1ST QUARTER 2018
PH F&B, retail sectors
more profitable than
telco, property
A comparative outlook at profitability
indicators since 1997 shows that retail,
and food-and-beverage companies have
averaged higher rates of return than
some of the top telecommunications and
real-estate companies in the Philippines.
These points to the capital-intensive nature of
telco and real-estate industries, which contribute
significantly to national infrastructure and
development.
An academic research paper by University of the
Philippines (UP) Professor Emeritus Epictetus
Local News
Patalinghug, PhD, shows that over a longer time
horizon, PLDT and Globe Telecom, as well as real-
estate companies, such as SM Prime and Ayala
Land, are earning below the average rate of returns
attained by top Philippine firms in other industries.
Department store chain SM, for instance, had a
return on assets (ROA) of 14.42%, while the ROA
of a beer company, such as Asia Brewery, reached
12.13%.
Late last year, Ayala Malls have partnered with
Alibaba’s Ant Financial in a bid to kick-start the
popularization of QR payments in the country
through the use of Globe Gcash, which was initially
launched in Glorietta, and later adopted by other
Ayala Malls.
Robinsons on the other hand has partnered with
PLDT’s PayMaya to launch their own QR payment.
While SM has used both Globe and Paymaya’s
services for its own cashless payment options
among its malls.
With the use of QR payments, shoppers can load up
their digital wallet and pay using designated Apps
and thru scanning QR stickers displayed in the
merchant’s establishment.
Moreover, merchants do not need to buy and
install equipment, but would only need printed QR
stickers which the customers will scan with their
smart phones to complete transactions. According
to data, 75% of Filipinos do not have bank accounts,
while 95% do not use credit cards.
More significantly, high capital-intensive industries
evidently require high margins to be viable.
The lack of government spending on national
telecommunications networks, and on much
needed housing and transport infrastructure, adds
to the challenges of competing in the said industries.
(Business Mirror, 01/15/2018)
PLDT and SM Prime, on the other hand, recorded
ROAs of only 9.18% and 8.49%, respectively. Globe
and Ayala Land were even lower in rank with 6.7%
and 5.96%.
Data show that as telcos and developers aggressively
embark on increasing capital expenditures, they
must be able to generate enough cash flow to
sustain the needed investments in capital-intensive
industries.
3 major malls introduce SM Prime issuing P20-b
bonds to fund expansion
cashless payments
With the continued rise of digital
technology in shopping, the three major
malls in the country have recently
launched cashless payment method
to ease burden of bringing cash when
shopping and open more options for
payment among shoppers
PHILIPPINE RETAILING
SM Prime Holdings Inc. plans to raise P20
billion in fixed rate bonds to fund mall
expansion and residential projects.
SM Prime said in a disclosure to the stock
exchange it filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission an application for a permit to sell
fixed-rate bonds in the amount of P15 billion with
an oversubscription option of up to P5 billion and
with maturities of five years and seven years.
SM Prime plans to open eight malls this year, mostly
geared toward the provincial cities, to hit its target
of 75 malls by the end of 2018. The malls slated for
opening this year are SM Center Imus, SM City
Legaspi, SM City Urdaneta, SM City Telabastagan,
SM City Ormoc, SM Center Dagupan, SM Moonwalk
Parañaque and SM Center Cabuyao. The opening
of new malls will boost the group’s mall gross
floor area to 10.5 million square meters. SM Prime
as of end 2017 had an available land bank of 141.66
hectares for future mall development.
(Manila Standard, 01/16/2018)
SM Prime’s latest bond offering is the third
of the company’s P60 billion three-year debt
securities program approved by the SEC in July 2016.
SM Prime has tapped BDO Capital and Investments
Corp., China Bank Capital, BPI Capital Corp., First
Metro Investments Corp., PNB Capital and Union
Bank as joint underwriters for the offering.
Fashion Brand Bench
opens flagship café to make you feel that you’re not just entering a
store, you’re entering the Bench universe,” said Ben
Chan, chair and founder of Bench and Suyen Corp.
Worldwide, there is an increasing trend
of fashion brands opening up their own
brand cafes. “We serve glamorized turo-turo. It’s kanin, two
ulam, gulay, and you can upgrade with a sabaw or
special rice. It’s a complete meal served on a tray,”
said Eric Dee, COO of FooDee Global Concepts.
Leading the way on
the local front is
Bench Cafe, which
opened in January
at the 2nd Floor
of Bench Flagship
Store in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Bench
Cafe is under the expert guidance of Manila’s top
multibra nd food group, FooDee Global Concepts,
and kitchen-manned by celebrity chef Carlo Miguel.
“For our 30th anniversary, we decided it was
high time to open a true Bench flagship store, a
multidimensional, multisensory experience that
would express every facet of the brand. Something
Designed by architect Miguel Pastor, Bench Café’s
interiors evoke a modern-day diner inspired by
bahay na bato. There are padded leather couches,
bright drop lights, wall posters, reflecting bronze
mirrors and a cabinet that showcases cooking
apparatus giving a retro, 1950s American diner
ambiance.
“The Bench Flagship store is an expression
of our taste—our taste in clothing, interiors,
architecture,
music,
scents,
our
whole
aesthetic. In it, you will find what we consider
interesting
and
beautiful,”
Chan
said.
(Inquirer.net, 01/25/2018)
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