Author: Business News Asia

BusinessNewsAsia.com's Editorial team is composed of experienced professional journalist and financial professionals who have an average of 10 years of experience in financial and breaking news reportage.

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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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,…

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SUNTEC, SINGAPORE – Cloud Expo Asia and Data Centre World 2015 held on to its reputation as Asia’s leading technology event for industry visionaries and business leaders after it attracted over 11,000 delegates during the two day-event. According to CloserStill Media, which co-organized the event together with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), over 11,000 international delegates packed the two-day Cloud Expo Asia and Data Centre World held at Singapore’s Suntec Convention Centre on 28-29 October. In its third year in the Asian market, the event brought together an enviable line-up of 300 world-class speakers and a cutting-edge community…

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PHILIPPINES – GMA Network’s strong financial performance in the first semester continued into the third quarter of 2015 with both its airtime revenues and nationwide ratings effectively maintained at an optimistic level. Revenues during the third quarter improved by 17 percent to P3.660 billion, while net income soared 66 percent to P706 million as airtime revenues and consolidated sales from international operations, subsidiaries and other revenue streams exceeded that of last year, the network said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange. By the end of the first nine months, the company’s revenues stood at P10.313 billion, 16 percent…

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KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Guidance Investments has announced the first closure of its Logistics Real Estate Investment Fund, South East Asia’s first Fund focused on the logistics and industrial sectors, at USD 100 million. A leading Malaysian financial organization is the anchor investor of the landmark Fund. Other investors include pension funds, a supra-national institution, endowment funds and family offices from the GCC and the Middle East. The first close puts the Fund in a strong position to hit its target of USD 400 million with a number of additional closings planned over the next 18 months, the company said…

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HONG KONG – As the Host Partner Venue for the 22nd Annual World Travel Awards (WTA) Asia & Australasia Gala Ceremony 2015, InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong wins Hong Kong’s Leading Business Hotel second year in a row. The prestigious World Travel Awards Gala Ceremony was attended by Gregory So Kam-Leung, GBS, JP, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR Government, and Anthony Lau, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Hong Kong was awarded as Asia’s Leading City Break Destination 2015 and Asia’s Leading Meetings & Conference Destination 2015. “Today at this splendid Gala, I am…

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AUSTRALIA – Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2015, Australia’s leading healthy confectionery company, Ferndale, is seeking an equity partner to facilitate the expansion of its iconic brands, including JILA® mints and JOLS® fruit pastilles, into the booming Asian market. Bolstered by sustained local growth and escalating exports, brothers and General Managers, Jarrod and Leigh Edward have conducted in-depth research and formulated strategy to take the Ferndale offering to Asia on a much grander scale than their historical ad hoc export activity. Founded by Bruce Edward in 1995 in regional Victoria, Ferndale has traded powerfully over the past two decades. The…

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CAMBODIA – IMS Consulting Group has become the first advertising agency in Cambodia to scoop an international MarCom Award with the agency having seven winning entries including 2 Platinum Awards, 3 Gold Awards and 2 Honorable Mentions. The MarCom Awards is an international creative competition organized from the United States that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communication professionals and is one of the largest of its kind in the world. IMS won based on its creative, media and PR work for Cambodia Breweries Limited (CBL), Anchor Beer, Gold Crown Stout, Poldanmig, Sanbe Farma, Great Wall Motors and Worldwide Media…

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Pharmaceutical blue chip Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE)’s stock receive analyst upgrades on Tuesday but the news was not well-received by investors as PFE’s shares were trading 0.57 percent lower from the previous close in the early trading hours. As of 9:43 am, Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE)’s stock was trading at US$34.85, or 57 percent from its previous close, although it was one of Tuesday’s most active stocks. Pfizer Inc closed 3.67 percent higher on Monday’s trading but opened lower today despite the upgrades. According to Zack’s Research, shares of Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE:PFE) have been given a one year target price of $40.777.…

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MANILA, Philippines – From January to September of this year, Bloomberry Resorts Corporation (PSE:BLOOM), owner and operator (through its subsidiaries) of Solaire Resort & Casino and Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino, reported unaudited consolidated revenues (net of promotional allowances) of P19.424 billion, up from P16.975 billion in the same period last year. The Company reported a P1.509 billion loss in contrast to P3.299 billion in net profits last year. For the quarter ended September 30, 2015, Bloomberry Resorts Corporation (PSE:BLOOM) reported revenues (net of promotional allowances) of P7.094 billion, 29 percent higher year-on-year from P5.512 billion and 19 percent higher…

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MANILA, Philippines – – International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) (PSE:ICT) today reported unaudited consolidated financial results for the first nine months of 2015 posting revenues from port operations of US$792.0 million, an increase of two percent over the US$779.2 million reported for the same period last year. Its Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) was US$339.5 million, four percent higher than the US$326.1 million generated in the first nine months of 2014, and net income attributable to equity holders of US$136.2 million, up 0.3 percent over the US$135.7 million earned in the same period last year, the…

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