PAL Holdings names Tan’s grandson as new president BUSINESS

By Darwin G. Amojelar

PAL Holdings Inc. announced Thursday the appointment of the grandson and namesake of tycoon Dr. Lucio Tan as its new president.

The parent firm of Philippine Airlines and Air Philippines named Lucio Tan III as its president, taking over the post from his grandfather who retained his role as the company’s chairman and chief executive.

LT Group, the listed holding company of the tycoon, earlier named the younger Tan as its president, replacing his uncle

Michael Tan.

“As the newly-designated president of PAL Holdings, I am committed to providing stability and upholding the highest level of integrity within the company. I look forward to working closely with the PAL team, under the leadership of its president and chief operating officer, Capt. Stanley Ng, to ensure a collaborative and cohesive approach in serving the best interests of our customers,” the eldest son of the late Lucio Tan II said.

“We also aim to safeguard our shareholders’ investments by fostering a culture of transparency, accountability and long-term value creation,” he said.

PAL Holdings registered consolidated operating income of P17 billion in 2022, a turnaround from an operating loss of P4 billion in 2021.

The company attributed the turnaround

Pag-IBIG teams up with major TNCs and app-based couriers

PAG-IBIG Fund signed partnerships with the country’s top transport network and app-based courier companies to bring its membership to delivery riders on May 25. The agency also launched its ‘Pag-IBIG Asenso Rider Raffle Promo’ to encourage Pag-IBIG Fund membership among the estimated 420,000 delivery riders in the country.

“We are very happy to welcome delivery riders as part of Pag-IBIG Fund’s growing membership. More importantly, by being Pag-IBIG members, they may be able to avail of affordable home financing under the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Housing or 4PH Program of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., which aims to make available 6 million housing units to underserved Filipino families by 2028. These are among our many efforts to solve the country’s housing backlog and enable more Filipinos and their families to secure homes of their own,” said Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, who leads the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund board of trustees.

Pag-IBIG Fund signed agreements with transport network and app-based courier companies Angkas, Food Panda, Grab, Lalamove and Pick A Roo. With the agreements, the delivery riders will have better access to the Pag-IBIG Fund benefits that include its regular and MP2 savings programs which provide competitive returns and its affordable home loan programs to enable them to purchase homes of their own.

to the implementation of PAL’s financial restructuring plan and the increased demand for air travel with the reopening of travel borders.

“I am grateful to our shareholders, our customers, the flying public, for their trust and support. We face major challenges just the same. We need to rebuild our product and our fleet. Philippine Airlines needs to be a stronger competitor and a leader in service and innovation,” the oldest Tan said.

PAL Holdings’ consolidated revenues jumped by 137 percent to P139 billion in 2022 from P59 billion in 2021 as the number of passengers increased 214 percent to 9.31 million from 2.97 million.

PAL recently inaugurated the ManilaPerth nonstop service and reopened routes between the Philippines and points in mainland China.

In Brief

April hot money

posted

$352-m net outflows

FOREIGN portfolio investments or hot money posted net outflows of $352 million in April, a reversal from the $1.4-billion net inflows a year ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Thursday.

The April net inflows resulted from gross outflows of $1.1 billion and gross inflows of $713 million. Most investments (or 57.3 percent) were in Philippine Stock Exchange-listed securities which were placed in banks, holding firms, property, food, beverage and tobacco and transportation services, while the balance went to peso government securities (42.7 percent) and other instruments.

Data from the BSP showed that in the first four months, hot money yielded net outflows of $680 million, a reversal of the $1.4-billion net inflows recorded in the same period last year.

Registration of inward foreign investments delegated to authorized agent banks by the BSP is optional under the rules on foreign exchange transactions. Portfolio investments are also called “hot money” because of the ease they are invested in and taken out of domestic financial markets. Julito G. Rada

Ayala Corp. raises P13.1b from preferred share sale

CONGLOMERATE Ayala Corp. said Thursday it raised P13.1 billion from preferred share sale.

Ayala said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it sold 5.24 million preferred A shares at P2,500 apiece, comprising of 4 million shares as base offer and 1.24 million shares to cover oversubscription.

The preferred shares, with an initial dividend rate of 6.3587 percent per annum, will be listed on the Philippine Exchange Corp. on May 29 under the trading symbol “ACPAR”.

The preferred class “A” share offering is re-issuance of preferred shares that were previously issued and redeemed by the company. The deal was jointly underwritten by BDO Capital & Investments Corp. and China Bank Capital.

Ayala said it would use the process from the fund raising activity to refinance peso-denominated obligations and partially finance capital expenditures. The conglomerate has P10 billion debt due July 2023 and P4.5-billion short term debt in this June. It also plans to refinance the P10-billion preferred shares series B which is callable on November this year. Jenniffer B. Austria

MICT signs partnership with Autosweep operator

MANILA International Container Terminal teamed up with Intelligent E-Processes Technologies Corp., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp. that manages Autosweep RFID, to enable a faster, more seamless gate process for trucks at the Port of Manila.

The partnership will enable RFID scanners at the terminal gates to read Autosweep tags and match the trucks’ plate numbers, resulting in faster gate access and process.

SHELL-DENR PARTNERSHIP. Shell Pilipinas Corp. president and chief executive Lorelie Quiambao-Osial (seated, left) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Maria Antonio Yulo-Loyzaga (seated, right) sign a memorandum of understanding to signal collaboration on the identification and development of Nature-Based Solutions opportunities in the Philippines. NBS comprises activities related to the protection and enhancement of natural ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, wetlands and coastal zones or projects that improve agricultural sustainability to help absorb or prevent the release of greenhouse gases, while also delivering benefits to local communities and enhancing biodiversity of the area.

“Our investment in RFID technology is part of our constant effort to optimize the flow of cargo to and from the terminal. Over the years, one of the challenges we experienced with our automated gates is the low success rate of our license plate recognition cameras due to the poor condition of the plates mounted on some trucks. There were even trucks that just use laminated paper to display their MV file numbers,” said MICT information technology systems and services director Reynaldo Mark Cruz Jr. said.

“Using Autosweep’s RFID tags as a second alternative to identifying trucks addresses this problem and speeds up our gate operations,” he said. IETC is deploying personnel at MICT in May to offer free Autosweep tag installation for trucks transacting at the terminal.

Darwin G. Amojelar