BSP aligns banks’ reporting

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has aligned its rules on banks’ financial reporting with the provisions of the Philippine Financial Reporting Standards/Philippine Accounting Standards. The BSP policy-making body the Monetary Board approved last week amendments to its financial reporting package, specifically its Manual of Accounts. In a statement the central bank said the new FRP would integrate the requirements of the PFRS/PAS and the Basel 2 capital adequacy framework to enhance the offsite surveillance of the BSP on its supervised entities. Under the FRP platform, these are five sections. These are general instructions, which describe the overall reporting requirements, structure of the FRP, revised manual of accounts and line Item instructions for the balance sheet, income statement and supporting schedules; and five report formats for solo and consolidated reports. Solo reports is the head office plus its branches while the consolidated reports shall comprise of the parent bank plus its financial allied subsidiaries, excluding insurance subsidiaries. The consolidated financial statements would complement BSP’s thrust of consolidated approach to supervision. The BSP said the new reportorial requirements would become effective starting December 31, 2006.

Angeles Electric eyes IPO

Pampanga-based Angeles Electric Corporation has expressed interest in becoming a publicly-traded company. The company has already sent its representatives to the Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose of its plans, a well-placed source said. According to the source, the company will float up to 15 percent of its authorized capital stock. This public offering, the source added, is in compliance of the company with the Electric Power Reform Act (EPIRA). Angeles Electric Corp. is owned by the Nepomuceno family who also has a number of businesses in Pampangga. If plans push through this year, Angles Electric Corp. will be third public offering for this year. Soon-to-go-public are Lopez-controlled First Generation Holdings Corp. and GMA Network, Inc. First Gen, whose shares will be listed on the First board of the Exchange, will conduct its Initial Public Offering (IPO) by the end of this month. Its debut listing has been set on February 5, 2005. GMA Network, on the other hand, has yet to file its registration statement with the SEC but IPO plans have already been set by the first quarter of this year. Meantime the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is expecting 10 companies to go public this year. Technology firms and companies from the mining sector are expected to go public, the PSE earlier said.

Thrift banks’ loans hit P188 B

The thrift banking system reported some P187.99-billion worth of total loan portfolio as of November last year. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said this is higher compared to P164.95 billion in November of 2004. In the meantime thrift banks also reported P45.74 billion of non-performing assets while its bad loans amounted to P16.98 billion. The sector’s real and other properties owned or acquired or ROPOA on the other hand totaled R33 billion, also as of November. The BSP said thrift banks’ NPL ratio remained in the single-digit level of 9.03 percent, the eight month that the industry posted single-digit ratios. The month-on-month improvement is attributed mainly to the 2.3 percent increase in total loan portfolio surpassing the meager 0.6 percent build-up in NPLs.

BSP to shred ‘Arrovo’ bills

With P78-million worth of "Arrovo" peso bills going to shred, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas estimates it would take at least a month more before the batches of notes – carrying the misspelled surname of President Arroyo, is destroyed. "The BSP will be busy shredding till February," central bank sources said. In late November when the error was first detected, about P2 million of these notes have been circulated. Sources disclosed that many local banks have returned the misspelled notes to the BSP, however collectors now buys and sells these rare banknotes from P600 to P1,000 apiece. This is the first P100 bill bearing the signature of BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr., who was appointed to the post last July. The misspelled legal tender was printed by a European bank however sources said initial reports traced the blame to a BSP unit, which approved the notes sent by the contractor, who is based in France. The European contractor delivered P80 million of the notes and P2 million of these was released last November. At the moment the BSP is still investigating this issue. The BSP has apologized to President Arroyo for misspelling her surname in the new batch of P100 banknotes, which was apparently hastily printed for the holiday season.

BSP Deputy Governor Armando L. Suratos earlier advised the public that although the notes had errors in spelling, it would still be considered as official money.The printing of these banknotes had been outsourced to ensure sufficient supply of P100 banknotes during the Christmas season.

ChinaBank signs P265.77-M CBA

China Bank and China Banking Corporation Employees Association (CBCEA) signed a P265.77 million collective bargaining agreement (CBA), one of the best CBAs in the banking industry to date, for the period August 1, 2005 to July 31, 2007. The CBA covers improvements in terms of salary, medical allowance, Group life insurance, employees’ HMO premium, dependents’ HMO subsidy, teller’s allowance, financial assistance/rice subsidy, meal allowance, sick leave conversion as well as bonuses for contract signing, peaceful signing and a one time bonus. "We are all glad that we reached an agreement. This package is higher than the industry average, an evidence of how much Management cares for its employees," Mrs. Remedios Cruz, China Bank Vice President for Human Resources said. Speaking for all its members, CBCEA president Neil M. de Venecia said, "The outcome of the CBA is a reflection of the extent of participation of each member, and quite fairly, that’s what each member deserves." China Bank has almost 3,000 employees assigned in different departments in its head office in Makati, in other business centers and in over 140 China Bank branches nationwide.

RP buys Brazilian wheat

SINGAPORE, Jan. 22 (Reuters) — The Philippines, following in the footsteps of Vietnam, has bought about 40,000 tonnes of Brazilian feed wheat and South American suppliers may now be eyeing the South Korean market, a US industry official said on Tuesday. "Some deals for Brazilian feed wheat have been sealed in Asia," said Mark Samson, vice president for South Asia of the US Wheat Associates. "The Philippines has bought one cargo for immediate shipment." Traders said the Philippines was probably the second Asian nation to buy feed wheat from Brazil, which is exporting the grain for the first time since 2004. The sale to Vietnam was sealed at around 0-5 a tonne, including cost and freight, for March shipment. Traders said the Philippine deal was also done close to that level.

