Share prices seen to consolidate this week

Share prices seen to consolidate this week

The Philippine Star 05/01/2006

Share prices are expected to consolidate this week after a strong run to near-seven year-highs this week, analysts said Friday.

BPI Securities said in a research note that the market may pull back after the composite index breached the 2.270 resistance level, but added a "correction is likely to be shallow."

It sees support at 2.270 and 2,200 points.

AB Capital Securities said the market is expected to consolidate gains after last week’s sharp gains.

Trading resumes Tuesday after the May 1 Labor Day holidays.

For the week to April 28, the composite index rose 7.56 points or 0.33 percent to 2,270,53.

Average daily volume fell to 2,738 billion shares while average daily value rose to P2.39 billion compared to 7.45 billion shares worth P1.74 billion the previous week.

Last Friday, the benchmark 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 10.86 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,270.53. The index rose 2.2 percent in the past two sessions, including Thursday’s 1.5 percent advance to 2,281.39, its best finish in nearly seven years.

Blue chip Ayala Land contributed much to Friday’s decline with a six-percent loss to P11.75.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., however, hit a new record high of P2,050, before closing at P2,045, up 0.5 percent. Traders said the stock recovered from a weak opening caused by cross sales worth P92.32 million ($1.8 million, euro1.4 million). – AFP, AP        

 

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200605010708.htm

GMA 7 Q1 net drops 10%

GMA 7 Q1 net drops 10%

BROADCAST station GMA Network Inc. registered a 10-percent drop in net income for the first quarter of 2006 to P362-million, compared to its year-ago performance of P400 million.
       The industry-wide decrease in advertising revenues coupled with the company’s high operating expenses were the major factors for the decline.
       GMA 7’s consolidated gross revenues of P2.3 billion for the first three months, on the other hand, was 19- percent higher than the P1.9 billion it posted in the same period last year.
       Operating expenses, however, jumped 43 percent to P1.3 billion in the first quarter primarily due to higher production cost and increased salaries.
       As of March this year, GMA 7 has maintained its lead in both Metro Manila and Mega Manila TV ratings in all day parts, including the highly contested primetime block.        As of March this year, GMA increased its lead in total day Mega Manila ratings as it posted 18.3 percent, compared to main rival ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.’s 13.1 percent, according to data from ratings provider AGBNMR. GMA 7’s subsidiary QTV Channel 11 has maintained its hold on the number three spot in ratings as of March this year.
       Earlier, ABS-CBN reported a turnaround for the first quarter this year with a net income of P121 million from a loss of P114 million in the same period last year. Honey Madrilejos-Reyes

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/0501/comp02.php

Trading still seen upbeat

this story was taken from www.inq7money.net

URL: http://money.inq7.net/topstories/view_topstories.php?yyyy=2006&mon=05&dd=01&file=8





MARKETPLAY
Trading still seen upbeat
Posted: 9:05 PM | Apr. 30, 2006

Inquirer

Published on Page B1 of the May 1, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

STOCK investors are expected to continue tracking first quarter results when trading resumes this week.

"Earnings reports are slowly coming out with positive indications," AB Capital Securities wrote in a daily report.

The benchmark PSEi rose 7.5 points to 2,270.53 last week.

Last week, share prices also rebounded on news that the government has shelved plans to lift the value-added tax on oil to soften the impact of skyrocketing crude prices.

BPI Trade meanwhile expects a correction towards the end of the week.

"While buying sentiment remains strong, we may still see this correction continuing (this) week; particularly if shares of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. trade lower over the long holiday weekend," BPI Trade said.

BPI Trade said the market's support are at 2,270, 2,200, 2,172, 2,100. Resistance on the other hand may be at 2,270, 2,300 and then at 2,400.

Based on 2TradeAsia.com's roundup of corporate updates last week, companies that have announced their first quarter income include ABS-CBN Corp., which posted a turnaround in net profit to P121 million from a net loss of P114 million in the same quarter last year.

Manila Water Corp. of the Ayala Group said its net earnings grew 24 percent to P600 million in the first quarter from P483 million in the same period last year.

Also, SM Investments Corp. said it was hiking its working capital budget for this year to P15 billion.

Meanwhile, Empire East Land Inc. said it bought back 800,000 common shares at 66.38 centavos a share as part of its buy-back program.

