Biz Buzz: Recapturing PICC’s old glory

The Philippine International Convention Center is in the process of getting a major facelift amid the government’s expectations of an influx of conventions and exhibits as the business environment improves.

According to our source, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has authorized the renovation of the facility, which is estimated to cost at least P35 million, ahead of next year’s Asian Development Bank annual meeting, which will be held at the facility.

(Why the BSP? Recall that it was the old Central Bank of the Philippines that funded the Leandro Locsin-designed convention center in the 1970s.)

The renovation calls for the sprucing up of PICC’s convention halls, meeting rooms and other facilities, to better attract big-money conventions from abroad. This development will be good for other “bay area” hotels (Manila Bay, that is)—including the adjacent Sofitel Hotel—which have lost ground in recent years to their more accessible Makati area rivals.

But it’s not only the ADB meeting that the PICC will be hosting. The government is also bidding to host the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in 2015, which will be the last such meeting of the Aquino administration.

If successful, that will mark a full circle for PICC, which was launched in 1976 for … that year’s IMF-World Bank annual meeting.—Daxim L. Lucas

Hotel acceleration

Belle Corp., which recently joined the Philippine Stock Exchange index, is fast-tracking the construction of upscale hotel facilities in Pagcor City to stick to the scheduled first-quarter 2013 grand opening of Belle Grande Manila Bay. The casino itself will be ready by the second quarter of 2012 but given that Pagcor would not budge on its requirement that at least 800 hotel rooms must be put up before the casino could open, Belle has vowed to follow the gaming regulator’s mandate.

“Our construction is in full swing,” said Belle vice chair Willy Ocier. “We are [raring] to operate it.” But the group is still deciding on which hotel brands will best suit its concept and brand image. There will be three hotel brands—all with five- or six-star rating—managing 880 hotel rooms in Belle’s integrated tourism complex, each with an average size of 45 square meters.

Belle, backed by the family of the country’s wealthiest man, Henry Sy Sr., successfully finalized last week a P4.5-billion fund-raising from the sale of new shares to existing investors. The preemptive rights issue (1.5 billion shares at P3 each) was oversubscribed. Belle has thus refilled its cookie jar before plunging into the robust Asian gaming market.—Doris C. Dumlao

Transition pains

Philippine Airlines was finally able to implement its long-awaited—but hotly contested—spin off/outsourcing program during the weekend. Surprisingly, it was an uneventful transition as the clock struck midnight of October 1. Earlier, the much-touted “massive rally” by some 300 PAL workers, according to some TV accounts, voluntarily dispersed with no untoward incident.

As of Saturday, airport sources told Biz Buzz that the flag carrier was still reeling from “transition pains” as it operated only about 70 percent, or two-thirds, of its original flight frequencies. The crux of the matter seems to be the lingering manpower shortage of some service providers, which were under orders from the labor department and Malacañang to absorb every single PAL employee to be laid off by the airline company. Trouble is, only few of these retired workers were interested in joining the third-party ground handling and catering companies picked by PAL to do the job. Fortunately, SPi Global, the PLDT-owned call center, didn’t share the same problem as it had enough personnel to handle the airline’s call center reservations function.

Expect PAL operations to slowly return to normal in about a month as the service providers now have a free hand to recruit skilled workers outside the pool of PAL’s retired personnel. In the meantime, it looks like it’s all-systems go for a leaner PAL, which has become a more attractive target for potential buyers/investors. Abangan!—Daxim L. Lucas

Globalizing Jollibee

Though Burger King isn’t exactly a threat to Jollibee Foods Corp. in the Philippines (at least not in the same scale that Mang Inasal was widely perceived to be), businessman Tony Tan Caktiong’s group may be looking at a much bigger picture when they took over the local franchise of the American chain. And this has something to do with JFC’s aspiration to be a truly global company.

Though it may be a long shot, if JFC could rapidly grow the local Burger King business, the American fast-food chain may be convinced to grant additional franchises in Asia, particularly in mainland China, an industry source familiar with the recent Burger King acquisition said. JFC, for its part, has gained a foothold in China albeit by acquiring local restaurant brands rather than bringing any of its own. JFC’s brands that are homegrown in the Philippines are a big hit to areas with a large concentration of overseas Pinoys but the local fast-food giant has also pursued a parallel tack of taking over non-Pinoy brands to serve the larger world outside.

For its part, Florida-based Burger King currently operates its own stores in China and has some non-exclusive franchise arrangements but has yet to grant a master franchise in Asia’s fastest-growing economy. That may be the big trophy—and new cash cow—that the globalizing JFC could bring home in the future.—Doris C. Dumlao

Longer trading

Starting Monday, stock traders will have to take their lunch break a bit later as the Philippine Stock Exchange implements the first phase of its program to extend trading hours, in turn to prepare for regional cross-border trading.

The closing bell will now be at 1 p.m. instead of 12:10 p.m. Starting next year, the trading hours will be extended further into the afternoon but with a lunch break in between. The morning session will be 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. while the afternoon session will be 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

“This is like a bit of a warm-up, like exercising before you sprint,” said PSE president Hans Sicat, adding that the local bourse would stick to the schedule despite an unfavorable global backdrop. “It would have been better if the world isn’t having hiccups because of the Europe and US follow-on situation. But if you look at what’s happening in the region, I think we’re kind of holding our own. It’s a great buying opportunity.”—Doris C. Dumlao

Whipping boy Almendras

The country’s energy chief has always been the convenient whipping boy—the one always held accountable by industry groups and militant organizations for high electricity prices and the unwarranted spikes in fuel costs.

Energy Secretary Rene Almendras, however, looks every bit ready to fight back given these “unfair” accusations. In particular, he took exception to recent pronouncements made by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which called on Almendras not to promise any reduction in power rates and just keep prices at current levels.

Almendras pointed out that the Department of Energy has no control over energy prices by virtue of the Oil Deregulation Law and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.

Despite the restrictions, however, Almendras said the DoE has been taking huge strides to arrest unwarranted price spikes through a master plan of programs, policies and other measures. Let’s see if it works.—Amy R. Remo

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