Author: Business News Asia

The staff experts at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Chinese yuan or renminbi meets the requirements to be a freely usable currency and proposes that the IMF include the currency in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket of currencies. This was the pronouncement of IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, who said in a statement that she supports the findings of the staff experts. “I support the staff’s findings. The decision, of course, on whether the RMB should be included in the SDR basket rests with the IMF’s Executive Board. I will chair a meeting of the Board to…

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company has entered into a partnership with US-based fan app developer, Hopscotch, to market and exclusively distribute Hopscotch’s mobile solutions in Southeast Asia. The company’s investment arm, PLDT Capital, has put $US1M into the partnership, which has already produced apps for fans of the Philippine Basketball Association, E-Sports Gaming Summit and the Ariana Grande, Imagine Dragons and Maroon 5 concerts. PLDT Capital’s co­managing director Winston Damarillo encouraged sports teams, retail brands and events companies to grow their fan base and consumer loyalty through custom applications built on Hopscotch’s platform. “More and more Filipinos are starting to…

MANILA – Philippine-based SPi Global, the pioneering leader in the Philippine Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry was named as the Top Company to Work for in Asia at the recent Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability (ACES) Awards held in Singapore. The ACES Awards is a two-year-old program organized by the MORS Group, which champions revolutionary leadership and sustainability in companies operating in the Asian region. SPi Global was cited for its people-centric approach, and for demonstrating the highest commitment towards employee empowerment and enrichment as seen through its umbrella program called E3 (Enhancing Employee Experience). “To be selected as the…

[BusinessNewsAsia.com] Philippine stocks further dipped on Friday’s close on the continued global weakness and the impending US Fed rate hike. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) lost 0.17 percent or 12.05 points to end the week at 6,897.77 points. All Shares suffered steeper decline after ending Friday’s trade with a 0.72 percent plunge, or 28.78 points less than the previous trading, to 3978.30 points. Among the Indexes, only the Holding Firms stocks managed to get into the green, gaining 0.52 percent, or 33.83 points, to 6,545.93. Top gainer on Friday was Ionics Inc (PSE:ION), which gained 21.43 percent to trade…

Steel & Tube Holdings Ltd (NZE:STU), New Zealand’s biggest steel distributor, posted sales of $502 million for the year ending June 2015, with after-tax profits up by 20 percent to $21.4 million, the company said in a disclosure to the New Zealand Stock Exchange. “It’s been a significant year for S&T,” CEO Dave Taylor told shareholders at the Company’s Annual Meeting. “We have focused our efforts on enhancing efficiency and strengthening our core business.” S&T has recently opened three purpose-built facilities: two in Auckland (an area that presents around one-third of domestic steel demand) at Savill Drive and Highbrook, and…

AUSTRALIA – Audalia Resources Ltd (ASX:ACP) has announced that the Department of Mines and Petroleum has granted mining lease application M63/356 for the Medcalf Project. Earlier in the week, Audalia signed a definitive agreement with the Ngadju People in relation to the grant of project tenure, development of the Medcalf Project and conduct of the operations. With the grant of the mining lease, the company may now commence the process of seeking regulatory approvals and permits required to develop the project, the company said in a disclosure to the Australian Securities Exchange. “We are very pleased with the efficient manner…

MANILA, Philippines – NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com), the ICT solutions and international communications business within the NTT Group of Japan, one of the world’s largest telecommunications services providers, and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) (PSE:TEL, NYSE: PHI), the Philippines’ leading telecommunication and digital services provider, agreed on a collaboration partnership on to provide Nexcenter™ solutions in the Philippines and promote cross-selling. Under the agreement, Philippine corporations with international operations will be able to use NTT Com’s globally standardized high-quality Nexcenter™ services at some 140 locations in 84 cities of 19 countries, in addition to NTT Com’s Arcstar Universal One private-network service,…

MANILA, Philippines – The sustained earnings momentum of its telecommunications, real estate and banking units, including capital gains realized in the third quarter, drove Ayala Corporation (PSE:AC)’s net earnings in the first nine months of the year to Php17.7 billion, 26 percent higher than a year ago. In the third quarter alone, Ayala registered a net income of Php7.3 billion, representing a 72 percent increase year-on-year. Excluding the capital gains primarily from the partial sale of AC Energy’s stake in North Luzon Renewable Energy Corporation this year and the divestment of Stream Global Services in the previous year, Ayala’s nine-month…

PHILIPPINES – San Miguel Corporation (PSE:SMC)’s consolidated operating income grew 23 percent to Php58.1 billion in the first nine months of the year on higher revenues from its infrastructure unit and core food, beverage and packaging businesses. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, San Miguel Corporation said its consolidated net income grew 7 percent to Php26.8 billion without the effects of mostly unrealized forex losses. However, September year-to-date revenues declined 15 percent to Php504.5 billion in the face of falling oil prices and lower generation volumes from scheduled maintenance shutdown of Malampaya facilities, Ilijan and Sual power plants.…