Banco de Oro Universal Bank (BDO) meanwhile said it was still keen on a merger with Equitable PCIBank (EPCI), despite recent controversies. BDO believes the merger of both banks will be in the best interest of BDO and EPCI shareholders. BDO said it would wait for indications from the EPCI Bank board before making any move to amend its offer price.

eTelecare International meanwhile is eyeing to list its shares at the Philippine Stock Exchange and the US technology-laced Nasdaq market later this year or early 2007. This was the latest statement from A. Soriano Corp. chief Andres Soriano III.

Construction firm DMCI Holdings Inc. has submitted a bid to the Power Asset and Liabilities Management for the 600-megawatt Batangas coal-fired thermal power plant in Calaca, Batangas.

San Miguel Corp. late last week said it would postpone its proposed offer of a rare type of shares and pursue an investigation on allegations from an anonymous letter sender claiming that one of its subsidiaries has overstated its sales.

Elizabeth L. Sanchez

Guimaras mangoes' prospects turning sour

this story was taken from www.inq7money.net

URL: http://money.inq7.net/topstories/view_topstories.php?yyyy=2006&mon=05&dd=01&file=11





Guimaras mangoes' prospects turning sour
Posted: 9:11 PM | Apr. 30, 2006
Ma. Diosa Labiste
Inquirer

Published on Page B6 of the May 1, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

ILOILO CITY-THE WOES OF THE local mango industry could turn its prospects sour.

Saying that their claim to fame of having the sweetest and pest-free mangoes is not enough, agriculture officials and mango growers in Guimaras and Iloilo are now looking at ways to improve production volume to meet demand.

Iloilo used to be among the top four producers of the country, but it has slid to 8th place.

Guimaras is the only source of Philippine mangoes exported to the United States, but is not on the list of top mango producers.

Pangasinan is the top producer of mangoes in the country at 300,000 metric tons a year.

Iloilo only produces 30,000 metric tons of mangoes a year.

Iloilo mangoes are produced mainly by small farmers. It was only recently that mango plantations started being developed, mostly in northern Iloilo.

In the southern part of the provinces where the soil and climate are suitable for mango growing, mango producers rely on small farmers with one or two trees each.

Guimaras production is only between 10,000 to 11,000 metric tons a year, but the province is the envy of Iloilo because its mangoes meet the standards of the United States and Australia.

Last year, Guimaras exported to the United States and Australia some 500 metric tons valued at P38 to P40 a kilo, up from 311 metric tons at P28 a kilo in 2004.

Guimaras mangoes sell for $2 each in the United States.

The Philippines total export of fresh and processed mangoes in 2005 totaled $36 million, of which $26 million came from the sale of fresh mangoes.

The major markets for mangoes include the United States, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and China.

In anticipation of further growth in demand, agriculture officials in Guimaras are now working to increase production.

Representatives from the Iloilo Mango Growers Cooperative (IMGC) said the challenge was how to expand the combined 2,300 hectares planted to mangoes to meet foreign demand.

The 32-member cooperative was organized only last year in an attempt to solve problems of the industry, said IMGC board director Wilfredo Telarma.

The problems and opportunities in the country's mango industry will be discussed during the eighth National Mango Congress from May 17 to 19 here.

 

Tracing Henry Sy's steps in selling - I

this story was taken from www.inq7money.net URL: http://money.inq7.net/topstories/view_topstories.php?yyyy=2006&mon=04&dd=30&file=4 Tracing Henry Sy's steps in selling - I Posted: 5:32 AM | Apr. 30, 2006 Inquirer Published on page B2 of the April 30, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer TAIPAN Henry Sy is set to open the country's biggest mall in a few weeks. The Business Features does a countdown of the opening by looking back at one of the richest man in the world's early beginnings. 1959—Henry Sy Sr. opened the first Shoemart store along Rizal Avenue in downtown Manila. Sy conceptualized a chain of shoe stores, each characterized by a distinct merchandising layout never before attempted in the country. 1960s—The company expanded its shoe store chain. It was one of the pioneers in the new urban centers when it opened bigger shoe stores at the Makati Commercial Center in 1963 and Cubao in 1967. 1979s—Shoemart marked its shift from a shoe store to a full line department store with SM Echague and later SM Makati in 1975. This was also the time Shoemart became known as SM Shoemart or simply SM, a name that has become synonymous to shopping. 1980s—SM positioned itself for growth, diversifying into the supermarket and appliance store business. 1985—Late 1985 marked the opening of its first shopping mall, SM in North Edsa. "When we constructed our first mall in North Edsa in 1983, the Philippines was in the midst of a debt moratorium, drastic evaluation, and experiencing hyper inflation. The economy's decline was further aggravated by the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. Many bankers depicted our demise because Mr. Sy came from nowhere. He may have a few department stores and shoe stores, but he was not one of the financial heavyweights at that time. Unaffected by criticism and armed with sheer determination and optimism , he persisted and opened in 1985 with our department store and a few tenants.

