JTI-Mighty buyout talks drive up LT Group stocks

MANILA, Philippines - Shares of LT Group Inc. (LTG), the holding company of taipan Lucio Tan, rallied for the second straight day yesterday following the Department of Finance’s announcement that Japan Tobacco Inc. (JTI) is in talks to buy embattled cigarette company Mighty Corp. for P45 billion.

LTG subsidiary Fortune Tobacco Corp. and US tobacco giant Philip Morris Manufacturing Inc. are partners in PMFTC Inc., the country’s biggest tobacco player with a 71 percent market share.

During yesterday’s session, LTG shares closed at P17.88 per share, up 7.45 percent after reaching a high of P18 per share. On Thursday, the shares likewise went up and closed at P16.64 per share, up 6.94 percent after reaching a high of P16.90 per share.

Traders said the acquisition of JTI, if it pushes through, would level the playing field in the cigarette industry because as a multinational company, JTI is seen adhering to proper regulatory measures and business practices.

“The industry will be better with fair competition and the playing field is level. LTG will definitely benefit from it,” said Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance Inc.

For years, PMFTC, which previously had a 90 percent share of the cigarette market, had been struggling with illicit trade in the industry including the alleged use of fake cigarette stamps by Mighty.

Mighty is the Bulacan-based cigarette company owned by the Wongchuking family. It has been at the center of a multibillion peso cigarette tax stamps issue after authorities raided several of its warehouses since late last year for alleged use of fake tax stamps.

The company has denied using and selling cigarettes with fake tax stamps but authorities such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has slapped tax evasion charges against the company.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) likewise suspended the import accreditation of Mighty, effectively paralyzing its operations.

On Wednesday, the Department of Finance said JTI has offered to buy Mighty for P45 billion, part of which the company would use to settle its tax obligations to the government.

Industry sources said Mighty and JTI have been in talks since May after the Japan-based company decided to beat by P10 billion the offer of British American Tobacco (BAT), which was also interested in acquiring Mighty.

The STAR earlier reported that BAT was working with retail tycoon Lucio Co to acquire Mighty. Co, who also has a liquor business, who has previously expressed interest in investing in the Bulacan-based company.

Mighty president Oscar Barrientos confirmed to The STAR that they are no longer in talks with BAT after Mighty received a better offer from JTI.

Sources said separately that the government preferred JTI’s offer because it would provide bigger elbow room for Mighty to pay its tax deficiencies of P25 billion.

Source: By Iris Gonzales (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 15, 2017 - 12:00am

ADB: Rise in exports boost developing Asia's growth outlook

The Philippines is expected to grow at 6.5 percent this year and 6.7 percent next year, up from earlier forecasts for 6.4 percent growth in 2017 and 6.6 percent in 2018.

MANILA, Philippines — Stronger-than-expected export demand has improved growth prospects for Asia's developing economies, including China, the Asian Development Bank said Thursday.

 

The Manila, Philippines-based ADB upgraded its growth forecast for this year to 5.9 percent from an earlier forecast of 5.7 percent. It expects developing Asia to grow at a 5.8 percent pace in 2018, up from its earlier forecast of 5.7 percent.

 

China's economy, the world's second biggest, is forecast to grow at a 6.7 percent pace in 2017 and a 6.4 percent pace in 2018, the report said. The outlook is more optimistic than the bank's last forecast, made in April, for 6.5 percent and 6.2 percent growth in 2017 and 2018.

 

"Developing Asia is off to a good start this year with improved exports pushing growth prospects for the rest of 2017," said ADB's chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada. "Despite lingering uncertainties surrounding the strength of the global recovery, we feel that the region's economies are well-placed to face potential shocks to the outlook."

 

South Asia will remain the fastest growing sub-region, with regional expansions projected at 7 percent in 2017 and 7.2 percent next year, the report said.

