MANILA, Philippines—The peso inched up on Thursday as increase in interest rates in various countries in emerging Asia enticed investors to buy securities from the region, thereby lifting major Asian currencies. The local currency closed at 43.39 against the US dollar, up by 5 centavos from the previous day’s finish of 43.44:$1. Intraday high hit [...]
MANILA, Philippines—Motorists will have to pay higher toll at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) starting Friday as the highway’s operator implements the last of four adjustments to bring fees to government-approved levels. This will be the last of four monthly toll adjustments implemented by South Luzon Tollways Corp. (SLTC), the company that spent P14 billion [...]
NEW YORK—US stocks made solid gains Wednesday after a key report on private-sector hiring suggested the ailing labor market had turned a corner. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 71.60 points (0.58 percent) to finish at 12,350.61. The broad-based S&P 500 index advanced 8.82 points (0.67 percent) to 1,328.26, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained [...]
MANILA, Philippines—The peso inched up slightly on Wednesday as expectations of further rise in interest rates in emerging Asian economies, including the Philippines, convinced investors to place funds in these parts of the world. The local currency closed at 43.44 against the US dollar, up by 2 centavos from the previous day’s finish of 43.46:$1. [...]
IT TOOK only 10 days for First Pacific’s big boss Manuel V. Pangilinan to clinch the deal that will allow PLDT to take over a majority stake in Gokongwei-led Digitel—nearly a decade after the latter’s hostile takeover attempt at PLDT that MVP successfully fended off. It may have been a defensive blitzkrieg, as PLDT was [...]
MANILA, Philippines—Infrastructure giant Metro Pacific Investments Corp. will withdraw its proposal to buy the Metro Rail Transit 3 train line if the government insists on bidding it out to find better offers. MPIC chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the company was willing to stand down from its position that the MRT acquisition was a mere [...]
MANILA, Philippines—Gaming firm Leisure & Resorts World Corp. has taken in publicly listed Vantage Equities Inc. and private investment management firm Capital Managers and Advisors Inc. as strategic minority investors to own a combined 12.44 percent of total stocks. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Capital Managers announced its purchase of a 7.33-percent [...]
MANILA, Philippines—A highlight of the Philippine media’s visit to the Bangkok Motor Show was a conversation with Martin Apfel, General Motors president for Southeast Asia; Roberto Rempel, GM’s global vehicle chief engineer; and Albert Arcilla, president of The Covenant Car Company Inc. (TCCCI), which is GM’s Philippine distributor. Based in Bangkok, Apfel discussed the new [...]
BANGKOK—Ford Asia Pacific recently unveiled the production version of the all-new Ford Ranger. In-line with Ford Motor Company’s One Ford policy, Ford will be designing, developing and launching a single type of vehicle that will be sold in key markets worldwide. The Ranger is Ford’s first truck to be built under the One Ford Policy. [...]
THANKS to the kind people at Ford Group Philippines, I recently attended the Asean Launch of the all-new Ford Ranger. On paper, it is probably the most impressive compact pickup truck to be released. Unfortunately for us, we’ll have to wait until the end of this year until we get it on our local roads. [...]
MANILA, Philippines—The country’s summer capital is becoming a less feasible place to go to. Well, not because it’s any of the city’s fault. Point the finger to a desert region half a planet away, where much of the world’s oil supply comes from. Political and civil unrest in many Middle Eastern countries has jacked world [...]
MANILA, Philippines—The summer heat is on and so is the battle for this year’s Car of the Year Philippines (COTY-P). The prestigious title of Car of the Year is once again at stake as 14 cars made it to the first tier of the title as category winners. Traditionally, the results are announced during the [...]
