Biz Buzz: Never say die

The contract signing between the government and the Ayala Corp.-Metro Pacific Investments tandem for the automated fare collection system PPP—the transportation department’s first—went off without a hitch on Monday. Well and good, right?

But not everyone is pleased, of course, least of all No. 2 bidder SM group, which still managed to file its second motion for reconsideration hours before the contract signing. The act itself raised some eyebrows given that SM’s first motion was already denied. But here’s the thing: SM only got its denial Friday before the signing and well past office hours in an e-mail sent at 7:20 p.m. That led to SM’s lawyers working round the clock over the weekend to prepare its second motion for reconsideration, which could only be submitted Monday.

SM insiders knew the cards were stacked against them but they nevertheless lamented the timing of the delivery of the denial and almost two months after filing the first motion on Feb 3.

As a recap, SM Investments’ offer came P103,800 short of Ayala-Metro Pacific’s P1.088 billion proposal. But it reiterated that its bid was superior as this would be paid upfront, although not stated in the bid proposal but in an attached document, instead of gradually over 10 years.

“Despite submitting the more advantageous bid, the SM consortium’s bid was rejected by relying purely on technical considerations, which runs contrary to the intent of public bidding law and rules that mandate the government to choose the most advantageous bid,” SM said in statement following the filing of its second motion.

It added that “relying solely on net present value, instead of full economic value in determining the highest bid, may be counterproductive on the premise that the government will forego the benefits of getting the premium today.”

A transportation department spokesman said no “railroading” occurred and their priority was to move forward with the project due to sharp criticism it wasn’t moving fast enough.

We’re not sure how much further the SM group, which controls the country’s biggest mall franchise and largest bank, would go in making its case.

But as we say in this column, abangan!—Miguel R. Camus

Solaire’s best

We’ve seen the jaw-dropping headlines: Enrique Razon-owned Bloomberry Resorts Corp. nearly doubled its net loss last year to P1.3 billion.

But the people behind the gaming firm’s flagship Solaire Resort and Casino project don’t seem to be too worried. And why should they? The company’s stock price even rose on the day the company’s large losses were announced, ending at P10.04 a share from the previous trading day’s close of P9.70. And on the back of some of the largest trading volumes in several weeks, mind you.

Well, Biz Buzz learned that part of the reason why the stock shrugged off the poor earnings report was the fact that Solaire recorded its best monthly performance in March since it opened last year in terms of gross gaming revenues. These revenues from casino operations, we hear, hit P2.7 billion, representing the best performance for gaming junkets and slot machines.

To put P2.7 billion in better perspective, that amount represents an average of P87 million bet by patrons for each day of the previous month on Solaire’s tables and slot. Not bad for a casino, which has only been in operation for a year.

Of course, the growing appetite for casino gaming also bodes well for the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s Entertainment City project as well as for Melco Crown’s “City of Dreams” (which recently announced intentions to go on a hiring spree for its casino and hotel).

Looks like exciting times ahead.—Daxim L. Lucas

4th PSE term

For the fourth straight year, the tandem of Jose “Titoy” Pardo (chair) and Hans Sicat (president) will likely get a fresh mandate to lead the board of the Philippine Stock Exchange during the local bourse’s upcoming stockholders’ meeting this May 24.

Based on the PSE’s official list of candidates, there are exactly 15 names who will vie for 15 available seats in the board, seven of whom are stockbrokers: Eddie Gobing (Lucky Securities), Eusebio Tanco (Venture Securities), Emmanuel Bautista (Deutsche Regis Partners), Ma. Vivian Yuchengco (The First Resources Management and Securities Corp.), Francis Chua (BA Securities), Alejandro Yu (R.S.Lim & Co.) and David Chua (Asia Pacific Capital Equities).

The other non-broker board members who are up for reelection are Anabelle Chua (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.), Robert Vergara (Government Service Insurance System), Amor Iliscupidez (San Miguel Corp. Retirement Plan) and Edgardo Lacson (Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries).

Of the eight non-brokers, three are independent directors, including Pardo, an entrepreneur and a former finance and trade secretary while the two others are Cornelio Peralta and Dakila Fonacier.

No challengers even for a seat or two? Challengers in the past found out how difficult it is to swim against the tide.—Doris C. Dumlao

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