those who said otherwise, bus inesses expected the rate of increase in commodity prices to remain low at 1.9 percent for the first quarter and 2.1 percent for the second quarter. Inflationary pressures might arise from adverse weather conditions, election-related expenditures, holiday spending, peso depreciation and

possible adjustments in utility rates but these could be tempered by lower global growth prospects and the continued slump in the prices of oil and other commodities. Similarly, more respondents expect the peso to appreciate in the first and second quarter of the year compared to those who said otherwise.

Only around one percent of last year’s national budget has not been released to government agencies, indicating faster

disbursements that helped boost economic growth toward the end of 2015. A total of 98.7 percent or P2.573 trillion of the P2.606-

trillion outlay was deemed allotted to agencies for spending, preliminary data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed. The allocation rate was higher than the previous year’s 97.1 percent. “The full-time delivery units are critical to push for obligation and disbursement,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said in a text message to The STAR last Friday. The Aquino administration was

criticized early last year for persistent below-target spending that contributed to lackluster economic performance in the first half. Abad said with the bulk of the budget allotted, agencies had the responsibility to ensure funds were spent on time. However, he acknowledged there could have been delays. A total of P1.319 trillion of the departmental budget, P307.24 billion of special purpose funds, and P844.12 billion

on automatic appropriations were released. They represent 97.9, 78.3 and 97.4 percent of the total, respectively, data showed . “Even if projects have been fully released and obligated, disbursement usually lag behind,” the Budget chief said. “That’s because implementation takes a longer time. Sometimes, even if the project is already done, full payment does not happen immediately as reports have to be

submitted,” he explained. In budget release, allocation only allows agencies to sign up and pay for actual projects. Once they do so, funds are deemed obligated and after additional paperwork, may be disbursed. Sought for comment, Emilio Neri Jr., lead economist at the Bank of the Philippine Islands, said allotment figures are good indicators of spending this year. “This is consistent with growing disbursements

since September and the faster economic growth even amid a slowdown in exports,” he said in a phone interview. “Some of the agencies also likely fast tracked spending ahead of the elections,” Neri added. A ban on bidding out projects 45 days before the polls was said to have contributed to faster disbursement, which grew 13 percent as of November 2015. “I th ink they (the agencies) improved in a sense that

you could see the growth rates in spending going up,” Neri said.

The Philippine automotive industry zoomed to a fast start as it accelerated by a little over a quarter last month. A joint report by the

Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released yesterday showed vehicle sales growing 27.6 percent to 23,808 units in January. CAMPI and TMA said the growth was fueled by the strong sales performance across all vehicle categories. Passenger cars posted a nearly 20 percent jump to 8,632 units last month. Commercial vehicles

also grew by 32 percent last month to 15,176 units. CAMPI and TMA said Category 5 or the heavy duty trucks and buses segment led the growth in the commercial vehicle sector with a 188 percent year-on-year increase, largely driven by the ongoing construction and developments around the metro. “We estimated a lower to stable sales performance for January since December has just ended. We will

continue to offer products to meet the increasing customer demand,” CAMPI president Rommel Gutierrez said. Last month, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. maintained its market dominance with a share of 39.2 percent followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 20.4 percent. Ford Motor Co. Philippines, Inc. was on third spot with a 10.3 percent market share, followed by Isuzu Philippines and Honda Cars

Philippines with market shares of 8.3 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. Gutierrez earlier said the initial industry target for vehicle sales this year was at 350,000 units as vehicle demand in the country is expected to remain strong.

The next Philippine president must be able to champion economic liberalization as a way to boost the country’s productivity and global competitiveness, and to attract more foreign direct investments (FDIs), an economist from American banking giant Citigroup said. In a Feb. 19 research note “Philippines Economics View: Candidates’ Evolving Policy Agenda and Continuity Risk

Implications,” Citi Philippines economist Jun Trinidad said the presidential candidates’ recognition of the infrastructure gap and potential links to improving agriculture, and industrial competitiveness was easing continuity risk. But just like in previous elections, the economist said most presidential candidates held a strong ‘insular’ bias “perhaps due to domestic poverty and other economic issues closest to the

heart of the average voter.” Outside the infrastructure issue, the research noted that most candidates have failed to articulate their stance on amending the foreign ownership limits of the 1987 Constitution. “We believe liberalizing the foreign investment negative list (FINL) by allowing higher foreign ownership limits, which set a maximum of 40 percent for infrastructure, utilities and most service sectors (except

BPO and banks), would offer strong investment opportunities, and fewer constraints on foreign investor participation in the big-ticket PPP (public-private partnership) projects,” Trinidad said. Trinidad said easing the FINL and amending the economic restrictions in the constitution could entice more local and foreign investments and expose these sectors to global business practices, new technologies and

management systems. “Liberalizing FINL offers a strong positive signal to the investor community while completing the basic legal work the country needs to be fully committed to TPP (Trans-Pacific partnership agreement) and other free trading agreements, which include granting foreign investors/trading partners liberal access to the services industry/markets,” he added. TPP is an an economic grouping of

nations intending to boost trade and investments by dismantling trade barriers. In the Asean, only Singapore and Vietnam have so far signed up but the Philippines has expressed interest to join in the future. The Citi research noted that most candidates had expressed strong bias to prioritize agriculture among the economic sectors that need strong fiscal support. However, it noted that not many specifics

were offered on how to modernize agriculture other than to provide agri-based infrastructure and establish economic zones. The research also looked at potential ‘blue-sky’ economic effects assuming the infrastructure pledge and constitutional amendments go through during the term of the next administration. It assumed $1 billion in investments going to the electricity, gas and water and key service sectors

arising from the liberalization of FINL. Infrastructure spending pledges of the same amount were assumed to directly benefit the

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construction sector. Potential output lift was largest for electricity, gas and water (16.6 percent) sector while total output gains exceeding 0.7 percent were registered by the construction sector due to infrastructure lift, transport, storage and communications and other services.

Consistent non-gainers from other sector’s good fortune were government services, perhaps due to non-existent output linkage with other sectors and construction. Using the same treatment in the other sectors, Citi saw additional GDP growth of more than 0.5 percent in the following sectors: trade and repair, financial intermediation and real estate, renting and other business services. Growth in these sectors

also sparked incremental growth for the rest. The most impressive result is likely on manufacturing, with a GDP gain of nearly 1 percent—the highest growth result in this simulation.

UK-based investment bank Barclays sees the amount of money sent home by overseas Filipinos growing faster this year despite the continued softening of oil prices in the world market and the tensions in the Middle East. Rahul Bajoria, economist at Barclays Bank, said cash remittances from Filipinos abroad are expected to grow by five percent this year, faster than the 4.6 percent expansion

reported last year. “Looking ahead, we expect remittance growth to remain in positive territory in the first quarter of 2016, but it may be choppy given the currency volatility seen recently. We see remittances climbing five percent in 2016, as uncertainty around significant currency weakness in key regions such as ASEAN countries and the Middle East has subsided,” Bajoria said. He pointed out the growth

forecast of Barclays is more optimistic than the four percent target set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). “The BSP holds a more circumspect view and forecasts 2016 remittances will increase around four-percent to-five percent, as lower oil prices could dampen demand for overseas workers,” he added. Cash remittances reached a record $25.78 billion last year or $1.14 billion higher than the

$24.63 billion booked in 2014. For December alone, the amount sent home by overseas Filipinos hit a new monthly record of P2.47 billion, exceeding the previous monthly record level of $2.35 billion. BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. earlier said cash remittances from land-based workers amounted to $20 billion while sea-based Filipino workers contributed $5.8 billion last year. Tetangco pointed out the

continued deployment of skilled overseas Filipino workers remained a key factor to the growth in remittance inflows. Based on prel iminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the number of deployed overseas Filipino workers reached 1.8 million in 2015. The POEA reported that approved job orders for the year reached 835,247, of which 45 percent have been processed.

