Companies BusinessMirror
Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
Imported car sales surge in May as restrictions ease
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By Tyrone Jasper C. Piad
@TyronePiad
mported vehicle distributors saw their sales grow by over threefold in May as all segments recorded three-digit increases, the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. (AVID) reported on Thursday. AVID said sales improved by 293 percent to 4,864 units in May from just 1,239 units a year ago. The gradual reopening of the economy and easing of mobility restrictions supported the increase in sales, it added.
The light commercial vehicle (LCV) comprised bulk of the sales for the month at 3,814 units, which is 335 percent more than the 876 units sold last year. Sales of passenger cars (PC) im-
proved by nearly threefold to 1,029 units from last year’s 354 units. Commercial vehicle (CV) segment saw its sales reach 21 units, which is 133-percent higher than the previous year’s 9 units. In January to May, sales of imported car dealers rose by nearly 60 percent to 25,217 units from 15,811 units sold a year ago. LCV sales surged by 68 percent to 18,128 units for the 5-month period from last year’s 10,782 units. Ford Group Philippines led this segment with 7,692 units sold, followed by Suzuki Philippines Inc. and Hyundai Asia Resources Asia Resources Inc. with sales of 4,933 units and 2,450 units, respectively. The PC segment sold 6,357 units,
which is 29 percent higher than the 4,928-unit sales last year. Suzuki and Hyundai sold the most in this segment at 3,259 units and 2,170 units, respectively. CV sales grew by more than seven times to 732 units in January to May, all of which are accounted for by Hyundai. “We attribute the gradual improvement in AVID sales to our members’ tireless commitment to provide customers with quality vehicles and after sales service that will see them safely through life’s many journeys. We all must keep on pitching in to weather this storm and to bring us all closer to our dreams in the new normal,” AVID President Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said.
Globe, PhilTower to build 500 cell sites By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan
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lobe Telecom Inc. has partnered with PhilTower Consortium Inc. to put up 500 new cell sites this year in its bid to give its subscribers “better, reliable, and accessible connectivity in the new normal.” “Our partnership with PhilTower will help us accelerate our cell site expansion. Consequently, this will bring better services to Globe subscribers in more locations in the country,” Vincent Tempongko, Globe VP for Site Acquisition, said. PhilTower President Devid Gubian said the company will use new technologies to make the towers more environmentally friendly, while ensuring efficiency. “As a communication solutions enabler and digital infrastructure provider, we help power critical digital network expansion needs through our innovative cell site technologies. We are introducing new and innovative solutions like the Micro Cell Poles that have a low
impact and small footprint with capability to load in radios, battery backup within the pole for network densification,” he said. The towers will be deployed in Metro Manila, Northern Luzon, and Southern Luzon. ”We look forward to working with Globe Telecom in providing 4G and 5G coverage to ensure connectivity to many Filipinos,” said Peter Wong, Country Director of PhilTower. PhilTower plans to focus on supporting coverage improvements in suburban and rural areas through micro cell poles, while also improving in-building coverage with small cells-based digital shared infrastructure.
Carbon fiber tower
Globe said it is eyeing to equip more of its new cell site builds with carbon fiber tower solutions on rooftops due to the success of its maiden installation in Bolinao, Pangasinan, which is the first build of its kind in the country. Despite being near the sea, the
VEC allots ₧5B for capex
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ivant Energy Corp. (VEC) is earmarking P5 billion for capital expenditures to increase its power portfolio to 500 megawatts (MW) by 2023. Vivant Energy Chief Operating Officer Emil Andre Garcia, during a press briefing after the company’s stockholders’ meeting, said bulk of the amount would be allocated for renewable energy (RE) projects, mostly solar and wind. “That’s not pure RE but also conventional. Large chunk of that is allocated for RE.” Of the P5 billion, Garcia said P3 billion is allocated for this year. The power firm’s capacity is expected to hit 500MW from the current 387MW with new RE projects in the pipeline. “More than 95 percent of the 387MW is conventional technology. That’s why our focus now is RE. We are allocating a lot of resources in order to hit this goal,” commented Vivant Corporation president Arlo Sarmiento. The power firm is studying several sites for its planned RE projects. Garcia did not mention specific locations but said these will be put up in Luzon and Visayas. “Premature to disclose right now but we may close them by the year-end. For wind, we have enough data set in Eastern Visayas, hoping to break grounds sometime next year,” he said. For solar, Garcia said Vivant Energy intends to beef up its solar rooftop projects “to end with 11MW this year and another 13MW by next year.” Aside from RE, the company is planning to put up hybrid solar-diesel-battery system. “We are quite comfortable with hybrid technology especially diesel because of our expertise in SPUG [Small Power Utilities Group] markets,” said Sarmiento. “SPUG market is something that we want to maintain our market share.” Vivant Energy is the holding arm of power-related investments of publicly listed Vivant Corp. Lenie Lectura
company said the carbon fiber solution installed in the Bolinao cell site has proven to be durable against rust and damages brought by natural calamities. “Our initial deployment was a greenfield site in Bolinao, Pangasinan. The solution was installed near the sea to test its anti-corrosive characteristics. Despite being light, we were able to test it against the typhoons that passed the area last year and it was able to withstand them all, it is durable and stressresistant. Moreover, it also provided the barangay around the area with connectivity during the pandemic and during inclement weather,” said Peter Tan, Globe Senior Vice President for Network Operations. Aside from providing connectivity in the area, the Bolinao carbon fiber installation has complemented the company’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint through use of fuel cell, lilon batteries, DC generator sets, solar power, Inverter ACUs and free-cooling systems. “We are developing solutions for roof top applications. Also in the
pipeline is a tower in a box application where we can put up temporary structures to support temporary coverage requirements. Given that these kinds of towers are light and easy to move around, it is also cheaper when it comes to hauling costs and faster to deploy,” said Tan. Like other solutions, Globe said carbon fiber towers also have their disadvantages and downsides. Foremost is its acquisition cost, which is higher, but its advantages on specific site situation requirements today merits its deployment. “The cost of carbon tower acquisition is higher than traditional steel structures which mitigate the savings from hauling. However, a request to build a plant locally from the distributor is also in place to support our local requirements. Currently, the product is made in the United States. Aside from import costs, tax duties and time considerations, a local production of carbon fiber materials will enable us to build more and deploy them anytime there is a need in our network rollouts,” said Tan.
