‘Just business’

If business is war, then the leaders of the Ayala and SM groups are fierce rivals in the field of battle.

But, apparently, they remain warm to each other when they step off the battlefield, according to SM vice chair Tessie Sy-Coson, who said that she continues to interact quite warmly with the Zobel brothers (especially the Ayala group’s chair Jaime Augusto, whom she encounters more often).

This is hardly surprising as the builders of two of the country’s biggest conglomerates— Jaime Zobel de Ayala and Henry Sy Sr.— started off (and remain, by most accounts) good friends, long before the business of empire building got in the way. (In fact, Henry Sy still maintains an office in the old Makati Stock Exchange building adjacent to the Tower One high-rise along Ayala Ave.—a location he considers to have good feng shui.)

Sy-Coson chuckled off questions about the apparently fierce rivalry between both conglomerates, saying “it’s just business. But we’re OK.”

Speaking of which, we’re told that the Ayala group isn’t really interested in contesting SM’s desire to reclaim 300 hectares from Manila Bay to expand its Mall of Asia complex footprint. The group, we’re told, only wanted to “highlight the process” involved in the Pasay City government’s decision to award the project to SM. “Nothing personal. Just business.” Daxim L. Lucas

‘Oscars’ of energy

In a black tie event in New York last Dec. 12, Manila Electric Co. bagged the 2013 Platts Global Energy Stewardship Awards for corporate social responsibility, beating 14 other multinational companies for this recognition.

Judges hailed Meralco’s aim of “aligning its business goals with its social development objectives: Helping to improve the quality of life for its customers, especially those who are marginalized, both for their benefit and the nation’s.” The judges also recognized Meralco’s post-typhoon relief efforts, providing generators and aid to affected communities.

The Platts Awards, often described as the “Oscars” of energy, included more than a dozen performance categories and 20 individual awards, which were presented to executives and companies from all spectrums of the energy arena.

The awards gala, emceed by CNBC television anchor Amanda Drury, was held at the Waldorf Astoria in midtown Manhattan and attended by nearly 500 energy industry executives from 19 countries. Winning the most coveted of the program’s awards was Continental Resources of Oklahoma, which took home “Energy Company of the Year” and whose chief executive officer, Harold Hamm, was named CEO of the Year. Doris C. Dumlao

‘Get your PAX right’

A concerned group of minority investors of listed company Paxys Inc.—known on the local bourse by its code “PAX”—is becoming  disgruntled by the seeming inactivity of the company in putting to good use the cash hoard of P4.48 billion as of Sept. 30, Biz Buzz  has learned.

It’s almost two years since the sale of Paxys’ Australian BPO subsidiary, Smart Salary, was consummated. That deal involved more than 95 percent of Paxys’ current cash position. But to date, there has not been an announcement as to the company’s plan of possibly deploying such massive resources.

To recall, Paxys became the first listed BPO holding company in 2004 and was highly profitable until 2008, when US BPO companies started aggressively competing with Paxys in both customer acquisition and manpower recruitment. It has since sold all of its BPO businesses, with the Smart Salary deal in early 2012 being the most significant.

Minority shareholders believed that Paxys even postponed its 2013 annual shareholders’ meeting—originally scheduled last August—due to the company’s lack of prospects. (That meeting is set to happen this Friday, Dec. 20, barring any last minute hitches.)

Our source believes that Paxys’ controlling shareholder, Hong Kong-based All Asia Customer Service Holdings Ltd., has not showed any urgency in pushing the company to deploy its cash to more productive endeavors—something that is aggravated by the low interest rate environment around the world, which makes holding cash unattractive, at best.

Minority shareholders want Paxys’ management to take action. Some are suggesting a share buyback as a win-win solution to diffuse a potentially protracted situation where the minority might “exercise their ownership appraisal rights.” Paxys’ cash value per share is estimated at P3.68 a share while its book value a share is at P3.90. But its share price has been sluggishly trading only at around P1.85 apiece. Given that minority shareholders hold 26 percent of total company shares, management should really try to “get its Pax right,” as one said. Daxim L. Lucas

BPI fund-raising

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands will turn over to BPI Foundation today millions in funds pooled by its employees for victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” BPI has also committed to match each peso raised by its employees, thus doubling whatever will be raised for relief and rebuilding efforts in Leyte and other ravaged provinces.

As of end-November, BPI employees have raised a total of P10.59 million—consisting of P9.6 million in direct donations and P896,000 from cancelled Christmas parties. This means that BPI itself will donate at least P10 million to match the efforts of its employees.

BPI president Cezar Consing, representing the bank’s employees, will remit the funds to BPI Foundation executive director Randy Maranan today. Doris C. Dumlao

Shariah compliant

The Philippine Stock Exchange is preparing to launch a list of stocks considered to be compliant with Shariah Law, or those that operate in accordance with Islamic finance standards.

This is seen making it easier for Islamic investors, for instance those based in oil-rich Middle East, to scout for potential investments in this market. This also means that the PSE will be screening the current list of stocks to determine which ones are Shariah-eligible.

In line with this, the PSE is conducting a series of briefings on the criteria, standards and methodology to be used for purposes of coming up with the Shariah-compliant list of equity securities. For instance, Shariah-compliant funds are typically barred from investing in enterprises engaged in the production and selling of alcohol, pork products, pornography, gambling, military equipment or weapons. A small portion may come from “prohibited” sources but the company must “purify” them by separately accounting for these earnings and donating them to charity. Doris C. Dumlao

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