These job orders were intended mainly for service, production, and professional, technical and related workers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Likewise, the BSP reported commercial banks’ tie-ups, remittance centers, correspondent banks, and branches/representative offices abroad reached 5,424 last year, up 13.8 percent year on year. “The increased presence of banks abroad

and the introduction of new products and services for the benefit of overseas Filipinos continued to facilitate the channeling of remittances to the formal channels,” the BSP chief said.

The government wants to examine how the "big guys" are paying their taxes. Aside from top companies, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) should consider making an office to track tax payments by the so-called "high net worth individuals," Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said. "High net worth individuals are still lagging behind in terms of their share in nation building, in terms of their share in

paying taxes," Purisima said during Monday's tax launch of the BIR Large Taxpayers Service (LTS). "My proposal is to have a high net worth large taxpayer group similar to the LTS," he added. The LTS, which groups 2,320 corporations as of last year, is the BIR office in charge of collecting and monitoring taxes from the country's biggest corporations based on different criteria. Under Revenue Regulations 1-

1998, a taxpayer could be classified under LTS if its market capitalization is worth at least P300 million or its gross receipts totaled at least P1 million. Purisima did not specify how the government could classify a high net worth taxpayer, saying however that "foundations" may be laid out by the outgoing administration. "This is an idea that we would like to leave behind," the finance chief pointed out. He explained

the government should expand its tax base and for the BIR to continuously invest in information technology to boost its collections. As of last year, the LTS alone accounted for 61.15 percent of the entire BIR collections. Only 36.26 percent came from revenue regions nationwide, while over two percent were from non-BIR operations. The LTS collected P881.48 billion last year, up 6.85 percent from P825

billion in 2014, BIR data showed. It however fell 16.06-percent below its first trillion-peso goal of P1.05 trillion. The 2016 goal was pegged at P1.32 trillion. "This demonstrates how narrow our tax base it...We need to expand this because this country is not just about 2,000 companies," Purisima said. For his part, BIR Assistant Commissioner Nestor Valeroso said the LTS would strive to "double our efforts" to

attain this year's target. "We must check the economic movements in the economy. We will apply programs fitted to unlock the potentials in the economy," Valeroso said in a speech.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) confirmed the final bid submission deadline for a public- private partnership (PPP) project involving the auction of provincial airport contracts. A bid memorandum dated Feb. 26, 2016, showed that the final bid submission date was set on March 28 this year. The PPP is for the operation and maintenance as well as development

contracts for the Bacolod-Silay, Iloilo, Davao, Laguindingan and New Bohol air gateways valued at a combined P108 billion. The DOTC had announced that the earlier-set Feb. 29 deadline would not be met pending the issuance of the final concession agreement. This is the second airport-focused PPP since the P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport operation-maintenance and expansion contract was

successfully auctioned off in 2014. The provincial airport PPPs are among those that the DOTC is hoping to bid out and award before President Aquino steps down in June this year. The bidding process for certain deals, including the provincial airports contracts, can continue despite an election ban that runs from March 25 through May 8 this year because the Commission on Elections decided that PPP

projects are not covered by prohibitions stated in section 261 (v) and (w) of the Omnibus Election Code. The PPP Center had r equested the exemption as the projects are funded by the private sector and not by the public’s money. An initial exemption list of 13 PPP deals under procurement, with a combined project value of more than P500 billion, was identified by the Comelec. Some of the large items listed

are the P122.8-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike, the P170.7-billion North-South Railway project (South Line), the P19-billion Davao Sasa Port Modernization project and the P18.72-billion New Centennal Water Source- Kaliwa Dam project. Also included are the Light Rail Transit Line 2, which has no listed capital spending budget, and the regional prison facility in Nueva Ecija worth P50.18 billion.

The March 28 bid submission deadline for the provincial airports is open to the five groups that were earlier pre-qualified by the DOTC.

The country’s largest lender BDO Unibank Inc. racked up a record-high net profit of P25 billion for 2015, matching its earnings

guidance for the year despite a challenging operating environment. The bank grew its net profit last year by 10 percent. It also achieved another milestone by ending last year with assets breaching P2 trillion, the first Philippine bank to do so, the Sy family-led bank said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday. BDO said the sustained expansion in lending, deposit-taking and fee-

based businesses had driven this performance last year. The bank’s customer loan portfolio grew by 17 percent to P1.3 trillion, outpacing the industry’s growth of 13 percent. Total deposits expanded by 12 percent to P1.7 trillion, underpinned by the faster 19 percent jump in low-cost deposits.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has shuttered a rural bank in Negros Oriental for insolvency. In a Feb. 24 letter, BSP Deputy Gov.

Nestor A. Espenilla said the Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the BSP, had decided to stop the Rural Bank of Bayawan

(Negros Oriental) Inc. from doing business. The bank’s assets were placed under receivership pursuant to Republic Act No. 7653, or

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the New Central Bank Act. The Monetary Board has designated state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. as the bank’s receiver. PDIC is the statutory receiver and liquidator of closed banks in the country. Earlier, the BSP closed Lapu-Lapu Rural Bank Inc. in Carcar City,

Cebu, and the Rural Bank of Villaviciosa (Abra) Inc.

Homegrown fastfood giant Jollibee Philippines has awarded Digital Agency on Record duties to Dentsu Digit, citing the agency’s

breakthrough digital ideas. As digital AOR, Dentsu Digit shall provide the Jollibee brand a strong digital presence under the partnership. “We were unanimous in our decision that Dentsu Digit presented the best point of view among all the participating agencies,” said Francis Flores, brand chief marketing officer of Jollibee Global and head of marketing of Jollibee Philippines. “We look forward to working with them

to help make Jollibee a trailblazer when it comes to digital marketing and innovations and establish a deeper relationship wi th our customers,” he added. Dentsu Digit managing director Carlo Ople said they look forward to helping Jolibee become a digital trailblazer and pioneer. Merlee Jayme, CEO and chairman of Dentsu JaymeSyfu, said “Jollibee has always been a dream account.” “With our strength in

integration and Dentsu’s innovation, we would definitely bring Jollibee’s digital assets to a higher level and I’m sure everyone will have fun working on this brand,” Jayme said. Dentsu Digit is the fully integrated digital arm of Dentsu JaymeSyfu. It was acquired by Dentsu Aegis Network in December 2015.

PLDT income down.Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) ended 2015 with a core net income of

P35.2 billion in line with its guidance for the year. The figure was six percent lower than the P37.4 billion core profit rec orded in 2015, largely due to lower EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and increased financing costs. For this year,

however, PLDT chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan set a lower core net profit guidance of P28 billion, the smallest in 13 years, amid intense competition especially for data services, coupled with the entry of a new player in the market. Pangilinan said the c ompany needed to reset the core profit guidance to a lower baseline as it tries to move from its legacy businesses of landline and text messaging to digital

services. “I think we’ve come to the realization that we really have to reset the dials of the company as you move from legac y to digital. It won’t happen without any pain,” he said. PLDT shares plunged 17.86 percent to close at P1,830, their biggest single-day drop since 1987, after the phone carrier announced its financial results for 2015. In the fourth quarter last year, the telco incurred a loss. The company’s net

income, meanwhile, fell 35 percent to P22.1 billion as a result of the dip in the core net income, higher foreign exchange and derivative losses as well as the rise in impairment charges in relation to fixed assets and investments. Consolidated service revenues s lightly dropped to P162.9 billion. Efforts to maintain a fair share of the market amid decline in subscribers, would also hurt in the short-term and impact

earnings. “The loss of subscribers to Globe (Telecom, Inc.) accounted for the biggest hole in service revenues on prepaid bus iness,” Pangilinan said, noting the telco lost some five million subscribers to its main competitor. PLDT which holds 55 percent of the market, had a total wireless subscriber base of 68.9 million, consisting of over 3.9 million wireless broadband subscribers, and about 65 million cellular

subscribers as of the end of 2015. Pangilinan said the new core net income guidance also takes into account the possible entry of San Miguel Corp. in the market. PLDT estimates it will take two to three years before the company could bring back its profit to higher levels.

