Higher wine taxes favored B3
IN BRIEF Vista Land allots P18b for 10 malls
VISTA Land & Lifescapes Inc., one of the country’s leading integrated developers, said it is spending P18 billion to build 10 new malls over the next two years. Vista Land chairman Manuel Villar said the aggressive expansion would increase the company’s total leasable space to 1.5 million square meters from the current 910,000 sqm. Under the plan, the property firm will build seven Vista Malls with an average size of 30,000 sqm. These are located in Iloilo City, Davao City, Dasmariñas in Cavite, two in Bacoor and two in Las Piñas. Three smaller commercial development under the brand Vista Places, with an average size of 15,000 sqm, will also be constructed in Malolos, Bulacan; Kawit, Cavite; and Cagayan de Oro City. “All our malls will have an upscale feel but are not intimidating. They will cater to everybody. We came in at a time when consumers have higher spending power and the market standard for malls is leveling up. Thus our malls are designed to be much nicer than what others have right now,” said Villar. Jenniffer B. Austria
Air Asia PH cuts net loss to P1.2b
THE Philippine unit of Southeast Asia’s largest budget airline said it reduced net loss by 12 percent in the third quarter on higher passenger traffic. Air Asia Philippines said net loss amounted to P1.2 billion in July to September, down from the P1.4-billion loss it reported a year ago. Revenues increased 24 percent to P2.57 billion in the third quarter from P2.07 billion in the same period last year. “The increase in revenue can be attributed to higher passenger volumes which increased by 8 percent year-on-year and the increase in average fare by 21 percent year-on-year,” Air Asia Philippines said. Passengers carried by AirAsia Philippines increased 8 percent to 976,765 from last year’s 901,957, while load factor went down by 1 percentage point to 83 percent from 84 percent. Darwin G. Amojelar
Business
business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016
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IMF to hike growth outlook By Julito G. Rada
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HE International Monetary Fund is set to raise its growth forecast for the Philippines this year from the initial estimate of 6.4 percent, after the gross domestic product expanded 7.1 percent in the third quarter, an official said over the weekend. “The third-quarter GDP outturn in the Philippines, led by a recovery in agriculture and continued strength of private consumption and gross investment, was faster than anticipated in our 6.4-percent growth forecast for 2016,” IMF resident representative to the Philippines Shanaka Jayanath Peiris said in a statement. The Asian Development Bank earlier revised upward its 2016 growth outlook for the Philippines to
6.8 percent from 6.4 percent. The 7.1-percent third-quarter growth brought the average expansion in the first three quarters to 7 percent, representing the upper bound of the Duterte administration’s target range of 6 percent to 7 percent this year. “Therefore, we will mostly likely be revising up our growth forecast for 2016 in the next round of world economic outlook revision,” Peiris said. Peiris said the adjustments for 2017 and the medium term would depend on global developments and financial conditions that had become “more uncertain lately.” The IMF in September raised its growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.4 percent from the earlier estimate of 6 percent on sustained robust domestic demand and expected recovery in exports. It also increased the projection in 2017 to 6.7 percent from 6.2 percent. The upward revisions were contained in the latest report on World Economic Outlook. The country’s third-quarter growth of 7.1 percent, which was driven by investments, robust domestic
consumption and industries, was faster than China’s 6.7 percent, Vietnam’s 6.4 percent, Indonesia’s 5 percent and Malaysia’s 4.3 percent. The economy grew 6.8 percent in the first quarter and 7 percent in the second quarter, on election-related spending, robust domestic demand and investment. Japanese financial firm Nomura also raised its GDP growth forecast for the Philippines in 2016 to 6.7 percent from 6.3 percent. For next year, Nomura raised its GDP growth forecast to 6.3 percent from 6 percent, saying fiscal support to growth would remain strong, given the pragmatic and pro-growth stance of the new government. Credit Suisse also upgraded its growth forecast for the Philippines this year to 6.5 percent from its previous estimate of 6.2 percent. J.P. Morgan said the Philippine economy had the potential to grow 6.4 percent this year, as fiscal and infrastructure spending could lift domestic investment. The ADB raised the 2017 GDP growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.4 percent from 6.2 percent.
SMART EXPANDS IN DAVAO. Smart
Communications taps homegrown business chains to make its products and services more accessible to Davaoeños. Smart prepaid load and SIMs are now available in all branches of the Davao Central Convenience Store (and Rosver Pawnshop. Shown are Smart representatives led by regional development head for Mindanao Arnold Dellosa (fifth from left) and Smart’s partners, including DCCS operations manager Gregorio Asoy (third from right) and DCCS operations consultant Constancio Mancera Jr. (second from right).