 

Oldest Philippine City Launches Rural Tourism Development

Oldest Philippine City Launches Rural Tourism Development Raffy Osumo, Arab News

CEBU CITY, Philippines, 28 April 2006 — How about converting an unoccupied ancestral house or vacation home into a lodging or dining facility for tourists? Promoted by tourism industry players through the Turismo Rural Foundation, the concept hopes to answer the need for more hotel rooms in the central Philippine island of Cebu to accommodate tourists, not to mention the employment and income it would provide rural folks. The island of Cebu is one of the major tourist destinations in the Philippines, both for foreign and local visitors. Cebu City, the oldest Philippine city located on the eastern side of the island, is also a gateway to other destinations in the central and southern Philippines. It has an international airport on nearby Mactan Island. During a meeting on Wednesday at the Maribago Island Resort in Mactan, Julie Alegrado-Vergara of Almont Holdings said rural communities in the island need appropriate tourist services and facilities such as lodging, dining and shopping centers to take advantage of the growing tourist industry. Vergara said rural folks fail to tap their tourism potential because they lack the knowledge to “start an organized tourism business.” She said that Turismo Rural Foundation could help rural folks by training them, as they will be accredited and qualified to operate lodging and dining facilities for foreigners. According to Vergara, the municipality of Argao is currently a pilot area for rural tourism because of the abundance of ancestral homes in the area and because of Argao’s identity as a tourist spot. Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia said that the Turismo Rural complements Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo (Touring Cebu), the current tourism program of Cebu province. The program displays the historical and cultural treasures of not only Cebu City but in surrounding towns as well.

 

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=81393&d=28&m=4&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World

Share prices jump to near seven-year high

Friday, April 28, 2006

Share prices jump to near seven-year high

Philippine share prices rose Thursday, hitting their highest levels in nearly seven years on gains led by market leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), dealers said. Investors are positioning themselves in anticipation of a healthy set of first-quarter results, while the continued decline in oil prices also buoyed up the market, they said. The government’s refusal to waive the value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum products despite high oil prices also aided sentiment, dealers said. The composite index added 34.25 points to 2,281.39 after trading between   2,258.51 and 2,284.08. It was the index’s best finish since August 6, 1999, when it closed at 2,298.18. The all-shares index rose 20.95 points to 1,409.13. Volume was 2.1 billion shares worth P2.9 billion ($55.98 million). Gainers beat losers 54 to 44, with 52 stocks unchanged. The peso traded at 51.885 to the greenback as of mid-day. “We have the first-quarter earnings season in focus,” said Mark Alan Canizares of Citiseconline. Canizares said that while concerns about high oil costs remain, the government’s decision not to touch the VAT on oil products provided some comfort to investors, who had feared that scrapping the VAT on oil products would seriously damage the government’s fiscal program. The government will instead slash the 3 percent oil tariff to soften the impact of high oil prices on consumers. PLDT, the most actively traded stock, rose P40 to a record P2,035 after its American Depositary Receipts advanced in New York overnight. Dealers said PLDT was cheap at below P2,000, considering its healthy financial profile. SM Investments was up P11 at P240, while Aboitiz Equity Ventures rose 10 centavos to P5.50. San Miguel A-shares rose P3.50 to P64 while its B-shares were steady at P81. --AFP

 

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/apr/28/yehey/business/20060428bus9.html