Conglomerate SM Investments Corp. reported flat earnings in 2015 but excluding non-recurring items, core net profit rose by 13 percent. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, SMIC said consolidated net income stood at P28.4 billion in 2015, posting the same level as last year. Consolidated revenues grew by 7 percent to P295.9 billion for the period. “Our strong underlying

earnings growth in 2015 was due to favorable domestic market conditions and improved efficiencies which helped us widen our margins particularly in retail and property,” SM president Harley Sy said. The increase in SM’s underlying earnings was attributed to the following: a 17 percent growth in retail earnings, 14 percent growth in property recurring net income and 10 percent growth in bank net income. For

2015, banks accounted for 40 percent of SM’s consolidated earnings while property and retail accounted for 38 percent and 22 percent. Retail operations under SM Retail Inc. – which consist of both food (SM Markets) and non-food (The SM Store), reported sustained growth in total sales of 7 percent to P211.4 billion, while net income rose by 17 percent to P6.8 billion.

The renewables unit of Aboitiz Power Corp. has secured a P12.5-billion loan from three financial institutions to redeem its

preferred shares and bankroll its operating expenditures. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, AboitizPower said its

subsidiary AP Renewables Inc. (APRI) signed an omnibus agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Bank of the Philippin e Islands (BPI) and Credit Guarantee & Investment Facility (CGIF), a trust fund of ADB. The issuance was certified as a climate bond in December 2015 by the Climate Bond Initiative and is the first issuance of its kind in Asia. “The proceeds of this undertaking will be used to

finance the partial redemption of APRI’s redeemable preferred shares, and the partial funding of its operating expenditure and future rehabilitation requirements,” the company said. BPI Capital Corp. acted as mandated lead arranger and bookrunner, while BPI Asset Management and Trust Group was appointed as trustee and facility agent. The company has been aggressive in its expansion program, with its goal to double its power capacity to roughly 4,000 MW by 2019. AboitizPower has started operating its Davao coal-fired power plant

at its full capacity earlier this month. The company is also constructing a 59-MW solar power project in Negros Occidental with SunEdison Philippines Helios BV and an 8.5-MW hydroelectric power plant along the Maris Main (South) Canal in Magat with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA). AboitizPower also made its foray in Indonesia, after it entered into agreements to explore and develop a potential

2x55 MW geothermal plant with PT Medco Power Indonesia in East Java Province, Indonesia and a potential 127-MW hydropower generation project with SN Power AS and PT Energi Infranusantara along the Lariang River in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMP) is ready to submit its application for the country’s P27 billion automotive industry incentive program as it gears up for the assembly of a new Vios model locally. “We are now ready to submit our application. We are just finalizing the documents, but we are ready to send documents to the BOI (Board of Investments),” TMP president Satoru Suzuki told The

STAR in an interview. He said TMP would be enrolling a new Vios model to qualify for the incentives under the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program. TMP will be the second participant to the government’s CARS program along with Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC). MMPC earlier this month vowed to invest P4.3 billion to expand its assembly operations in the country.

Suzuki said TMP is preparing to invest at least one billion yen to expand its local production capacity in line with its part icipation in the CARS program. Suzuki said the exact amount of investment as well as details for its participation would be revealed only after the application is filed with the BOI. Under the CARS program, prospective local car assemblers may apply for fiscal support not exceeding

P27 billion by locally assembling three vehicle models, or P9 billion per model, with a commitment to produce 200,000 units for each model during its six-year model life. The program seeks to boost local car assembly through incentives and allow industry players to become more competitive in the region. Aside from its participation in the CARS program, Suzuki said TMP is all set to hit new record sales with the

completion of its Innovative Multipurpose Vehicle (IMV) line-up in the country. TMP on Friday introduced the all new Innova following the launch of the all-new Hilux and Fortuner. The company expects to sell about 2,000 units of the all-new Innova a month. Suzuki said the complete line up of Toyota’s IMV in the country would help the company achieve its ful l year sales target of 150,000 units. “We just started

the year, January sales are strong. February is also picking up. After we launch Innova and completed the IMV series, (we expect) our sales to peak. I believe we are on track to hit 150,000 units this year,” Suzuki said. TMP is the market leader in the country among member

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companies of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA). The company held a market share of 39.2 percent last month based on latest industry reports by CAMPI and TMA.

Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. (Vista Land) is increasing its footprint to over 100 cities and municipalities this year, although the

country’s largest homebuilder is keeping a close eye on the troubles in the Middle East that may possibly affect sales to

overseas Filipinos. Vista Land President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel Paolo A. Villar said in an interview last week the developer is “doing more launches” as part of its growth strategy despite the challenges in the real estate industry. “In bad times and good times, we will be expanding in the provinces. Definitely we’re not going to stop expanding in the provinces this year. We are going to be, f rom where we

are right now, to about 100 cities and municipalities by the end of the year,” Mr. Villar said. Vista Land, owned by billionaire Manuel B. Villar, Jr. said in a regulatory filing in September it has established presence in 92 cities and municipalities across 35 pr ovinces. Mr. Villar cited the slight oversupply in the vertical segment of the market and the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers from the Middle East as

the major concerns in the industry. “History points to it not being bad as some people anticipated but you never can tell so its something we should be looking out for,” Mr. Villar said. Vista Land gets bulk or 55%-60% of its sales from overseas Filipinos. There have been worries the escalating tensions in the Middle East would adversely impact Filipino workers and cause a corresponding drop in remittances. Money

sent home by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reached $25.767 billion for the entire 2015, reflecting an increment that breached a downward-revised 4% full-year target and 4.6% more than 2014’s $24.628 billion. A sizeable chunk of remittances came from OFWs based in the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Should the situation in the Middle East worsen, Mr. Villar s aid the

strengthening US economy may offset its impact on the residential industry. Vista Land expects its earnings this year to get a boost from the consolidation of Starmalls, Inc. to its books after completing the acquisition of 88.25% of the mall and office developer . “By the end of 2016, we’re expecting Starmalls to have a very rapid growth. We will have a growth surge in 2016. There will be a significant impact from

Starmalls,” Mr. Villar said. The merger of Vista Land and Starmalls will accelerate the transformation of the former from a purely residential developer into the country’s fourth biggest integrated property developer. Vista Land grew its nine-month earnings by 18% to P5 billion from P4.25 billion on higher double-digit growth in revenues from its core housing projects. Real estate revenues jumped 13% to P16.7

billion in the January to September period.