PHILIPPINES – Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc (PSE:VLL) signed an agreement to acquire approximately 88.25 percent of the of the outstanding common capital stock of Starmalls, Inc for about Php30.185 billion, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange. Vista Land is acquiring Starmalls from the Fine Group. It will also issue a total of 4,573,276,535 new VLL shares to the Fine Group. The purchase price, payable in cash, represents a 44.87 percent discount to the last traded price of Starmalls of P8.18 per share as of November 9, 2015 and is supported by a Fairness Opinion…

JEJU ISLAND – Jeju Island’s gaming regulator, CRD, has imposed an administrative penalty of one month suspension of gaming operation of Jeju Sun casino as penalty for the acts of its previous casino management. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Bloomberry Resorts Corporation (PSE:BLOOM), which is now the new owner of Jeju Sun, said the suspension was the result of CRD’s investigation of the gaming tax (tourism tax) payment practices of the casino then known as “LVegas Casino” under its old management and owners. The casino is now under the new management of Bloomberry Resorts Corporation after…

PHILIPPINES – Energy Development Corporation (PSE:EDC) reported a consolidated recurring net income attributable to equity holders of the Parent of Php7.0 billion for the first nine months of 2015, down by 10 percent from the Php7.8 billion posted during the same period last year. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Energy Development Corporation attributed the decrease mainly to the lower output of the Tongonan Plant resulting from the unplanned outage of a 37.5MW unit early in 2015, higher operating expenses largely spent on typhoon resiliency works, and the commencement of income tax payments of the hydro unit Pantabangan…

Washington and Beijing have both confirmed the presence of US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the 2015 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the Philippines next week. Obama and Xi will join other global leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Beijing on Monday has confirmed that President Xi will be in the Philippines to attend the summit, amidst the ongoing territorial dispute at the South China Sea. A spokesman for China’s Foreign Affairs Department said Xi…

Data released by the Bank of Japan showed that bank lending in Japan’s banks dropped unexpectedly in the third quarter of this year. The data showed that the lending rate among banks in the country fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.5 percent, down from 2.6% in the previous quarter. The figure fell short of analysts expectations for the country’s bank lending to remain unchanged at 2.6 percent in Q3. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance said Japan posted a current account surplus for the 15th straight month in September as the trade balance swung to a surplus. The…

PHILIPPINES – Jollibee Foods Corporation (PSE:JFC), the Philippines’ largest food service company generated in the third quarter of 2015 System Wide Sales of Php32.3 billion, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange. Sales growth accelerated to 13.7 percent versus the same period a year ago, from 9.5 percent in Q1 and 8.4 percent in Q2. Sales increase was driven by a 6.1% increase in store network and about 7.6 percent same store sales growth on a worldwide basis. Sales in the Philippines grew by 13.6 percent during the quarter versus a year ago, China by 9.7…

PHILIPPINES – Philippine media and entertainment company ABS-CBN reported a 23 percent rise in net income in the first nine months of this year to Php1.9 billion from the same period last year, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange. The company reported higher third quarter revenues of PhP10.1 billion, 8 percent higher than the revenues generated during the second quarter of this year. “Given our growth trajectory, we are likely to hit record revenues by year-end, and we should be in a srong position to build on this given that next year is an election…

SINGAPORE — Acronis®, a global leader in new generation data protection, today announced that Ulleung County Office, situated in a remote island in the North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, 120 km east of the Korean Peninsula in the Sea of Japan, implemented Acronis data protection technology across their entire IT infrastructure, increasing infrastructure resilience to data loss and reducing dependence on mainland technical support services. Because of the remote location, prompt technical support services are not readily available to the Ulleung County Office, and historically data loss and system failure incidents resulted in prolonged downtime periods, halting the most administrative, welfare…

The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against EmGoldex Philippines and two related companies for allegedly doping Filipino investors. The SEC also ordered EmGoldex Philippines, Global Intergold (GIG), and Prosperous Infinite Philippines Holdings Corp (PIPHC) to stop recruiting and operating in the country. If found guilty for violations of the SRC, the persons behind the supposed scam will be made to pay a P5 million penalty or face jail time of up to 21 years. The case stemmed from the complaints made by two officials of the Philippine National Police, who said they lost millions by investing…

After suspending the public listings since early July, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has reportedly announced that it will resume initial public offerings. According to a Reuters report, China’s securities regulator made the announcement at a weekly news conference in Beijing on Friday. The IPOs were suspended following the stock market rout that wiped out billions of dollars in the global stock market, surprising analysts who earlier said China’s IPO market will unlikely reopen this year. Globally, the number of IPOs completed in Q3 of this year was down 55 percent from the previous quarter. Volumes in dollar terms also…

Tencent Holdings Ltd (HKG:700)’s stock gained 1.445 percent in today’s trading at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on news that it is in talks for a US$1.5 billion syndicated loan to secure funds for future acquisitions and other expenses. Shares of the Chinese investment holding company were up 2.2 points to trade at HKG154.50 apiece at the close. It reached a mid-day high of 155 and a low of 151.10 after opening at 152.50. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Tencent’s loan is being arranged by five banks — Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, Bank of China, Citigroup,…