JG Summit posts lower 2005 earnings

Friday, April 28, 2006

JG Summit posts lower 2005 earnings

JG Summit Holdings Inc., the holding company of the Gokongwei family’s business interests, said profits last year dropped by a third as its units posted losses. In its audited financial statements, JG Summit said net income went down 30.9 percent to P4.25 billion in 2005 compared with the previous year’s P6.16 billion, which included a P4.7-billion extraordinary gain on early debt payments. The company also attributed the lower profit to the new accounting standards adopted for 2005, which require annual impairment allocation for assets. JG Summit said consolidated revenues rose 6.3 percent to P70.68 billion. “Our [revenue] growth was driven by the continued improvement in sales and revenues of our core businesses, foods and real estate development, plus the steady rise in the revenues of our telecommunications, air transportation and textile businesses,” the company said. The company added that interest income from its investment portfolio further boosted its revenues by 11.9 percent. Of JG Summit’s units, only Robinsons Land Corp. and Universal Robina Corp. posted double-digit growth in earnings, with four other units still in the red. The company said its telecom unit’s consolidated loss before income tax went down 43.4 percent to P1.049 billion. Cebu Pacific’s net income declined to P78.2 million this year from P126.5 million in 2004, largely due to higher cost of services and operating expenses, mainly fuel-related. The air carrier’s revenues grew 5.5 percent to P7.81 billion during the year as domestic operations improved. JG Summit’s petrochemicals and textile businesses also incurred losses. The conglomerate’s operating expenses rose 3.9 percent to P17.97 billion, pertaining mostly to expenses incurred by its telecom, air transportation and foods businesses. Cost of sales and services went up 6.6 percent due to the rising cost of services in air transportation and mobile phone, and the decline in gross profits of the petrochemical and textile businesses. Over the next few years, JG Summit expects to invest most of its funds on fast-growing industries with large markets, specifically wireless communications and data, commercial property development and branded consumer foods. --Darwin G. Amojelar

 

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/apr/28/yehey/business/20060428bus8.html

Tried and tested: How to tell if a business is franchise-ready

Manila Times Saturday, March 04, 2006

FRANCHISE TIMES By Armando Bartolome Tried and tested: How to tell if a business is franchise-ready

Franchising has hit mainstream. More would-be entrepreneurs are now giving as much consideration to owning a franchise as they do to setting up their own business. Consequently, business owners are also looking into franchising out their brand. But how does one determine if the business has been tried and tested and therefore ready to be franchised? Let me share some of GMB Franchise Developers’ criteria: 1. The longevity of the business.  A business should at least be in operation for one year.  However, the longer the business has been operational, the better. No businessperson will continually operate a business if he is not generating profits from it.  But this is not a guarantee that the franchisee will also generate the same profits as the Franchisor. All this means is that there is an available business system that has the potential to generate profits. The potential can fully be explored by the Franchisee if he follows the business system and provides the hands-on management required. Longevity will also enable one to identify if after going through the business cycle, the business’ end result will be financially attractive.  One knows that a business goes thru a cycle of good sales and low sales.  No business will forever give one the same level of high sales.  Longevity is also important since the Franchisor should be able to give the franchisees guidance on what to do during the business’ peak and bottom levels.  If a Franchisor has not had this experience, there is nothing that can be transferred to the Franchisee. 2. Marketability.  Check the Franchisor’s branches.  Check the market it caters to.  Does it cater to different markets or does it cater to a very specific market.  These are important questions since the wider the market the franchise concept can cater to, the better.  This is not however to say that very specific concepts cannot be franchised.  If and when there are franchise concepts like these, then the franchise applicant should accept that there would be limitations as far as locations are concerned.  Also, it will be important for the applicant to have a full understanding of the market the franchise concept caters to and possible locations can be identified using this criteria. 3. The concept  The market has seen the rise and fall of franchise concepts that were fads.  The pearl shake fad, the shawarma fad, and the lechon manok fad are among the more famous examples of this. A fad concept cannot be fran­chised right away.  It has to go thru the test of time to determine if it can be franchised or not.  A fad has no staying power in the market. However, even fad concepts can be franchised, but this is where one-year operations will not be enough. One would need over two or more years to determine whether it can franchised or not.  Time will be needed to check the concepts’ survival, including its highs and lows, in the market. I hope these tips give you a better understanding of how to evaluate whether a franchise has been tried and tested, and if it will be a lucrative business opportunity for you. The Franchise Times is a public service project of the Association of Filipino Franchisers, Inc. (AFFI) and The Manila Times. This week’s contributor, Mr. Armando O. Bartolome is a founding member of AFFI and Chief Executive Officer of GMB Franchise Consultants. For feedback, please e-mail editor@filfranchisers.com. For more info on AFFI, visit www.filfranchisers.com, call the AFFI Secretariat at 873-8144, or text AFFI to Smart 326.