City of Dreams Manila, an integrated gaming and entertainment resort destination operated and managed by Melco Crown

Philippines (MCP) Resorts Corporation, recently obtained data center colocation and internet services from Globe Business, the information and communications technology (ICT) arm of Globe Telecom as part of its business continuity and disaster recovery strategy. The dynamic and innovative resort complex will outsource their data management requirements and media storage to Globe

Business. Located on an approximately 6.2-hectare site at the gateway to Entertainment City, City of Dreams of Manila offers entertainment, hotel, retail and dining and lifestyle experiences with aggregated gaming space, including VIP and mass-market gaming facilities with up to approximately 380 gaming tables, 1,700 slot machines and 1,700 electronic table games. Its operations will rely on the

data center colocation service to keep each recorded and processed data safe in an off -site storage and a controlled environment. “We pride ourselves in providing exhilarating experiences through world-class accommodations, amenities, and facilities, topnotch service, and our highly-trained people. We are committed to give the best service to our customers, and Globe is the first in mind as a partner in

providing us ways to ensure that the standard of service that we offer stays the same in times of calamities with its best-in-class portfolio of ICT solutions,” says Geoff Andres, Property President of City of Dreams Manila. “We are pleased to have been chosen by City of Dreams Manila as their preferred ICT solutions partner as we help boost their growth in the Philippines enabled by the latest technological

innovations such as Data Center colocation and internet services,” said Mike Frausing, Globe Senior Advisor for Enterprise and IT Enabled Services Group. “With Globe Business, industries and enterprises can expect specific solutions tailor-fit for their needs, allowing them to improve work efficiency and productivity that will help them transform their business for the future.” City of Dreams Manila opened its doors

to the public in December 2014 and marked the formal entry of Melco Crown Entertainment into the fast-growing and dynamic tourism industry in the Philippines. The resort delivers an unparalleled entertainment and hospitality experience to the Philippines and is playing a key role in strengthening the depth and diversity of Manila’s leisure, business and tourism offering, enhancing its growing position as one of

Asia’s premier leisure destinations. It has been developed to specifically meet the needs of the large, rapidly growing and increasingly diverse audience of leisure and entertainment seekers both in the Philippines and those visiting Manila from across the Asia region and around the world. For more information about the Data Center Services, get in touch with your Globe Business Account Manager or call the

Globe Business Premium Support Center at +63 2.730.1288 toll-free using a Globe mobile and landline.

Filipino-owned snack food maker Liwayway Group of Companies is braving the economic headwinds in the world’s second

largest economy, recently completing a $13-million acquisition and embarking on more expansion in China. While most manufacturing firms are exiting China due to its slowing economy and rising labor costs, the homegrown firm behind the Oishi brand has seen these as opportunities to further strengthen its grip in the Chinese market. In an interview, Liwayway chairman Carlos Chan told The

STAR the company has recently acquired Spain’s Cola Cao business in China in a transaction costing between $12-to $13-million. Cola Cao is a chocolate drink manufactured by Spanish firm Idilia Foods, a company that has decided to move out of the Chinese market. Chan said Liwayway plans to invest about $7-to $8-million more to put up new lines in the acquired Cola Cao factory in Tianjin. The Liwayway

Group is expected to continue Cao Colas business in China to add to its portfol io of more than 100 snack food and beverage products. Aside from the acquisition of Cola Cao, Chan said the company also intends to add more to its 16 existing plants in China. “W e’re going to put up at least one plant in Southern China. The land is already given to us so we have to build. This year we will start development and in

two years it will be operational,” he said. Chan said the Liwayway Group has been fortunate to maintain last year the growth it posted in China in 2014, despite challenges in the country’s economy. “We’re still expanding in China and in Southeast Asia a lot,” he said. Aside from Shanghai, the company has snack-making plants in 14 other locations around China such as in Harbin near Mongolia and Xinjiang

near Kazakhstan. The Liwayway Group also has plants in the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and India. The company started in the Philippines in 1946 by selling starch and coffee and then expanded into the snack food business several decades after. It ventured in China in 1993, marking the start of the company’s international expansion.

Taipan Henry Sy Jr. and luxury cars dealer Robert Coyiuto Jr. have decided to cancel a share-swap deal that would effectively

transform their publicly listed Synergy Grid and Development Philippines Inc. as the holding company of the National Grid Corp.

of the Philippines (NGCP), which is majority owned by their two separate companies. The cancelled transaction also puts to rest speculations that NGCP would do a backdoor listing via Synergy Grid. NGCP operates, maintains and develops the country’s power grid. It holds the 25-year concession contract to operate the country’s power transmission network. Filipino-owned entities One Taipan Holding

Corp.’s Monte Oro Grid Resources led by Sy and Pacific21’s Calaca High Power Corp. led by Coyiuto control the 60 percent stake in NGCP. The remaining 40 percent is held by State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) as its technical partner. In a letter submitted to the board of directors of Synergy Grid, the two businessmen said they no longer want to pursue the share-swap deal because they were unable to

obtain a tax-free ruling for the transaction. Sy and Coyiuto said the assignments should have been tax free under Section 40 of the

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Philippine National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC). “Since a ruling confirming both assignments as ‘tax free’ under Section 40(C)(2) of the NIRC has not been obtained to date and as the consummation of the said assignments have been pending for five years already, Sy and

Coyiuto no longer wish to further wait on the confirmation,” Synergy Grid said. According to Section 40 of the NIRC, tax free-exchanges are allowed for two instances: transfer to a controlled corporation; and, merger or consolidation. “In the first instance, no gain or loss shall be recognized if property is transferred to a corporation by a person in exchange for stock or unit of participation in such cor poration of which

as a result of such exchange said person, alone or together with others, not exceed ing four persons, gains control of said corporation,” the NIRC said. The board likewise approved the cancellation of the increase in authorized capital stock, which was based on the share swap transaction approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 28, 2011.

Quorn, the British manufacturer of meat alternatives recently acquired by local snack maker Monde Nissin, will begin distributing

this year in the Philippines a limited range of its products to cater to the growing preference of “more educated consumers” for

alternative protein sources. Quorn CEO Kevin Brennan said the company sees a huge sales potential in the Philippines as more consumers” appreciate the health benefits of alternative meat products and develop concern for the sustainability of meat production.” “We see a huge potential for the business in the Philippines because younger, more educated consumers tend to feel that the amount of meat

in their diet, particularly red meat, is too high,” Brennan said on the sidelines of the Great British Festival held in Taguig Friday. “That trend has accelerated all over the world. And we have the best solution to that.” Quorn makes a full range of alternative meat products that include ready to cook options such as chicken and fish nuggets and sausages as well as minced pork and beef that allows customers to

cook from scratch. Its products are made mainly from mycoprotein or protein derived from a particular type of fungi, hence having less fat (85 percent less) than lean beef and zero percent cholesterol. Brennan said the company had been eyeing Asia for some time but initially had no expertise in the market. With its acquisition by Monde Nissin, it would now be able to take advantage of the local firm’s wide

distribution network. “We have a tiny bit of product in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia but we have not properly entered (the market). Monde Nissin’s distribution is very strong. With the new ownership, we have been given an opportunity to strengthen (our pres ence) in Southeast Asian markets especially in the Philippines where you will find a limited number of soy-based (alternative meat) products,” he

said. “So we are confident that what we will bring is a change in the quality of the product and we know that the consumers a re looking for solutions,” he added. Brennan said the products—all of which would be distributed under the brand name Quorn—would be priced competitively to attract a significant portion of the market. “All over the world our products are almost the same price as meat. Typically our

products would have a small premium over meat,” he said. A “modest range” of Quorn products—nuggets and minced meat among others—would be sold in selected grocery stores. Brennan said several of its products, such as minced meat, had already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Monde Nissin completed the $831-million acquisition of Quorn in the fourth quarter of 2015 in line

with its thrust to diversify its portfolio and become a global food company. In the past 18 months, Monde Nissin acquired three other food companies: Black Swan, Nudie and Menora Foods, all based in Australia. Monde Nissin manufactures the well-known instant noodle brand Lucky Me! as well as snack products Monde Special Mamon, Bingo Cookie Sandwich, and Nissin Wafer. Quorn has been making

alternative meat products since the ’80s and has presence in 15 countries. Brennan said 95 percent of Quorn products are currently manufactured in the UK, with the remaining five percent manufactured in the US. Should Quorn products fare well in the Philippines, the company would consider localizing the manufacturing operations or moving production to Southeast Asia. “At the moment, we are only in

the first few months of working together. All fermentation processes, a core process, now take place in the UK. But as we get bigger, our aim is to localize abroad in regions so we may move to Southeast Asia,” said Brennan. “But for now we are a competitive food manufacturer and we can take on the extra cost of shipping here,” he added. Quorn is also developing its market in Thailand and Indonesia

where it has yet to have a presence. To date, the alternative meat market strongest in Europe and US with minor presence in Asia.

