New NAIA may worsen traffic; PLDT is most valuable brand

THE aging Ninoy Aquino International Airport really needs a major makeover to meet rising travel demand.

This piece of infrastructure has become an embarrassment to the nation of late, with power outages and glitches recently stranding tens of thousands of tourists and kababayans.

NAIA, as I’ve written in my past column, has failed to play catch-up with its rivals in this part of the world after years of neglect and underinvestment. Worse, with the pandemic nearly over and international travel strongly bouncing back, NAIA is poorly positioned to meet increasing passenger demand with sufficient levels of service.

Fortunately, a consortium composed of six of the country’s biggest conglomerates offered an unsolicited proposal to provide the first concrete and immediate solution to NAIA’s problems. The consortium assured NAIA would have the ability to serve up to 70 million passengers a year efficiently, or more than double its current capacity. Now, here’s comes the catch. Will a modern NAIA with a much bigger passenger capacity not contribute to the traffic logjam in Metro Manila? The traffic gridlock in Metro Manila is worsening with the onset of the rainy season. Even without a heavy downpour, traffic in the metropolis is bad. Growing vehicle sales are also narrowing the roadways in the capital region.

An upgraded and bigger NAIA that can accommodate more air travelers will aggravate Metro Manila’s gridlock, unless the project incorporates a railway component. Modern urban centers in the world build and design their airports with a rail link to improve the accessibility of passengers to downtown areas or, in some cases, suburbs or distant cities.

The railway connection provides air passengers an option to avoid chaotic road traffic conditions in getting to their next immediate destination. American and European airports complement their airports with metros, or subways.

The NAIA is currently linked with toll roads designed to make travel in and out of the premier airport faster. Commuters using these toll roads, however, know better. The congestion toward the entry and exit ramps of these toll roads is severe and extends to the national roads.

Upgrading NAIA with a rail link could move air passengers to nearby provinces like Bulacan and Pampanga, or Laguna, Cavite and Batangas in the south with ease. The rail link could fetch the same passengers to Clark airport on their way to other destinations.

The same metros operate at airports in Beijing and Shanghai (Honggiao and Pudong) in China, Okinawa in Japan and Singapore.

An air-rail link will make NAIA a complete airport. Besides, it is more environment-friendly and sustainable than carbon-based transportation.

Telco’s reward

The strong commitment of PLDT Inc. to bridge the digital divide and protect the environment is finally reaping its reward.

PLDT continues to be the most valuable brand in the Philippines, based on an independent 2023 study of Brand Finance, a London-based business valuation and strategy consulting company.

Citing a 2-percent annual increase in brand value to US$2.6 billion, Brand Finance said the performance of the country’s largest integrated telecommunications firm contributed to the brand capturing a higher market share of the fiber industry, which led to a 45-percent improvement in year-on-year revenue.

The Brand Finance report noted PLDT’s consistent focus on innovation as a driver to improve customer service and propel the Philippines toward becoming a financial and technology hub. As one of the main drivers in its improved year-on-year revenue, PLDT Group’s investments in fiber technology was a key factor in receiving the prestigious award from Brand Finance, with a total fiber footprint of over 1.1 million kilometers as of end-March 2023.

“PLDT greatly appreciates the latest and prestigious recognition from Brand Finance for being conferred as the Most Valuable Filipino Brand this year. This inspires us more to continue providing the vital connectivity that powers our digital economy, enabling us to help transform the country into a globally competitive and digitally-empowered nation,” said Alfredo S. Panlilio, president and chief executive officer of PLDT and its wireless subsidiary, Smart Communications Inc.

“This recognition clearly shows that our efforts to proactively create brand loyalty, awareness, associations, and maintaining international standard of our products and services among our stakeholders are paying off,” Panlilio added.

Brand Finance also lauded PLDT’s deployment of carbon fiber cell towers, an environmental initiative that seeks to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by up to 70 percent, compared to using traditional steel towers. Carbon fiber towers also use less land space, reducing the need for land repurposing.

“PLDT is a socially responsible corporation and seriously cares for our environment by deploying the country’s first carbon fiber cell towers, as well as solar panels in our facilities across four cities to reduce over 137 tons of greenhouse gas emissions,” Panlilio said. PLDT in 2022 deployed solar panels in five PLDTSmart facilities across four cities to reduce over 137 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

In support of the government’s digitalization goals, the citation reinforced the commitment of PLDT and Smart to bridge the digital divide―a mandate of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Digital Infrastructure group, where Panlilio sits as a founding member.

The PLDT and Smart’s efforts recognized by Brand Finance are among the broad range of initiatives undertaken by the group in its drive to elevate customer experience and become the region’s leading environmental, social and corporate governance (ESC) telco.