 

Southeast Asia's growth is expected to remain at 4.8 percent in 2017 and 5 percent in 2018, with slower expansion in oil-dependent Brunei slightly offsetting faster growth in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

 

The Philippines is expected to grow at 6.5 percent this year and 6.7 percent next year, up from earlier forecasts for 6.4 percent growth in 2017 and 6.6 percent in 2018.

Source: (Associated Press) | Updated July 21, 2017 - 8:23am | Philstar Global

MPIC P25-billion project

Metro Pacific files P25-billion project linking Cavite, Tagaytay and Batangas

Posted on June 27, 2017 - Business World

INFRASTRUCTURE conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) has submitted to the government a P25-billion unsolicited proposal to build an expressway connecting Cavite, Tagaytay and Batangas.

“We have an alignment proposal to the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways). It’s called the Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway, CTBEx,” MPCALA Holdings, Inc. President and CEO Luigi L. Bautista said in a recent interview.

MPCALA Holdings is a unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the tollways arm of MPIC. Mr. Bautista said the project would cost “about P25 billion” and had been submitted to the DPWH.

“It’s an extension of CALAX (Cavite-Laguna Expressway). So it will start from Silang interchange of CALAX, all the way to Tagaytay, then all the way to Nasugbu. It’s about 45, 46 kilometers,” he said.

The Metro Pacific group earlier broke ground for the Laguna segment of the P35.43-billion CALAX project. The Cavite segment is set to start construction by September and MPCALA will sign the construction contract with Leighton by end June.

The CALAX project involves the construction of a 44.6-kilometer four-lane toll road between the Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx) in Kawit, Cavite and the SLEx-Mamplasan Interchange.

Mr. Bautista said the company had yet to finish the feasibility study for the project. If its alignment is approved by the DPWH, it will be an unsolicited proposal, he added.

“If we get the original proponent status, that’s when we will do the detailed engineering design,” the MPCALA executive added.

The proposal will not have any conflict with San Miguel Corp.’s P27-billion proposal to build an alternative toll road that will link Tagaytay to Metro Manila via Cavite and Batangas, he said.

He said San Miguel’s Tagaytay-Batangas project will come from STAR (Southern Tagalog Arterial Road) while the company’s project will come from CALAx, and going to Tagaytay.

“Sa kanila, STAR, so magsasalubong (they will meet),” Mr. Bautista said.

The proposed 29-kilometer toll road of San Miguel called Tanauan-Tagaytay Expressway is envisioned to be an extension of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx). It is envisioned to start from SLEx toll road 3 passing through Tanauan City in Batangas and the municipalities of Silang, Amadeo and Indang in Cavite all the way to Tagaytay City through the Tagaytay-Nasugbu Highway.

Asked whether he sees competition in the use of both expressways, Mr. Bautista said: “Tingin ko wala kasi ang motorists na gagamit noong sa amin are motorists from Manila. Iyong gagamit ng sa kanila are motorists coming from Batangas (I think there won’t be. The motorists who will use ours are from Manila. Theirs will be coming from Batangas).”

Earlier, MPIC said it would submit to the government next month a P50-billion unsolicited proposal for an elevated expressway along C-5 road in Ortigas to Commonwealth, which is expected to decongest traffic in the area.

The proposed elevated road project will serve as an alternate route to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), bypassing EDSA and the Balintawak toll plaza.

Aside from the C5-link project, MNTC had proposed building an expressway that will connect Sangley Airport in Cavite to its Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx). Segment-5 is a 9.80-km., four-lane divided expressway proposed as a replacement to the original Segment 5 alignment that was taken over by the DPWH and now designated as the Centennial Road. The proposed link will connect CAVITEx to Rosario, Cavite and the Sangley Airport. Sangley Airport is in San Antonio, Cavite City, on a peninsula jutting out into Manila Bay.