Solar Philippines, one of the largest developers of rooftop solar power plants in Southeast Asia, has completed its 63.3-megawatt

(MW) solar farm in Batangas, providing additional power supply in the western part of the province. In a statement, the firm said its solar project in Calatagan has started generating power weeks before the Department of Energy (DOE)’s deadline of March 15, 2016. Solar Philippines, led by 22-year-old entrepreneur Leandro Leviste, also said the solar farm was developed, financed and completed

exclusively by a Philippine company. The project was made possible through the support of local banks, namely Philippine Business Bank (PBB), BDO Unibank Inc., China Banking Corp., and Bank of Commerce. “Our banking partners have given unprecedented support, and we look forward to extend these partnerships into future projects,” Leviste said. It also claimed it is the largest solar project completed in the

Philippines to-date. The solar plant, which comprises over 200,000 panels on a 160-hectare property, is now supplying enough power for the entire Western Batangas. The Calatagan solar project is expected to offset over 1 million tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to planting over five million trees in the next three decades of its operation. During construction, the project employed 2,500 people and is expected to

continue to employ at least 100 people, boosting the local economy of Batangas. Solar Philippines will soon begin construction of its next projects in Mindanao and Luzon that would generate a total of 500 MW by 2017. “Whereas others see solar as just a part of their portfolio, we believe that it will one day supply the largest share of the energy mix,” Leviste said. “Costs continue to improve, and solar will soon

become cheaper than coal. As the only local company organized to develop and build solar farms from end-to-end, we are in a unique position to realize that potential,” he added.

Crown Asia Chemicals Corp. launched a new product line to boost its revenues. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Crown Asia said Crown Enduro line offers a complete range of pipes and fittings for sanitary and drainage pipes for value conscious markets. With the new product line, Crown Asia Chemicals will be able to tap a largely underserved market segment by

serving the mass housing market. These projects, usually implemented by government agencies in partnership with private developers, provide affordable dwellings to the broader base of the mass population and there is an estimated backlog of five million uni ts for this sector. The company recently introduced PPR and HDPE pipes which are required by projects that specify high pressure strength pipes.

Crown Asia Chemicals is also looking forward to manufacture heavy duty and wider diameter Crown PVC pipes for drainage purpos es in the very near future. Last month, the company also announced the expansion of its compounding capacity through the acquisition of a new PVC compounding line from Germany, expanding its existing capacity by another 1,500 metric tons per year (MTPY) to 15,000 MTPY.

Crown Asia Chemicals started operations more than two decades ago with a single Taiwan machine and 22 employees, grew its bus iness through the years and added more plants, buildings and equipment. It currently manufactures PVC compounds for applications in wires and cables, IC tubings, bottles and films. The company’s market capitalization has now reached more than P1.5 billion.

Benedicto-owned Enrison Land Inc. (ELI) has spent nearly P1 billion for its first five-star resort in Bohol and is already drawing

up plans for another upscale resort in Mactan Island, Cebu. The Cebu-based property developer is involved in a variety of businesses

including furniture and cement. Its first venture in the hospitality/tourism industry is the three-star Be Resorts in Mactan Island, Cebu. In an interview with the STAR, Be Resorts president Grand Benedicto said the company has spent close to P1 billion to develop the five-star Be Grand Resorts Bohol on a sprawling five-hectare beachfront property in Panglao Island, in close proximity to the popular Alona Beach.

According to Benedicto, Be Grand Resorts is their first venture into upscale resort catering to affluent individuals following their successful

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Be Resorts hotel venture in Cebu. Be Grand Resorts opened just last month and is already enjoying a modest occupancy rate. The resort has 208 rooms comprised of 189 hotel guestrooms and suites, and 19 luxury villas. The resort has two lagoon pools, a kiddie pool, and a

separate specially-designed scuba-diving training pool aside from its beachfront feature. It is still in the process of completing a separate spa facility, although in-room spa/massage services are already available. The resort is located 40 minutes away from the Tagbilaran Airport and is just 35 minutes away from the city’s shopping and commercial district. Even this early, Benedicto said, they are

already planning another upscale hotel/resort on their three-hectare property in Mactan Island, a short distance away from their existing Be Resorts. Benedicto is optimistic on the tourism potential of Bohol, which has already seen a boom in the number of small luxury boutique hotels and big tourist hotels such as Bellevue and Henann. However, Benedicto said, Be Grand Resorts is the first establishment in the

area that would cater to wealthy clients with their 19 luxury villas which feature a freeform pool. The luxury villas would have their own butler service, as well as their own “farm-to-table” concept restaurant. Bohol is experiencing a heavy influx of tourist as the Department of Tourism closely coordinates with the local government in offering eco-tourism tour packages. Bohol has already began ground work for the

construction of a much bigger, JICA-funded international airport to accommodate the growing number of domestic and foreign visitors. Local entrepreneurs are likewise doing their part with a number of young scions of Filipino-Chinese families expanding on the family business such as that of local restaurants Gerardas which is now being managed by Aimee Calatrava-Lim; Estrellas, a new bakeshop

managed by Ella Mae Labunog, which will offer European Danish pastries, baguettes, croissants and even New York bagels; and Ginto Chocolates of Dalareich Polot, which is already being sold in the NAIA terminals.

ASIA-PACIFIC

Japanese stocks dropped on Monday as the dollar slipped against the yen and investor sentiment was hit by falls for Chinese shares.

The Nikkei share average ended 1.0 percent lower to 16,026.76 in choppy trade. The benchmark index backed off from early morn ing

gains of as much as 1.7 percent after China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled. For the month, the Nikkei stumbled 8.5 percent, a third straight monthly decline and the biggest one since May 2012. The broader Topix fell 1.0 percent to 1,297.85 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 declined 1.1 percent to 11,755.65.

Chinese investors bailed out of stocks on Monday on worries that funds were migrating from shares into property and disappointing

earnings among high-growth companies. The fall adds to losses accrued from a similar sharp drop last week, when indexes ended down

more than 6 percent in a single day, as Beijing's efforts to salvage a stock crash last summer continue to lose steam. The CSI300 index fell 3.0 percent, to 2,859.10 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index was down 3.4 percent, to 2,673.36 points. At one point, the SSEC was down as far as 4 percent. The Shanghai index is pressing against the intraday support level in late

January around 2,638 points, and remains well below the false bottom it found in August, when the Chinese government unleashed a massive market intervention to return the market to a "reasonable bull market." The botched response to the crash was widely seen as throwing Beijing's competence to manage a modern stock market into question and the government subsequently replaced the chief stock

regulator earlier in the month, but the change has done little to restore confidence so far. Analysts blamed much of this mor ning's drop on weekend news about Shanghai property, with media showing investors queuing up at government buildings to register new sales. Key real estate indexes outperformed the wider market but ended the morning session slightly down, with analysts warning that signs of overheating

investment in first-tier property markets - in particular Shanghai and Shenzhen - signalled the beginning of a longer migration out of China's volatile stocks into property.

