Smart network gets Ookla’s nod

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

Smart Communications Inc.

said on Sunday it still reigned supreme in Ookla’s latest mobile network awards, clinching once again the Philippines’s Fastest and Best mobile Network award for the second half of 2022.

Citing data from Ookla, PLDt Group Chief transformation and Customer a d visor Emmanuel C. Lorenzana said Smart won both the Fastest mobile Network and Best mobile Coverage awards within the same reporting periods of Ookla.

Smart previously won the Best mobile Network award for the first half of 2022. t hese awards continue to inspire us to innovate and deliver leveledup services to our customers across the country, in our quest to power their increasingly digital lifestyles, foster meaningful connections, and become the telco that our subscribers can truly count on,” he said. t he Pangilinan-led company also won the “Best mobile Coverage” category with a Coverage Score of 795, surpassing its closest competitor’s t h e board approved a grant of 25,000 restricted stock units, reflecting its “recognition of and continued confidence in m r. Calhoun’s strong leadership,” Boeing said in a regulatory filing Friday. t h e award will vest in two equal installments over the next two years. t h e move is a vote of confidence in Calhoun and an indication that the board doesn’t expect to seek new leadership through at least the middle of the decade. He’ll forfeit any unvested shares if he voluntarily leaves Boeing for any reason, including retirement, according to the filing.

Smart bagged the Fastest mobile Network with a Speed Score of 62.3, while its closest competitor posted a Speed Score of 36.36. Smart posted a median download speed of 31.04 m bps and a median upload speed of 6.8 m bps, while its closest competitors posted a median download speed of 20.22 m bps and a median upload speed of 5.13 m bps.

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) annulled a l liance Select Foods International Inc.’s ( a SF II) share acquisitions in 2014 and 2015.

BOEING Co. is giving Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun a $5.3-million incentive to stick around to see the recovery that he has promised investors.

Calhoun has guided Boeing through a long—and at times uncertain—recovery, since joining the planemaker in early 2020 in the aftermath of two fatal 737 m a x crashes. t h e board raised the then-64-year-old executive’s retirement age to 70 after he’d spent a year on the job, dispell ing questions over succession. Bloomberg t h e verdict was promulgated last December 15 but was released to the media only recently. t he a SFII shares acquired by Strongoak, Inc. under the 2014 Private Placement and 2015 SrO a re hereby declared void subscriptions and shall be cancelled from the Stock and transfer Book (S t B) of a SFII where these shares shall be considered as unsubscribed, and shall be allocated for subscription by any person who intends to buy the same provided that he/she complies with all the legal requirements; and once the subscription is fully paid, a SFII shall pay Strongoak the price it paid for the subscriptions that were nullified,” it further held.

In a 33-page ruling signed by SEC Chairperson Emilio aquino and Commissioners Javey Paul Francisco, Kelvin Lester Lee, Karlo Bello and mc Jill Bryant Fernandez, the SEC’s En Banc reversed the decision of the ma rket Securities r egulation Department (mSr D) on a complaint dated November 2, 2020.

“Wherefore, premises considered, the appeal is hereby granted. t h e decision of the [m S r D] is hereby reversed and set aside,” the ruling said.

It stemmed from the complaint t he Coverage Score captures both the number of locations in which an operator offers service and the quality of service in each location, according to Ookla. t he Fastest mobile Network award is based on more than 2.9 million user-initiated tests, whereas the Coverage award is based on over 3.4 million scan counts.

Coverage Score of 757.

“Speedtest awards, presented by Ookla, are an elite designation reserved for the fastest and top-performing fixed broadband and mobile operators around the world,” Ookla CEO Doug Suttles said.

“It is our pleasure to present Smart with the award for Fastest mobile Network, Best Coverage which gives Smart a high accolade of Best mobile Network in the Philippines. t his rec- ognition is testament to their exceptional performance in Q3-Q4 2022 based on Ookla’s rigorous analysis of consumer-initiated tests taken with Speedtest.”