MNTC is a subsidiary of MPIC, which is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT, Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

By Imee Charlee C. Delavin

Remittances rise to $2.3B in May

Ahead of the opening of classes, Filipinos abroad sent home $2.31 billion in May, a 5.5 percent increase year-on-year, which kept monthly remittances above the $2-billion level for the 16th straight month.

Cash remittances sent through banks last May rose from $2.188 billion a year ago and exceeded the $2.083 billion in April, the latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data released Monday showed.

The growth in cash remittances that month reversed the 5.9-percent drop posted in April.

In a statement, BSP Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. said remittances from land-based overseas Filipino workers in May rose 6.2 percent year-on-year to $1.8 billion, while those from sea-based OFWs grew 3 percent to $500 million.

Espenilla said the top contributors to the increase in cash remittances last May were the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
From January to May, remittances totaled $11.346 billion, up 4.5 percent from $10.859 billion in the first five months of last year.

According to Espenilla, cash sent home by land-based OFWs as of end-May increased 5.9 percent year-on-year to $9 billion.
Sea-based OFWs, meanwhile, sent home $2.3 billion during the five-month period, down 0.6 percent from a year ago, Espenilla said.

The BSP said cash remittances from Canada, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the UAE, the United Kingdom and the US accounted for fourth-fifths of the end-May total.

Based on updated projections released last month, the BSP expects cash remittances from Filipinos working and living abroad to reach another record-high of $28 billion by yearend.
The BSP had kept the 4-percent remittances growth target for 2017, although the value of the updated forecast was higher than the earlier projection of $27.7 billion.

Cash sent home by overseas Filipinos through banks hit a record $26.9 billion in 2016, up 5 percent from $25.6 billion in 2015.

Remittances are the country’s biggest source of foreign exchange income, helping insulate the domestic economy from external shocks by ensuring the steady supply of dollars into the system.

These cash transfers are also a major driver for domestic consumption, which contributes to robust economic growth. CBB

Source: By: Ben O. de Vera - Reporter / Daily Inquirer / 01:59 PM July 17, 2017

West Wing Residences at Eton City

LOT ONLY FOR AS LOW AS PHP12K MONTHLY!!

West Wing Residences at Eton City

LTS No. 25569

Dreams are meant to be lived and renewed every day—and you can do this at West Wing Residences. Here, memories are delicately crafted and lovingly forged against the idyllic rhythm of an emerging community in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Roam the expansive wide outdoor spaces with your children while witnessing their first triumphant bike rides as their feet glide through the wind. As in a dream, there is space for everybody and everything you will need—be it a quiet retreat in the landscaped gardens, a scrumptious afternoon in the barbecue areas, a delightful stroll in the future commercial district of Eton City, or the comfort of a neat and elegantly designed home.

Eton City boasts of a self-sufficiency not every township can offer. Within, it is home to leisure complexes, landscaped greeneries, commercial and business complexes, populated by diverse residential communities. Without, it is nested in the rapidly developing expanse of Sta. Rosa, Laguna, appreciating in value as it attracts the attention of visitors, residents, and investors alike. Five minutes away from the gateway that brings Eton City directly to the Eton City exit, it lies close to a major thoroughfare that makes mobility as breezy as the area’s open fields.

Keeping distance from the din of the metro even while staying close enough to be accessible, West Wing Residences is comfortably ensconced in cozy Eton City, where it is one of the jewels in this crown of a flagship project. Never straying far from world-class services and facilities—whether medical or educational, for business or for pleasure—it is located strategically where resources are never lacking and comfort is in abundance. At West Wing Residences, you get to live and renew your dreams every day.

​Amenities

• Landscaped gardens
• Children’s playground
• Jogging path
• Clubhouse
• Basketball court
• Swimming pool
• Kiddie pool
• Open field for outdoor activities like football, baseball, picnic , kite-flying and other leisure activities)

Few ready-for-occupancy (RFO) house and lots are also available!

Interested? Contact us now!

Mobile: +63977-638-5434

Email: etonrproperties@outlook.ph