Southeast Asian stock markets were mixed in range-bound trade on Monday as investors shifted focus to monthly economic data to gauge the health of the region, with weak sentiment in Asia capping risk appetite. Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index was up 0.4 percent at a near-one-week high of 2,660.07. Banks were actively traded, led by a 0.4 percent rise in United Overseas Bank, after the city-

state said total bank lending in January rose from December as business loans to manufacturers and financial institutions inc reased. Singapore is on track for a gain of about 1 percent this month, in line with positive performances by most other sharemarkets, bringing in foreign inflows again after the outflows in January. The Thai SET index reversed the previous week's rally, slipping 0.3 percent, after a

worse-than-expected fall in industrial output in January due to the impact of weak global and domestic demand. Broker Maybank Kim Eng Securities sees limited market downside ahead of a set of January economic data later in the day. "If Thailand's economic numbers for January continue to recover, especially those relating to government investment and domestic consumption, we see less chance of a 2016

earnings and target price downgrade in the next phase," its report said. The Thai index is set to notch up a monthly gain of nearly 3 percent, almost as much as Indonesia, both lifted by foreign-led buying. Vietnam is poised to lead gains in the region with a 4 percent rise during February. Malaysia and Indonesia will be releasing money supply data in January later in the day. Asian stocks were off to a

cautious start after a weekend meeting of the Group of 20 economic policymakers ended with no new coordinated action to spur global growth and solid U.S. data revived expectations of a U.S. rate hike before year-end.

Japan's industrial output rose the most in a year in January, tentatively signaling a pick up in factory activity, but the outlook remains far from assured given global market jitters and weakening demand both at home and abroad. The 3.7 percent month-on-month gain compared with economists' median estimate of a 3.3 percent gain in a Reuters poll, and followed a 1.7 percent drop in

December, trade ministry data showed. It was the fastest gain since January 2015, led by production of cars, electronics parts and general-purpose machinery, but manufacturers see poor prospects for industrial output in the coming months. Retail sales fell 0.1 percent in January year-on-year and 1.1 percent month-on-month, following a contraction in fourth quarter gross domestic product, underscoring

weakness in private consumption which accounts for about 60 percent of the economy. Policymakers will scrutinize coming data, including January household spending due on Tuesday, for more clues to health of the economy. "Expectations for additional monetary and fiscal policy action could rise if weakness in consumer spending and the broader economy persist," said Yuta Egashira, economist at SMBC

Nikko Securities. "The risk of two straight quarters of economic contraction cannot be ruled out," he said, raising the possibility of Japan suffering a technical recession.

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China said on Monday it expects to lay off 1.8 million workers in the coal and steel sectors as part of efforts to reduce industrial

overcapacity, but no timeframe was given. China has vowed to deal with excess capacity and eliminate hundreds of so-called "zombie enterprises" - loss-making firms in struggling sectors that are being kept alive by local governments trying to avoid job losses. Yin Weimin, the minister for human resources and social security, told a news conference that 1.3 million workers in the coal sector could lose jobs, plus

500,000 from the steel sector. It was the first time a senior government official has given a number for job losses as China deals with industrial overcapacity amid slowing growth. "This involves the resettlement of a total of 1.8 million workers. This task wil l be very difficult, but we are still very confident," Yin said. For China's stability-obsessed government, keeping a lid on unemployment and any possible

unrest that may follow has been a top priority.

The yuan weakened for a seventh day, the longest run of declines since December, as China’s central bank lowered the

currency’s reference rate and the dollar advanced amid data showing a strengthening U.S. economy. The People’s Bank of China reduced its reference rate for the fifth day in a row to 6.5452 a dollar. The yuan’s drop suggests that the People’s Bank of China is paying more importance to moves against a basket of currencies, according to Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. A Bloomberg replica of the

CFETS RMB Index, which was unveiled in December and measures the yuan against 13 exchange rates, shows the Chinese currency has been trading in a range of 101 and 99 in the past eight weeks. “The key message over the past week is that the authorities are looking at the basket more and keeping the yuan stable to that rather than the dollar,” said Tommy Xie, a Singapore-based economist at OCBC. The

yuan fell 0.1 percent to 6.5479 a dollar in Shanghai as of 1:34 p.m. on Monday, while the rate traded in Hong Kong dropped 0.06 percent to 6.5502, according to China Foreign Exchange Trade System prices. Both rates are heading for the first monthly gains since October. A measure of dollar strength rose 0.7 percent on Feb. 26, the most since Dec. 17, as data showed the U.S. economy expanded more than

estimated in the fourth quarter.

The widely predicted failure of G20 leaders to agree on bold new steps to reinvigorate the world economy at a meeting in

Shanghai this weekend puts the onus firmly back on central bankers. But after years of increasingly desperate attempts to kick-start growth there is fear among bankers and top finance officials that monetary policy is running out of effective ammunition and future stimulus efforts could even be harmful. "Monetary policy is extremely accommodative to the point that it may even be counterproductive in terms of

negative side effects on banks, policies and growth," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said at the G20 meeting. "Fiscal as well as monetary policies have reached their limits," he said. "If you want the real economy to grow, there are no shortcuts which avoid reforms." The G20 acknowledged that monetary policy alone is not enough to combat rising global risks but leaders failed to outline

concrete steps, making only vague and general pledges. Facing a new paradigm of slow growth and the legacy of crises, top central banks have kept rates near or below zero for years, waiting in vain for governments to embrace reforms instead of pointing the finger at monetary policy. Testing uncharted waters, smaller central banks in Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark even cut rates deep into negative territory,

raising the prospect that monetary policy still had some room left. The BOJ and the ECB both followed suit but the results have been mixed, with side effects.

Singapore's central bank said there was room for banks to strengthen underwriting practices in their corporate lending business after it conducted an inspection of several lenders. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said protracted low interest rates and increased liquidity over the past years had resulted in a very competitive market and compressed interest margins for banks. In this

environment, some banks may relax loan structures and covenants, and under-price risks in their corporate lending activities, it said. The MAS did not name the banks, and said that while it did not see any notable weakening of underwriting standards and practices, there were areas for improvement and isolated cases of undesirable lending practices. Singapore banks have seen a rise in their bad debt charges in

2015, hit by deteriorating quality of energy loans and a slowdown in China. Rating agency Moody's said last week the broad-based deterioration in asset quality in Singapore seen in 2015 will continue due to slowing Asian economic and trade growth and increasing stress for oil and gas borrowers.

Singapore welcomed 0.9 percent more international visitors in 2015, but tourism receipts fell for the first time since 2009 as an

uncertain global economic outlook and weak currencies in some of the top markets kept a lid on spending . Preliminary estimates

show 15.2 million people visited the city-state last year, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said in a statement. Tourism receipts fell 6.8 percent to S$22 billion ($15.6 billion), hurt by fewer visitors for business travel and meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibition (BTMICE). The fall in BTMICE visitors and spending due to companies cutting back on both travel and trip budgets has had a significant

impact on tourism receipts as these visitors spend about two times more than the average leisure visitor, Singapore Tourism Board Chief Executive Lionel Yeo said. The STB forecast 2016 visitor arrivals of 15.2-15.7 million, which is flat to a 3 percent rise. It expects tourism receipts to be in the range of S$22-S$22.4 billion, or flat to a 2 percent rise. Singapore, which relies on tourism for about 4 percent of its

economic output, has over the years built itself into a tourist destination famous for its glitzy malls, street food, casinos and the night Formula One race. Tumbling local currencies have hit travellers from Indonesia, the city-state's biggest market, and Malaysia, but efforts to promote Singapore in smaller Indian and Chinese cities are paying off, STB data showed. Visitors from China, the second-largest market,

grew 22 percent in 2015, although they spent 5 percent less as of the third quarter.

