Biz Buzz Snooty people’s car

Snooty people’s car

So Europe’s largest carmaker, Volkswagen AG, is back in the Philippines … but only with diesel-powered models.

The return of VW has certainly made waves, but especially with certain oil players disturbed over reports that the maker of Volkswagen (literally meaning “people’s car” in German) finds local unleaded gasoline products to be of inferior quality.

Just to be clear, the “Big 3”—Petron, Shell and Chevron—were apparently found to have suitable unleaded gasoline that will not damage VW engines. But tests supposedly showed that fuel from independent oil players had traces of manganese (as substitute for lead, a banned substance) in their unleaded gasoline products. Never mind that both large and small oil players have declared Euro IV compliance on products well ahead of the 2016 mandate for clean fuel use.

A harder puzzle for us to solve is why the Volkswagen Group’s premium brands (Bentley, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini) don’t seem to have similar problems with locally available unleaded gasoline. Other car manufacturers’ gasoline-powered models, whether premium or regular, also seem to be selling—and running—just fine.

So what could be the difference with the People’s Car? That’s just what the Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA) wants to find out. “We will officially ask for [Volkswagen’s] study, to be fair,” IPPCA chair Fernando Martinez said in a text message. “Our imported refined diesel and gasoline are sourced from the most advanced refineries in the world. We are inviting technology additives providers to discuss the issue.”  Riza Olchondra

Puregold’s 200^th

Fast-growing retailer Puregold Price Club is set to reach the 200th-store milestone next month with the opening of a branch in San Fernando, La Union—achieving its target of doubling its network ahead of the 2015 commitment when it went public in end-2011.

But Puregold—one of the biggest challengers to the SM group’s retailing business—has yet to scratch even a quarter of the “universe” as it is operating only in 88 cities and first-class municipalities.

Puregold investor relations officer Jimmy Perez, in a BPI Securities investors’ forum on Saturday, said the group counted the cities and first-class municipalities across the country that could potentially host a Puregold store and the number of such local government units was around 500. As such, Puregold will continue to open at least 25 new stores a year. Beyond organic growth, management is keeping both eyes open for merger-and-acquisition opportunities.

Asked by an investor why Puregold has yet to set up shop in Cebu (the country’s second most important urban hub next to Metro Manila), Perez said Metropolitan Cebu was already dominated by many old retailing names. He said the strategy would be to focus on peripheral or “other” cities on the island. In September, however, he reported that Puregold was able to break into the Visayas market with the opening of a hypermarket in Bacolod City.

Outside of Puregold, Chinoy businessman Lucio Co has made inroads in Cebu’s retailing market—albeit in a personal capacity and in another format—with the acquisition of Three-Sixty Pharmacy, which also marked his entry into the drugstore business.  Doris C. Dumlao

Exposed online

A Filipino executive seems to have found himself in an embarrassing situation because of his posts in an online financial portal.

Stockhouse.com, Canada’s leading financial portal, is proud to have smart members, including affluent investors researching on stocks and looking for new opportunities. Stockhouse.com is an international hub for investors to find relevant financial news, access expert analysis and opinion, and exchange insights with each other.”

It is in this portal that the Filipino executive participate in the heated discussions about the King-king Copper Gold project in Mindanao. The executive posted comments under the name “Alexander Brown” who is supposed to be interested in investing in the Pantukan project.

But it now appears that this executive belongs to the minority group of shareholders in Nationwide Development Corp. (Nadecor), one of the three companies involved in the mining project.

For more than two months “Alexander Brown” actively argued with Robert1, Skippy99 and rapid_fire_ on issues about the mining project. “Alexander Brown” normally signed his posts as “Alex.”

Other online participants have had doubts about Brown’s identity and suspected him to be somebody else. In one of his posts, Brown defended himself against online participant “Rapid Fire,” saying “your comments are uncalled for and unfair. I am not a member of any group. I have significant investments all over Asia. I was interested in the King-king project thus my due diligence.”

But on Aug. 26, “Alexander Brown” made what looked like a blunder. In his reply to Robert1, he signed off his post as “Ruy” instead of his customary “Alex.” That blew his cover and Robert1 replied (and identified him as Ruy Moreno, aligned with the company’s minority group): “Wow, I knew the Ricafort group [is] using some underhanded tactics but this is pathetic. According to the fake Nadecor website, Mr. Brown, er I mean Mr. Moreno… ‘is also currently vice chair of the Center for Global Best Practices (CGBP), executive director for the Philippines of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), director of Rotary Club of Makati West and chair of the Philippine-Myanmar Business Council, and  Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).”

He added that Moreno’s alleged posts put in him in an awkward position vis-à-vis his other endeavors like the Centre for Global Best Practices, given his public position against the company’s foreign partner, St. Augustine Mining, made under a false identity.

“Pathetic,” Robert1 said. “Hey, I’m sure we’ll start seeing someone named ‘John Smith’ post misleading information instead of good old Alex.”

Whoops.  Daxim L. Lucas

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