BIZ BUZZ: ‘The deal is off’

Things seem to have quieted down for Duterte-era tycoon Dennis Uy, with creditors settling down into a somewhat more comfortable stance, especially since many of them have, by now, already secured their multibillion-peso exposures to the businessman from Davao of late.

But not everything is hunky dory, as some issues continue to unfold away from public eyes.

Biz Buzz heard that the plan of billionaire Enrique Razon Jr. to invest in Uy’s casino projects—particularly the one in Cebu (along with another in Clark, Pampanga,)—will no longer happen.

Recall that the deal was announced in May of last year and was supposed to be a precondition for the sale of Uy’s Malampaya stake to Razon. The deal was supposed to be something like: “I sell this to you, but you have to help me with this other problem,” we’re told.

Well, word on the street is that the transaction will no longer happen after Razon’s team got a closer look at what was being offered. Whoopsie. What now?

—Daxim L. Lucas

RT & Co. on the rise

In the world of accountancy and the auditing industry, there are some firms that are on the rise and there are some that are on the wane.

And Reyes Tacandong & Co. is definitely one of the former.

The 12-year-old firm—set to celebrate its “Lucky 13” year in May—now have five offices nationwide, 30 partners and principals and a staffing complement of over 350 topnotchers and graduates with summa cum laude, magna cum laude and cum laude feathers in their caps.

All told, Reyes Tacandong’s team bring to their ever growing roster of clients over three centuries worth of relevant auditing and consultancy experience, which means companies that pay for their services get sage advice on how to optimize their precious financial resources.

The good news is that the firm’s prowess is also being recognized by its peers in the industry. Recently, its cofounder, managing partner and chief operating officer Protacio “Cocoy” Tacandong was honored with the Accountancy Centenary Award for Excellence and was also recognized as being one of the Top 100 certified public accountants in the country by the industry association.

And, as if professional awards weren’t enough, there was also an honor for one important nonprofessional activity bestowed on Manny Reyes earlier this month. That’s because he won the championship in the class D division of the ICTSI Golf Invitational 2023 in Santa Elena Golf Club, and was awarded by no less than tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.

With Reyes Tacandong poised to scoop up a few more clients amid the rigodon between companies and their auditors in the coming months, it looks like more good news is on the way.

—Daxim L. Lucas

Big is beautiful

It’s good to be a large bank during these uncertain times.

Despite a looming banking crisis in the United States, the Fitch Group’s independent research arm CreditSights affirmed its “market perform recommendation” for BDO Unibank Inc., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., Bank of the Philippine Islands and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

“Overall, we remain comfortable with the first-tier banks due to their bigger size, ability to withstand funding cost pressure, larger corporate books, good capital and loan loss buffers and relative stability in operating performance,” CreditSights said.

While sticky inflation and elevated interest rates could put pressure on loan growth and asset quality, the bankers were expected to weather these challenges.

“[W]e see the first tier banks managing fine due to their larger more resilient corporate books, ability to grow and protect their [net interest margins],” it added.

—Miguel R. Camus INQ