PayMaya expands mobile shopping offers D
igital financial services platform PayMaya has expanded its mobile shopping offers under its PayMaya Mall feature that will cover more than 350 brands. Launched last February as a pioneering innovation, the PayMaya Mall tile in the PayMaya app enables customers easy access to leading brands, such as Jollibee, McDonald’s, Chowking, Burger King, Bonchon, Mercury Drug, Rose Pharmacy, AllDay, Landers, FreshMart, Boozy, National Bookstore, Shein, and Rustan’s. “We are making everyday mobile shopping more exciting with PayMaya Mall as we add partner brands and promos daily. The response from our customers has been amazingwe have seen huge jumps on average online shopping transactions via the in-app feature,” PayMaya President Shailesh Baidwan said in a statement. With a huge list of mobile shopping choices, Baidwan said customers can now have more convenient search and buying groceries and other essentials, ordering food, and checking out beauty or home improvement products and pay seamlessly—all via the PayMaya app. Aside from the convenience, Baidwan said customers can also avail of up to 100 percent cashback, outright discounts, freebies, and free delivery when using their PayMayalinked mobile number to pay for purchases through PayMaya Mall. “Because we are also the fintech enabling the payment gateway and processing for the
country’s top enterprises, we are able to bring the most trusted brands and offer the best deals to our mobile app customers. On the enterprise side, our partners get access to our over 35 million consumer base. This is the power of PayMaya’s end-to-end platforms,” Baidwan said. Meanwhile, PayMaya and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) recently formed a partnership to enable people in the countryside to conduct digital payments and transactions. With this initiative, the DBP will now be able to provide PayMaya’s end-to-end digital payment solutions to its partners in the public sector, such as national government agencies, local government units, water districts, electric cooperatives, as well agricultural and industrial enterprises, including small and medium-scale businesses. PayMaya, through DBP, will be enabling these institutions and enterprises with the means to accept any credit, debit, and prepaid card or e-Wallet for both online and physical locations. With this initiative, more Filipinos across the country can experience safer and more convenient transactions when settling their dues and taxes at their LGUs, local utilities, and businesses. Rizal Raoul Reyes
Friday, June 18, 2021
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CEB ‘cautiously optimistic’ about recovery in 2022
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iven the pace of the vaccine rollout at the local government level as well as the launch of the vaccination programs of the private sector, Cebu Pacific is “cautiously optimistic” that it can bounce back to its pre-pandemic operating levels by 2022. Cebu Pacific VP Candice Iyog said the average daily vaccination rate of 130,000 jabs is giving the company “hope and optimism that in due time our network will recover to pre-pandemic levels.” “To be honest, initially when the vaccination started rolling out and we were monitoring the inoculation rate, we were pleasantly surprised with 130,000 a day. Now that A4 is already in and with private vaccinations, we’re cautiously optimistic,” she said. Iyog added that the group is sticking with its projections that by next year, the budget carrier will have normal operations, but noted that “so many things can still happen.” “What we do right now is we prepare for the bounce back and do everything that is within our control to support and aid that.” Currently, Cebu Pacific oper-
ates at around a fifth of its preCovid network, flying to 32 local destinations and 5 international destinations. For now, Iyog said Cebu Pacific will focus on the revitalization of domestic travel, as international flights are still marred with various levels of intricacies, including border controls here and in airports abroad. However, she said the airline is seeking the removal of the arrival caps in Philippine gateways to reintroduce international traffic. The group is also looking at the implementation of the travel pass developed by the International Air Transport Association (Iata) to facilitate seamless international travel. The Iata pass is a mobile platform that includes a registry of health requirements, specifically for verified certifications of Covid-19 tests and vaccines. Cebu Pacific plans to integrate this by the fourth quarter of the year, should international travel be encouraged. Cebu Pacific has also amped up its digital initiatives, launching a revamped portal for booking and partnering with Grab, GCash, and PayMaya for more contactless payment options. Lorenz S. Marasigan