Indonesia's government will back controversial revisions to the law governing its top anti-graft agency, a senior cabinet minister

said in a statement on Monday. Lawmakers in parliament have been in discussions to review the authority of the popular Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), proposing revisions that critics say will leave the agency unable to effectively fight endemic graft in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. "The government will agree to the revisions as long as they can be shown to s trengthen the KPK, and

not weaken it," said chief security affairs minister Luhut Pandjaitan. Criticism from anti-corruption activists and the KPK itself last week prompted President Joko Widodo to ask parliament to suspend its discussions. Among parliament's proposals, which the government backs, are the limiting of the KPK's powers to wiretap suspects without a warrant and setting up a watchdog for the KPK. "All this time, the

wiretapping has been done without any coordination or clear accountability even within the KPK,” Pandjaitan said, adding the new law should call for the agency to set up a standard operating procedure to approve wiretaps. The government agrees with the KPK's need to hire independent investigators, Pandjaitan said, while parliament has sought to limit its pool to just the police and attorney general's office.

The new chief of the KPK, Agus Rahardjo, has threatened to resign if the revisions proposed by parliament are enacted, saying they will make it impossible for the agency to make arrests. The KPK suffered huge setbacks last year when a bitter rivalry with police prompted the arrests of three key KPK personnel and several cases ground to a halt. Parliament and police are widely perceived to be among the most

corrupt institutions in Indonesia, and MPs and police officials are often the targets of KPK investigations.

South Korea’s won posted the biggest monthly decline since July as odds for another interest -rate cut build, just as the outlook

for higher U.S. borrowing costs boosts the dollar. The currency fell to a five-year low versus the greenback on Monday and is Asia’s

BAIPHIL Market Watch – 01 March 2016

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worst performer this month as North Korea’s rocket launch on Feb. 7 weighed further on sentiment. The won weakened even as an index of South Korean local-currency bonds climbed in February by the most since September, driving the three-year yield to four basis points

below the central bank’s benchmark rate. One of the seven policy board members voted for a cut at this month’s meeting. The won declined 3 percent this month while rising 0.1 percent from Friday to close at 1,236.65 a dollar in Seoul, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Group of 20 finance ministers didn’t offer up much from their gathering in Shanghai over the weekend, other than to say

they will refrain from competitive currency devaluations. "Speculation for higher U.S. interest rates has revived, supporting strength in the dollar and adding to weakness in the won," said Jeon Seung Ji, a foreign-exchange analyst at Samsung Futures Inc. in Seoul, who predicts the won will weaken to 1,250 in March. "The G-20 failed to meet expectations that major countries will come up with some form of

coordinated stimulus plan or measures to deal with currency volatility."

REST OF THE WORLD

European shares headed for a weaker start on Monday and stayed on track for their third-straight month of losses as a weekend meeting of the G20 group of leading economies failed to come up with concrete and new measures to boost growth. The Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers declared on Saturday that they needed to look beyond ultra-low interest rates and printing money to

shake the global economy out of its torpor. A communique from the meeting flagged a series of risks to world growth, including volatile capital flows, a sharp fall in commodity prices and the potential "shock" of a British exit from the EU. Futures for the Euro STOXX 50, Germany's DAX , France's CAC and Britain's FTSE were down 0.9 to 1.2 percent by 0719 GMT. In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-

Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7 percent, while Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.0 percent. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended 1.6 percent stronger on Friday after touching a three-week high during the session. It was on track for its third-straight month of losses.

Wall Street ended lower on Monday, falling out of lockstep with oil prices as energy and healthcare shares lost ground . U.S. indexes gave up early

gains despite a 3 percent rally in U.S. oil prices. Stocks and oil have been strongly correlated in recent months as crude prices tanked to

decade lows, and their movements in opposite directions during the session was notable to investors. Following gains last week, technical trading dominated the action as the S&P 500 fell below its 50-day moving average, a sign seen as bad for sentiment. The index broke above the average on Thursday for the first time this year. "If stocks rally up to a declining 50-day average, people will sell against that,"

said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc in San Antonio. "From a psychological standpoint, you have that overhead resistance at that level." Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors fell, led by a 1.58 percent decline in the healthcare sector .SPXHC, with Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) down 3.60 percent. The energy index .SPNY fell 1.16 percent despite a 3 percent increase in the price of U.S. oil amid signs

that a 20-month selloff could be hitting bottom. The S&P utilities index .SPLRCU was the lone gainer, up 0.2 percent and helped by a 1.34 percent increase in Edison International (EIX.N). The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 0.74 percent to 16,516.5 points and the S&P

500 .SPX lost 0.81 percent to 1,932.22. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.71 percent to 4,557.95. For the month, the Dow rose 0.3

percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq lost 1.2 percent. Strong data, including improving consumer spending, released last week suggested the U.S. economy was recovering better than expected, raising expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates this year. After the bell, Workday (WDAY.N) fell 1 percent as the cloud-computing company reported a bigger quarterly net loss, hurt

by higher spending on sales, marketing and product development. Shares of Endo International (ENDP.O) slumped 21 percent after the

pharmaceutical company's revenue forecast missed estimates. Valeant (VRX.N) tumbled 18.41 percent after the Canadian drugmaker said

its chief executive would return from medical leave and it delayed the release of its quarterly results. Icahn Enterprises ( IEP.O) rose 3.68

percent after the activist investor offered to buy the rest of Federal Mogul (FDML.O). Shares of the auto parts maker soared 45.78 percent.

Although the main indexes closed lower, advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,593 to 1,453. On the Nasdaq, 1,545 issues fell and 1,283 advanced. The S&P 500 index showed seven new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 46 lows. About 8.0 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 8.9 billion daily average for the past 20

trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

This year’s rout in European stocks has led to the biggest gap in a decade between the most expensive and cheapest shares,

showing the lack of faith investors have in the region’s economic outlook. The 10 members of the Euro Stoxx 50 Index with the highest valuations, such as makeup maker L’Oreal SA and retailer Inditex SA, trade at 25.6 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 7.4 times for the cheapest companies, which are almost all financial firms and include France’s BNP Paribas SA and

Spain’s Banco Santander SA. Last March, when the European Central Bank began its bond-buying program and shares were about to hit a peak, the costliest stocks were about twice as expensive as the cheapest. Rather than getting better, evidence is mounting that the region’s recovery is faltering, with data last week showing inflation rates fell from Germany to France and Spain . The time couldn’t be worse, with

companies having their biggest earnings letdown since before the financial crisis. Even speculation for more ECB support has failed to boost sentiment amid concern that ever lower interest rates will end up hurting bank profits. “The valuation gap, especially between financials and the rest of the market, is really a problem of trust,” said Christian Zogg, who helps manage about $10 billion as head of

equity and fixed income at LLB Asset Management in Vaduz, Switzerland. He favors health-care companies and sees consumer shares as too expensive now. “A lot of people in the market seem to believe that we are not in this recovery phase anymore. Investors hang on to relatively stable business models.” This year’s plunge in lenders sent the Euro Stoxx 50 down as much as 30 percent from its April high,

taking its valuation to 12.7 times projected profits from 16 then. While both the most expensive and cheapest companies have taken a hit, the multiples in the period have tumbled almost four times more for the low-cost group. The dispersion was the narrowest between 2010 and 2011, when the valuation gap was about half what it is now. Back at the end of March 2006, when the difference between ch eap and

highly priced equities reached similar levels, the benchmark index was heading for a fourth annual advance that it extended into a fifth year before slumping in 2008. In 2015, it completed a fourth year of gains, while stocks worldwide fell. Adding to global -growth worries, economic data in the euro area, which beat forecasts during most of 2015, began missing projections in January. Last week, a report

showed confidence dropped for a second month, increasing pressure on the ECB to act. President Mario Draghi said in January the central