Francis E. Flores, SVP and Head of Consumer Business Group-Individual at Smart, attributed the company’s win to its aggressive network builds.

“Our relentless efforts at improving our network have enabled Smart to receive these accolades once again. t his year, we will continue to empower Filipinos with Smart’s fastest speeds and widest coverage, and at the same time provide our Smart and t N t subscribers with value-packed offers and awesome experiences. We want to enable our subscribers to live more today and make the most of the moments that matter to them.”

Last week average value for the week was lower at P5.3 billion. Foreign investors, who accounted for 37 percent of the transactions, were net sellers at P1.23 billion. a l other sub-indices ended in the red, led by the broader all Shares index that fell 31.48 points to close at 3,621.69 points, the Financials index declined 12.31 to 1,818.80, the Industrial index shed 58.49 to 9,792.96, the holding Firms index plunged 159.27 to 6,485.38, the Property index retreated 40.23 to 2,959.04, the Services index was down 20.61 to 1,703.13 and the Mining and Oil index decreased 190.80 to 11,227.31.

Share prices fell for the fourth straight week after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) raised its rates by 50 basis points, but analysts said this was expected as inflation accelerated in January.

The benchmark Philippine Stock exchange index fell 97.77 points to close at 6,779.02 points.

The main index was down almost all week long, except on Wednesday, when it gained 30.85 points, ahead of the policy meeting of the BSP.

For the week, losers edged gainers 149 to 71 and 32 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers were Concrete aggregates Corp. a and B shares, Lodestar Investment holdings Corp., Keppel Philippines holdings Inc. a Ginebra San Miguel Inc., Liberty Flour Mills Inc., Oriental Peninsula resources Group Inc., Jackstones Inc. and iPeople Inc.

Top losers, meanwhile, were Figaro Coffee Group Inc., allhome Corp., roxas and Co. Inc., asiabest Group International Inc., Premiere horizon alliance Corp., easycall Communications Philippines Inc., Now Corp. and MerryMart Consumer Corp. this week he said investors may continue to price in the BSP’s inflation outlook as its signal of more rate hikes. stock picks aboitizPower’s share price closed at P38.50 last week. Maybank placed a target price on the stock at P40 apiece.

Share prices may still go down this week, but analysts see bargain hunting as total market loss for the fourth straight week of downturn is now at 4 percent.

“With this, we may see some episodes of bargain hunting this week. however, overall, the market is still seen to move with a downward bias amid resurfacing worries over aggressively hawkish monetary policy outlooks of the BSP and the Federal reserve,” Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said.

“Concerns over a further tightening by the Federal reserve is also expected to weigh on the market following the higher than expected US January inflation and strong labor market,” Tantiangco said.

Meanwhile, 2Tradeasia noted that the fourth quarter reporting season is currently in full swing. ayala Land Inc. and Wilcon Depot Inc. will report this week.

“So far, stories have danced around corporate level strategies against higher capital costs and ways to grow ePS [earnings per share] growth outlook of about 19 percent for 2023,” it said.

“Inflation-interest rate related gyrations should keep the market anxiety up over the near-term. On the brighter side, these pain points could be tradeable opportunities, especially for value hunters looking to hold at lower valuations,” it said.

Tantiangco said chartwise, the local market has already gone below its 6,800 support. If it is unable to regain its ground at the said level, this will become its new resistance while its next support is seen at 6,600, he said.

MayBaNK Investment Banking Group placed a hold recommendation on aboitiz Power Corp. (aP) as the stock has risen 14 percent since the end of last year and has already outperformed the growth of the main index.

“GNPower Dinginin Ltd.’s coal plant fully came on stream in the fourth quarter of 2022 and will continue to contribute. In addition, 16 percent of aP’s capacity is selling to the spot market, where we see upside amid the tight supply conditions,” it said.