Nido to drill new well in Galoc field
AUSTRALIAN oil and gas company Nido Petroleum Ltd. and its joint venture partners plan to drill an appraisal well at the Galoc mid-area in northwest Palawan in the first quarter next year in preparation for the expected depletion of the Galoc reserves by 2019. Nido said in a report to the Australian Securities Exchange it planned to drill the Galoc-7 appraisal well and an associated side-track (Galoc-7/7ST) in early 2017. “Galoc-7/7ST will appraise the currently untested Galoc mid area of the Galoc field… If the Galoc-7/7ST is successful, the subsequent development of the GMA will materially increase reserves and production, substantially extending the life of the Galoc field,” it said. The planned well will appraise the highly prospective GMA, an extension of the north of the Galoc field and the successful drilling will result in the commencement of the Galoc phase three development and first production in 2019. “Production at the Galoc field is currently declining and based on Nido’s proven reserves, estimates is anticipated to become sub-commercial in 2019,” Nido said. Alena Mae S. Flores
Firms expected to keep hiring
COMPANIES in the Philippines are expected to keep hiring new employees in the first quarter next year, but the number will be lower compared with the fourth quarter of 2016 because of the usual slowdown in consumer demand after the holiday season, results of a survey conducted by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show. The employment outlook index for the next quarter (first quarter of 2017) remained positive at 19 percent, but lower compared to 3.6 percent registered in the last quarter’s survey. “This suggests that more firms will continue to hire new employees than those that indicated otherwise, although the number of new hires could decrease compared to the previous quarter’s survey,” the regulator said. Respondents mainly cited the usual slowdown in consumer demand after the holiday season. Other reasons were the direction of the government’s foreign policies and economic reforms in the country, tighter competition with the entry of new players in the market and the wait-and-see attitude of investors in the wake of the US national elections which could impact the interest rate environment. Julito G. Rada
Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor
Filinvest Land investing P5b to redevelop Mimosa By Jenniffer B. Austria FILINVEST Land Inc., the integrated property unit of the Gotianun family, started the P5-billion redevelopment of the 201-hectare former Mimosa Leisure Estate in Clark, Pampanga. Filinvest Land president Josephine Gotanun-Yap said in a recent interview the company’s proposed masterplan for the redevelopment of Mimosa was approved by state-owned Clark Development Corp. The five-year initial development
plan calls for the construction of office, residential and hotel projects in the area. “In the next five years, we are supposed to spend P5 billion there. The speed of doing beyond P5 billion will depend on the economy. But we are very confident on the economy,” Yap said. The company started the refurbishment and renovation of existing facilities. Filinvest Land in joint venture with parent firm Filinvest Development Corp. won a long-term lease for the
former Mimosa Leisure Estate in January this year. The Filinvest group was the lone bidder for the property. It submitted a financial bid of P800 million, which was the minimum acceptable bid. The former Mimosa Leisure Estate is located in Clark Freeport Zone. The property includes an operating hotel with 303 rooms and 34 villas under the Holiday Inn brand and a 36-hole golf course. CDC took over Mimosa Leisure Estate during the Estrada administration
after former developer Mondragon Leisure Resorts Corp. failed to pay its lease rentals and other financial obligations. The estate will be developed through a joint venture corporation, with the Filinvest and CDC holding 95 percent and 5 percent respectively. The lease shall have a term of 50 years, renewable for another 25 years. Aside from Mimosa, Filinvest Land is also set to complete the masterplan for the 228-hectare section of Clark Green City.
DoF blames fund managers’ overreaction for peso slump By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE depreciation of Asian currencies including the peso against the US dollar was due to the “overreaction” of fund managers across the region, the Finance Department said over the weekend. Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said in his latest economic bulletin last week’s overall weakness of Asian currencies was an overreaction by fund managers to the prospects of higher US Federal Reserve rates this December. Beltran, who serves as the agency’s chief economist, said several emerging economies with excess savings such as the Philippines were not dependent on the regime of cheap financing perpetuated by the US. He said cheap financing resulted from the post-2008 financial crisis move by the Fed to cut rates as a monetary stimulus to ignite the US economic recovery. “Economies like the Philippines are net lenders, rather than borrowers. There is, however, an overreaction by fund manag-
ers and have lumped all economies into one category without regards to macroeconomic fundamentals,” said Beltran. He said with the impending normalization to be undertaken by the Federal Reserve, “the days of cheap financing and large capital inflows are coming to an end.” “With the US economy recovering, the Fed would soon end its monetary stimulus program, which it resorted to in 2008 to aid the American economy at the height of the then-global financial crisis,” Beltran said. “Low interest rates were a boon to developing countries with lower borrowing costs and significant inflows of capital,” he said. Reports said US policymakers were inclined to raise interest rates very soon. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the peso’s breaching of the 50-a-dollar level was an expected reaction of the local currency to the anticipated early rate increase by the Fed, with other Asian currencies also moving in the same direction.
ABOITIZ’S AWARD. The Aboitiz Foundation, the corporate social development arm of the Aboitiz Group, is recognized by Manila Science High School for its support in realizing the school’s vision and mission in providing quality education by supporting students through scholarships and financial assistance. Shown receiving a certificate of recognition during the school’s 53rd founding anniversary is Aboitiz Foundation assistant vice president for operations Danny Cerence.