RP call center buys transcription firm

A leading Philippine call center operator, PeopleSupport Inc., has just acquired for P517 million (.75 million) a transcription and captioning services firm based in the United States. This was disclosed by Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas, who lauded the acquisition, which he said would put the Philippines in an excellent position to grab a bigger share of the global market for highly labor-intensive outsourced transcription services. In a regulatory filing with the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York, where PeopleSupport shares (of stock) are publicly traded, the company said it acquired Newport Beach, California-based Rapidtext Inc., and its subsidiary, The Transcription Company, for .75 million in cash and (PeopleSupport) stock. The transaction closed Jan. 9. "It is a foregone conclusion that PeopleSupport will eventually relocate Rapidtexts transcription service operations to the Philippines and tap our more cost-effective skilled labor," Gullas said. At present, PeopleSupport is one of the largest business process outsourcing (BPO) providers in the Philippines based on the size of its workforce, with over 4,000 college-educated, fluent English-speaking Philippine personnel. "Among all publicly listed BPO providers in the United States, only PeopleSupport has 100-percent of its call center operations based here," Gullas pointed out. In its Nasdaq filing, PeopeSupport said Rapidtext and The Transcription Company specialize in high-value transcription and captioning services for clients in insurance, law enforcement, entertainment, education, and medical markets.

Candies not be used as change

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has urged the public not to accept candies as change. Trade Undersecretary for Consumer Welfare Zenaida C. Maglaya said candies are not legal tender and should not be used as substitute for notes and coins issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). "Consumers have the right to receive the correct change. They also have the right to refuse when they are forced to accept candies in lieu of money as change," said Maglaya. She stressed that no establishment may reject payment using five and ten-centavo coins. Section 52, Article II of the New Central Bank Act states that "unless otherwise fixed by the Monetary Board, coins shall be legal tender in amounts not exceeding R50 for denominations of 25 centavos and above; and in amounts not exceeding P20, for denominations of 10 centavos or less." Under Article 50 of the Consumer Act, giving candies as change may be considered a deceptive sales act because the consumer is induced to enter into a sales transaction through concealment, false representation or fraudulent manipulation, for example, the argument of shortage of coins. However, if such is the case, the consent of the consumer is necessary, should he accept the candies as change.

PNB Gen earns P125.2 M

Philippine National Bank’s wholly-owned non-life insurance unit PNB General Insurers Co. Inc. posted net profit of P125.2 million last year, up 11 percent from P112.9 million in 2004. In a statement, PNB Gen’s president and chief executive officer Jose Zuniga said the better profit performance was due to higher premium production and net underwriting margins. He said the company bucked the trend in the non-life insurance industry, which saw a continued drop in premium rates as a result of competition. PNB Gen ranks fifth in term of profitability among 95 licensed non-life insurance firms in the country.

Universal Robina Corp (URC) will announce on Monday the price range for its primary and secondary stock offering, the stock exchange announced on its website. URC, the food arm of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., will sell about 730 million common shares next month, of which 95 pct will be offered to international investors. The proceeds will be used to finance expansion here and abroad. URC had previously said the final offer price would be in a range of plus or minus 10 pct of the prevailing market price during the offering. The final offer price will be known by Feb 6.

Colgate sells detergent business

SAN FRANCISCO (XFN-Asia) — Colgate-Palmolive Co said it has sold its Southeast Asian heavy-duty laundry detergent brands to Procter & Gamble Co. Colgate said the Procter & Gamble transaction, touching brands marketed in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, includes the sale of Fab, Trojan, Dynamo and Paic. Because of the sale, two detergent dedicated factories will be closed or modified, Colgate said. Colgate said it expects the one-time net gain resulting from the Dec 31 transaction will be fully offset by fourth-quarter restructuring charges under the company’s 2004 plan. Further financial terms were not disclosed. "This sale is part of Colgate’s ongoing strategy to de-emphasize and eliminate low-margin portions of the business while focusing on our high-margin, fast-growing oral, personal and pet care businesses," Reuben Mark, Colgate’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. Simplifying the company’s portfolio will increase gross profit margin in the Asia/African division and will enable increased focus on the other businesses, he said.

ADB okays 0-M China loan

BEIJING (XFN-Asia) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has approved a 0 million loan for wastewater treatment and water quality improvement in the Hai river basin in central China’s province of Henan. The loan will fund construction of facilities to collect and treat wastewater and to deliver clean water to 15 cities around the highly polluted Hai river basin, the ADB said in a statement. The project will also promote institutional and financial reforms and enhanced management, the ADB added. The Hai river basin, one of the three most polluted river systems in China, has been severely affected by domestic and industrial wastewater, the ADB said. Environmental infrastructure has failed to keep up with the region’s rapidly growing economy, and only 34 percent of urban wastewater in the area is being treated, despite water shortages. The project will build sewers, pump stations and treatment centers to increase collection and treatment of urban wastewater to more than 70 percent, the ADB said. The total project cost is about 0 million, half of which will be met by the ADB loan. Local bank co-financing will provide .2 million and central and local government funds will be used for the remaining .8 million. The project should be finished by the end of 2010, the bank said.

TAIPEI (XFN-Asia) — Over eighty percent of Taiwan’s manufacturers that invested abroad last year put their money in China, a government survey shows. Of all manufacturers who invested overseas in 2005, 81.18 percent chose China as a destination, up from 72.90 percent in 2002, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA). Respondents were allowed to make multiple choices in the survey as their investments might be in more than one location, the MoEA said. In 2005, some 17.01 percent of outbound manufacturers invested in the US, little changed from 17.14 percent in 2002. Another 15.42 percent invested in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, down from 18.62 percent three years earlier.