It added that the company’s long-term earnings growth will be driven by 3.7 gigawatts of renewable energy projects between this year and 2030.

“however, we think most of the positives are priced in,” it said.

Meanwhile, Maybank maintained its buy rating on the stock of Bank of the Philippine Islands as it raised its earnings forecast on the lender by 3.5 percent to account its recentlyraised credit card interest rates.

“During the earnings call, BPI confirmed that there will no longer be any dilution arising from its treasury shares. Our higher 2023 earnings forecast, along with our lower share base forecast, raises our target price to P118,” it said.

BPI shares closed at P105.50 apiece on Friday. VG Cabuag filed by minority stockholders Hedy S.C. Yap-Chua, Harvest a l l Investment Ltd., Victory Fund Ltd. and Bondeast Private Ltd. t h is prompted them to appeal their case before the SEC En Banc, which found that it impressed with merit. a c cording to the commission En Banc, the cause of action of the appellants is not yet barred by prescription.

Yap-Chua and others alleged that the private placement of shares made were null and void as it violated Section 19 of the Securities r e gulations Code. t he m Sr D, however, junked the complaint for prescription of action and forum shopping on m a y 19, 2022.

In the assailed decision, the mSr D did not pass upon the matters relating to the possible violation of Section 19 of the SrC and its Implementing ru les and r egulations (Ir r), and proceeded to dismiss the complaint on the basis of a finding that Yap-Chua, et al.’s cause of action has prescribed, and that they were guilty of forum shopping.

“While the m S r D took cognizance of the fact that the appellants filed with the Office of the Chairperson a complaint letter on 5 October 2018, it posited that such filing did not toll the prescriptive period because under the 2016 r u les of Procedure of the [SEC], it is the filing of a verified complaint that triggers the commencement of an adjudicative action,” the commission ruled.

Considering the seriousness of the alleged violation, the SEC En Banc held that it found “the complaint filed on 04 October 2018 substantially compliant with the requirements of the 2016 r u les, therefore filed within the period prescribed under Section 62.2 of the S rC , and more importantly, sufficient in substance as to not preclude the commission from acting on the same.” t h e SEC also found that the complainants did not violate the rule against forum shopping.

THE increasing demand for flavored milk particularly in developing countries will drive the growth of the milk packaging industry, according to a report published by a l lied m a rket r e search ( a mr ) a mr said the milk packaging market is projected to reach $65.97 billion by 2031, from $40.01 billion in 2020, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (C aGr ) of 4.69 percent from 2022 to 2031.

“Significant surge in the demand for single-serve milk packs among people, growing awareness about the health benefits of dairy products to meet essential calcium and nutrient requirements in the body, and rise in geriatric population across the globe are expected to drive the growth of the global milk packaging market,” a mr said.

Urbanization and surge in demand for eco-friendly milk packaging materials are expected to boost the market growth.

Based on region, the market across a s ia-Pacific held the lion’s share in 2020, garnering nearly half the global market. In addition, the same region is predicted to cite the fastest C aGr of 5.2 percent during the forecast period. t he research also analyzes regions including North a merica, Europe, and Latin a merica, m iddle East, and a f rica (L a m E a ) t h e milk packaging market analysis shows that paperboard segment is anticipated to grow at the highest C aGr of 5.25 percent during the forecast period,” a mr said. a sia-Pacific is projected to maintain its dominant position in the global market from 2020 to 2031.

China occupied more than one fourth of the a s ia-Pacific market in 2021.

“In terms of value, Italy is expected to grow at a significant C aGr of 4.37 percent during the forecast period.” t he report also noted that the pouch segment occupied more than half of the total market in 2021. t he milk packaging market is segmented on the basis of packaging type, material, and region. Depending on packaging type, it is categorized into cups, cans, bottles, pouches, and others. a c cording to material, it is classified into glass, plastic, metal, paperboard, and others. r e gion wise, it is analyzed across North a m erica, Europe, a s ia-Pacific, and L a m E a