Like many other high-powered meetings in the Philippines last Thursday, the weekly meeting of the central bank’s policymaking body, the Monetary Board, was unusually short. Every one was in hurry to watch the Ateneo versus La Salle UAAP basketball championship game.
Three of the seven members of the board emerged smiling at the end: the central bank governor, Amando Tetangco Jr., and Alfredo Antonio and Ignacio Bunye. Doris C. Dumlao
* * *
Crown jewels for sale
Gossip #1: San Miguel Corp. is selling a portion of its 94.2-percent stake in local brewer San Miguel Brewery.
The share price of San Miguel Brewery, which has a stranglehold on the Philippine beer market, has risen to P11 from its IPO price of P8, for a 37.5-percent gain. Not bad in a bear market.
San Miguel’s Japanese partner Kirin is reportedly keen on buying the brewery business if given the chance. San Miguel sources confirmed the intention to sell a portion of the brewery but the identity of the buyer remains a mystery.
The rumors sent both Class “A” and “B” shares of San Miguel — Class A shares are restricted to Filipinos — flying last week by 18 and 19 percent, respectively, and San Miguel Brewery shares gained 15 percent.
The question now is: How will the sale proceeds be used?
Gossip #2: Lopez-controlled power producer First Gen Corp. is the subject of acquisition talks as it continues to prowl for a buyer for a portion of its stake in Red Vulcan Holdings Corp., the vehicle company that holds a controlling stake in geothermal power producer Energy Development Corp.
This rumor boosted First Gen stock last week by 14 percent to P18 a share despite earlier concerns about the company’s debt burden.
First Gen has P19 billion in debts falling due this year. A source close to the Lopez clan said talks with a prospective buyer were ongoing. Elizabeth Sanchez-Lacson
* * *
Whatever ‘Lola’ wants...
Albay province’s Governor Joey Salceda — a former congressman and former multi-awarded securities analyst, among others — continues to amaze (and amuse) people with his antics.
At a recent capital market forum organized by The Asset financial magazine, Joey repeatedly referred to his co-panelist, Chairperson Fe Barin of the Securities and Exchange Commission as “lola” [grandmother], ostensibly as a term of endearment. But the prim-and-proper Chairperson Fe’s body language showed displeasure at the term.
The moderator, Romy Bernardo, of the consultaning firm of Lazaro Bernado Tiu and of the think-tank Global Source, explained that perhaps Joey was using it to suggest not an old frail grandma but a person in a position of power — the way Joey sometimes refers to his big boss, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, as “Lola.” As that famous song from way back goes, “Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets ... Give in.”
Nonetheless, this was subtle as compared with how Joey once described Arroyo in colorful language (“lucky bitch”) on live television. But that was yesterday’s news. Doris C. Dumlao
* * *
Linking transport links
Transport stakeholders are pushing to have the stations of Metro Manila’s overhead Light Rail Transit Line 1, Metro Rail Transit and its future line integrated into one transit hub at the intersection of the EDSA highway and North Avenue instead of having three separate stations connected by walkways.
Sources estimated the cost for the inter-modal station at P600 million, and say the managers of the overhead railway systems have agreed in principle to have one terminal.
The construction cost will be split between the Department of Transportation and Communications, which manages the Metro Rail Transit, and the Light Rail Transit Authority and the group that proposes to build and operate another Metro Rail line, called MRT-7.
Without an inter-modal station, the Metro Rail Transit, Light Rail Transit Line 1 extension and MRT-7 would be linked by long uncovered walkways, which would be a major hassle for passengers switching lines. Riza T. Olchondra
* * *
Yet another link
The government still wants to link the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3) with the old Light Rail Transit Line 1, sources in the Department of Transportation and Communications say.
One estimate puts the project cost at P700 million (which, judging from experience, will surely balloon.)
Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) Administrator Melquiades Robles does not deny that the government is still entertaining the idea of activating a train link to NAIA 3, saying the technical plan and feasibility study are ready for revisiting.
The plan has not received a go-ahead but will likely be revived as traffic to and from NAIA 3 picks up. In the meantime, the LRTA’s plate is still full with other “urgent” projects like the closing of the Light Rail-Metro Rail loop. Riza T. Olchondra
* * *
Export Bank’s stroke of luck
Union Bank of the Philippines, which gobbled up International Exchange Bank two years ago in a blitzkrieg, recently changed its official bank logo at its branches as part of its branding strategy.
The new blue-and-orange signage, however, has a striking semblance to the existing logo of Export Bank.
“Copying is the best form of flattery,” Export Bank chairman Jaime Gonzales said in jest. We kidded him back: Maybe the Aboitiz group that controls Union Bank wants to merge with — or buy — his bank. (Having recently sold their shipping and logistics business, the Aboitizes are cash-rich).
But Gonzales, a longtime investment banker, may have another suitor in mind. No deal is imminent, he said, quickly refuting the rumor mill, because of unfavorable stock market valuations.
Export Bank has had a stroke of good luck with some of its properties in Fort Bonifacio Global City, inherited from the defunct Urban Bank. “It’s not that I was clever,” Gonzales said. “I didn’t even know” that Shangri-La hotel and St. Luke’s Medical Cnter would be built in the vicinity. “Then you wake up one day, they’re across from you.” Doris C. Dumlao