BAIPHIL Market Watch – 01 March 2016

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bank may reconsider its monetary policy stance at its March meeting, which takes place next week. “The below zero rates in Europe and the short-term memory of the financial crisis in 2008 do really harm investors’ trust in financial stocks,” LLB’s Zogg said. Economists have

remained bullish on the recovery, projecting growth of 1.6 percent for the euro area -- the most since 2011. And strategists are betting that the Euro Stoxx 50 will rebound 14 percent by December from Friday’s close. “The gap must close at some point this year,” said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management in London, referring to the wide dispersion. His firm oversees 139 billi on euros ($152

billion). “There is some exaggerated concern about the systemic risk in the banking sector. The valuations seem extreme.” Whi le Credit Suisse Group AG said last week the selloff in banking shares is overdone, those in the Euro Stoxx 50 trade at 8.6 times projected profit, near a record low relative to the broader gauge. Deutsche Bank AG, hit by growing fears over its creditworthiness, was among those that

fell to its lowest price ever this month, before rebounding as it reassured investors. With a gauge of global market stress near its highest level since 2011, European investors are going for the safer bets. A FTSE index tracking defensive companies in the region -- those that tend to do better in times of market turmoil -- is near a record high relative to another one following cyclical shares. Traders are favoring

consumer and health-care stocks because of their stable earnings growth and dividend yields, according to BNP Paribas Fortis’s Philippe Gijsels. With bond rates turning negative in some countries, payouts of more than 3 percent at companies such as Sanofi and Unilever are especially attractive, he said. “You’re almost forced to get into this market because of the negative interest rates and on the other hand you

also want to get these stable companies with nice earnings,” said Gijsels, the chief strategy officer of BNP Paribas Fortis in Brussels. “The market has really been moving at two speeds since the start of the year. You can easily envision a world in which this premium gets even 10-15 percent higher.”

Highly-leveraged U.S. energy companies are struggling to carry out debt swaps as part of their survival strategy because

plummeting oil and gas prices make investors either avoid such deals or demand tougher terms . Last year, at least 10 exploration

and production companies, including California Resources Corp (CRC.N), managed to ease financial pressure by persuading investors to

accept some losses on their bond holdings in return for new debt that often matures later and offers better collateral. Yet since prices

tumbled further early this year, investors have grown more worried that some firms may not survive the rout. They see no point in accepting debt with potentially better collateral if it could mean nothing once the firm hits the wall. The deepening slump also means that producers need to offer more attractive terms - higher interest payments and more collateral - to win over investors and avoid the brutal equity

wipeout that happens in most bankruptcies. "Investors are less desperate now since they've already taken a lot of the pain," said Roopesh Shah, global chief of Goldman Sachs' restructuring group. "They have less downside they're trying to protect," he said. Shah said debt exchanges were still viable, but needed to offer better protection and potential gains for investors. That is a tall order for producers, which

must conserve cash to make it through the price slump, and whose ability to issue new debt is limited by provisions in bond documents that tie debt to commodity prices. Pennsylvania-based Eclipse Resources Corp (ECR.N) that acquires and develops oil and natural gas

properties in Ohio, canceled a debt exchange launched in January. Denbury Resources Inc (DNR.N), a Texas company with operations in

the Rocky Mountains and along the Gulf of Mexico Coast, pulled a debt swap even after sweetening the deal for investors. "Ultimately we

terminated because it wasn't attractive enough for us," said Denbury spokesman Ross Campbell, adding that the company is stil l deciding whether to try another swap. Eclipse declined to comment.

Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes fell to their lowest level in a year in January amid a persistent shortage of properties for sale, which could slow the housing market ahead of the spring selling season . Other reports on Monday showed factory activity contracting in the Midwest and remaining subdued in Texas this month as the manufacturing sector continued to be buffeted

by a strong dollar, weak global demand and spending cuts by energy firms. But coming on the heels of recent strong data on consumer spending, the labor market, industrial production and durable goods orders, Monday's reports did little to change the view that the economy was regaining momentum after slowing to a 1.0 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter . “The disappointing data tone points to ongoing

weakness in the housing and manufacturing sectors," said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York. "Nevertheless, with underlying domestic fundamentals remaining supportive to growth, the economic recovery should regain its footing in the first quarter." Growth estimates for the first quarter are above a 2 percent rate. The National Association of Realtors s aid its pending

home sales index declined 2.5 percent to 106.0 last month, the lowest level since January of last year. The NAR attributed the drop to tight housing inventories, which are limiting choice for potential buyers and pushing up home prices. A massive snowstorm that blanketed the Northeast region in late January was also blamed for the decline in signed contracts. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast pending

home sales rising 0.5 percent last month.

Compliance with Operational Risk Management Guidelines - 04 March 2016

BSP Cir. No. 706, AMLA Law, RA 10365 and the AML Risk Rating System - 04 March 2016

Credit Risk Modelling: Current Practices and Applications - 10 March 2016

ACCOUNTING STAFF

New accounting graduates or highly

proficient and qualified accounting professional

Send your resume and cover letter to the SECRETARIAT@baiphil.org or contact Tel No (632)853-4457 or (632)519-2433 or drop by at our office: Unit 66, 6/F Kanlaon Tower, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City

BAIPHIL Market Watch – 01 March 2016

Page 12 of 13

For details, please contact BAIPHIL via telephone (853-4457/519-2433) or email training@baiphil.org.

COURSE COMMITTEE

Corporate Governance

Susan Alcala-Uranza

Chairperson

Tess Galvadores Chief Adviser BOD

Objective: To organize and offer Corporate

Governance sessions.

MARCH 1-15

01 Alex C. Ongtenco – Northpoint Dev’t Bank

06 Henry T. Pelaez – Bank of America

07 Marissa M. De Mesa- CARD Bank Inc 08 Ma. Bernadette T. Ratcliffe – Eastwest Bank

08 Juan M. Raymundo – World Partners Bank

11 Maria Elena M. Ruiz – Assoc. Life Member

13 Restituto C. Cruz - BSP 13 Arlene G. Chua Sy – Mega ICBC

15 Joseph T. Sulit – Sterling Bank of Asia

SMART BETA - Smart beta defines a set of investment strategies that emphasize the use of alternative index construction rules to traditional market capitalization based indices. Smart beta

emphasizes capturing investment factors or market inefficiencies in a rules-based and transparent way. The increased popularity of smart beta is linked to a desire for portfolio risk management and diversification along factor dimensions as well as seeking to enhance risk-adjusted returns above

cap-weighted indices.

“Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day

arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.”

- Dalai Lama

BAIPHIL Market Watch – 01 March 2016

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Most Expensive Burger in the world

Fleur Burger 5000

Found at Fleur de Lys in Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada, you can have this burger for $5,000

This tasty piece of culinary jewelry contains Wagyu beef, foie gras, shaved black truffles and truffle sauce. It’s served on a brioche truffle bun. In the price, a bottle of Chateau Petrus- the

vintage 1995, and French Fries are included.

One day, one of a pair of identical twins celebrated their first birthday.

Two days later, the other twin celebrated their birthday.

The twins were born within 5 minutes of each other - so how can this be explained?

BPI Asset Management Business World Philippine Daily Inquirer Philippine Star

GMA News ABS-CBN News Bulletin Today Reuters

Bloomberg CNN Wall Street Journal Strait Times

Investopedia Brainy Quotes Goodreads Corsinet – Trivia

Trivia Of The Day Filipi-Know Phrases.Org.UK Fun, Trivia & Humor

Compiled And Prepared By: Research Committee FY 2015-2016

Director: Maria Teresita R Dean (ChinaBank Savings) Chair: Sheryll K. San Jose (Equicom Savings Bank) Members: Rachelle A Fajatin (Equicom Savings Bank)

DISCLOSURE: The BAIPHIL Market Watch (BMW) is for informational purposes only. The content of the BMW is sourced from third party websites and may be subject to change without notice. Although the information was compiled from sources believed to be reliable, no liability for any error or omission is accepted by BAIPHIL or any of its directors, officers or employees, and BAIPHIL is not under any obligation to update or keep current this information