E-mail: rayenano@yahoo. com or extrastory2000@ gmail.com

“With inflation easing and odds for a soft landing rising, investors may adopt an ‘it could have been worse mood’, so perhaps it’s unlikely risk sentiment will drift too far askew,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

He added that came “especially given the less hawkish implications the global inflation reset will have on central bank interest rates”.

Wall Street provided a healthy lead as the Dow chalked up an eighth straight advance, though disappointing earnings from tech titans Netflix and Tesla after the market closed dented sentiment. With AFP

NEW YORK, United States—Tesla reported a jump in second-quarter profits Wednesday as a series of price cuts translated into sharply higher car sales.

Elon Musk’s fast-growing electric vehicle company reported profits of $2.7 billion, up 20 percent on the year-ago level.

Revenues surged 47 percent to $24.9 billion -- a record for the company as auto deliveries surged 83 percent to 466,140 vehicles.

Total gross margin came in at 18.2 percent, down from 19.3 percent in the prior quarter and below the 18.8 percent expected by analysts.

Tesla characterized the profit margins as “healthy,” citing more efficient operations at the newer plants of Berlin and Texas.

The results topped analyst estimates for earnings per share and revenues.

Musk described the current macroeconomic backdrop as “turbulent,” noting the drag of high interest rates on consumers and quipping that “one day it seems like the world economy’s falling apart and the next day everything’s fine.”

But executives pointed to a broadbased easing of pressures on key commodities including aluminum and steel, as well key components in batteries such as nickel, cobalt, graphite and lithium.

Wednesday’s press release dropped language on supply chain challenges employed in recent earnings statements. Price cuts

Musk has undertaken multiple price cuts throughout 2023 on vehicles, telling investors in April that the company has “taken the view that pushing for higher volumes and a larger fleet is the right choice here versus a lower volume and higher margin.”

The move comes as more EVs from legacy carmakers like General Motors and Ford are hitting dealerships.

On Monday, Ford announced price cuts of as much as $10,000 on the F-150 Lightning, an electric version of the best-selling pickup, a move that added to concerns about an oversupply of EVs amid consumer anxiety over lack of charging capacity.

The Ford announcement added to concerns about a potential glut of EVs. EVs currently have more than 100 days of inventory, while industry-wide levels are 53 days, according to a Cox Automotive report. Shares of Tesla have more than doubled in 2023 so far as investors have overlooked concerns about shrinking profit margins and cheered other recent Musk initiatives. AFP

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES CORPORATION

11-B Sunrise Drive, Brgy, Eagong Lipunan ng Crame, Cubao, Quezon City

NOTICE OF STOCKHOLDER’S MEETING

To All ERC Stockholders:

Please be informed that the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting of the Educational Resources Corporation (ERC), shall be held on July 29,2023 Saturday, at 12:00 noon at Cafe Cucina Marco Polo Hotel, Ortigas Center, Meralco Avenue, Sapphire Rd., San Antonio Pasig City.

The following is the agenda.

1. Election of new directors for the incoming fiscal year.

2. Reportofihe President

3. Other matters.

Please be guided accordingly.

BANK of the Philippine Islands, the third-largest lender in terms of assets, said Thursday net profit jumped 23 percent in the first half to P25.1 billion from a year ago, driven by robust performance across business segments.

BPI said in a statement the remarkable performance in the first half resulted in a return on equity of 15.5 percent.

Revenues grew 13.8 percent to P65.6 billion, on the back of a 27.4-percent increase in net interest income to P50.1 billion, as the average asset base expanded 9.2 percent and net interest margin widened by 56 basis points to 4.03 percent.

This was tempered by the 15.4-percent decline in non-interest income to P15.5 billion on the property sale gain recognized in the prior year.

Removing the impact of the oneoff transaction, non-interest income would be higher by P2.2 billion or 16.3 percent, led by the increase in fees from credit cards, various service charges and securities trading.

“The drivers of the strong financial performance [in the first semester] were average asset base expansion, margin growth and lower provisions,” the bank said.

Operating expenses climbed 21.4 percent to P31.4 billion, as the bank spent for structural and one-time salary increases, continued investments in digitalization programs and various marketing campaigns, rewards and other selling expenses.

Cost-to-income ratio stood at 47.9 percent, while asset quality remained robust with a non-performing loan ratio of 1.88 percent and NPL coverage of 167.44 percent as of June 30, 2023.

The bank recognized provisions of P2 billion in the first half, or 60 percent below the P5 billion recorded over the same period last year.

BPI booked a net income of P13 billion in the second quarter, up 4.5 percent year-on-year, even without the benefit of a one-time gain. Revenues reached P33.9 billion in the quarter, up 4.9 percent, owing to the decline in non-interest income offsetting the increase in net interest income.

“Without the effect of the prior year gain from property sale, quarterly net income would be higher by 49.3 percent from the same quarter last year,” it said. Julito G. Rada