 

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/mar/04/yehey/business/20060304bus5.html

Entrepreneurship

This story was taken from www.inq7.net
http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=71579

Entrepreneurship
First posted 00:45am (Mla time) April 04, 2006
By Inquirer

IT'S that time of the year again when thousands of students graduate from colleges and universities and face the big, wide world outside. Sadly, these bright-eyed new graduates face a not very encouraging future, given the state our economy is in. A great majority of them will be unemployed for a long time and will remain a burden to their families and to the state, unless they can do something now to keep themselves busy and productive.

Neither the government nor the private sector can offer the estimated 436,000 new graduates many jobs. Of the workforce totaling 35.2 million, 2.8 million are unemployed and 6.9 million are underemployed. Most of the graduates will join the ranks of the unemployed. Government offices are fully staffed, and the only positions that will be open are those that will be vacated by death, terminal sickness or dismissal. The private sector is not offering many employment opportunities, either, and those open require people who have special skills and some experience. Most of the jobs open to the new graduates will go to the highly talented and the highly skilled.

One option for the new graduates is to seek employment abroad. Right now there are many openings for nurses in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Some graduates of medical schools will have to take a nursing course to be eligible for these nurses' positions abroad. Many education graduates will seek employment as governesses or domestic helpers abroad, a sad waste of training and education as well as manpower that is sorely needed in our schools.

Graduates who have certain technical and vocational skills enjoy an advantage over those who have completed white-collar courses such as law, commerce or mass communication. These technical and vocational school graduates can easily be employed in the Middle East and other parts of the world where there is a big demand for skilled labor.

What then are the rest of the new college graduates to do? One option is to become entrepreneurs and start small businesses. But this will require some capital and some entrepreneurial and technical expertise. These graduates can enroll in some courses such as those that used to be offered by the Livelihood Resource Center and learn entrepreneurial skills. Then they can use their savings, or borrow money from relatives, friends or banks and set up small enterprises. Or groups of graduates can pool their savings to form partnerships.

Running small enterprises may not seem so glamorous as going to 9-to-5 jobs dressed in long-sleeved shirts and neckties or barong Tagalog, but they offer a lot of possibilities for long-term advancement. But it will take a lot of hard work, perseverance and determination for these small businesses to grow. The rewards, however, may be surprising for some.

Spoofs Ltd. Inc. is a good example of an enterprise that started small, expanded over the years, and is now branching out to Alabang, Pampanga and Baguio. It was set up by Carlo Anthony Dobles and his friends at the Ateneo de Manila University with a borrowed capital of P18,000. First, they spoofed the Polo shirt into a Bolo design featuring a bolo-wielding farmer riding on a carabao. United Couples of Banatan (a spoof of United Colors of Benetton) followed.

A similar enterprise is Islands Souvenirs, which was founded by Jay Aldeguer in 1999. It began showcasing the best of the Philippine islands and has moved on to producing souvenirs from various tourist destinations.

And would you believe that the multimillion-peso National Bookstore chain started as a stall on Escolta Street in the late 1940s on a total capital of only P211 scraped up by Jose and Socorro Ramos? The story of Socorro Ramos is so inspiring that she has been called a "National Treasure.'' Last year she won the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Award.

Another enterprise that started as a small backyard business is Splash Corp. which was set up with a start-up capital of only P12,000 by Dr. Rolando Hortaleza and his wife Rosalinda. Today it is a multimillion-peso business selling mega brands such as Extraderm, Skin White and Biolink.

All these examples show that small business may be the way to go for new graduates. It's time graduates stopped thinking only of regular office jobs as the only possible way of making a living. They should start thinking of going into business for themselves. That way they will get themselves immediately employed and occupied, feeding their families and helping in the economic development of the country.

 

http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&col=84&story_id=71579