BusinessWeek
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www.businessweekmindanao.com Issue No. 108, Volume III • Sept. 17-20, 2012
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Market Indicators AS OF 5:55 PM SEPT. 14, 2012
FOREX
PHISIX
US$1 = P41.42
5,322.47
; ; Briefly 13 cents
81.97 points
Gaisano diversifies
CEBU City -- The Gaisano Grand Group, whose core business is retail, is diversifying into property development with the launching next week of its first residential condominium project here. Grand Land, Inc., property development arm of the group, said in a statement it will develop a condominium village within a 3.2-hectare resort community located in Banilad, just a few meters away from the major business districts here. The project, called Grand Residences Cebu, will offer a total of 2470 studio, onebedroom and two-bedroom units. Six condominium towers will rise amid a tropical landscape.
El Niño mitigation
GENERAL Santos City -- Irrigation personnel here and nearby Sarangani province have stepped up the repair and maintenance works on the area’s irrigation systems in preparation for the onslaught of another long dry spell or El Niño Phenomenon that was foreseen to begin by next month. Engr. Gina Lozano, acting chief of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) here, said such move is part of the agency’s ongoing mitigation efforts for the El Niño, which was projected to affect an estimated 1,011 hectares (ha) of palay farmlands in the city and nearby Sarangani province. Lozano said they expect around 600 farmers in this city and another 494 in Sarangani would be directly affected by the calamity.
By IRENE DOMINGO, Reporter
A
BOUT P60-billion worth of financing from various banks is being eyed to finance Aboitiz Power Corp’s coal-fired facilities in Luzon and Mindanao.
In a statement, Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. chief finance officer Stephen Paradies said that the company’s power unit is now finalizing the loan to bankroll its projects in Subic and Davao. Paradies said the said amount represents about 70-75 percent of the budgeted capital expenditure for the projects, with the balance to be sourced from an equity infusion. “These things are very complicated. Banks do a lot of due diligence. We may be able to close one before the end of the year, hopefully two,” said Paradies. AP will tap P36 billion to P40 billion in loans for the 600-megawatt coal plant in Subic, a joint
venture with Manila Electric Co. and Taiwan Cogeneration through Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. The project will cost $1.2 billion. Through wholly owned unit Therma South Inc., AP is undertaking the construction of the 300-megawatt coal plant in Davao at a cost of $650 million. The debt component of the project is P18 billion to P20 billion. AP also is eyeing project financing for the 400-megawatt expansion of its coal-fired plant in Pagbilao, Quezon. Cost per megawatt is pegged at $2 million, Paradies said. AP accounted for 79 percent of AEV’s net income in the first half. The power unit’s earnings contriABOITIZ/PAGE 6
FARMER’S BOUNTY. Farmers from Misamis Oriental show off their bounty during the recent trade fair held in Talisayan town. PHOTO BY GERRY L. GORIT
A laborer bends his body to deliver a bundle of vegetables to the market site in Davao City. The country’s economy will remain healthy for the rest of the year, with full-year growth seen at 5.5- 6 percent, economists said. (PHOTO COURTESY OF MEDEL V. HERNANI OF DAVAO TODAY)
Steady GDP growth seen THE country’s economy will remain healthy for the rest of the year, with full-year growth seen at 5.5 percent to 6 percent on the back of strong domestic consumption and continuous government spending, according to a report of a local think tank. First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) and University of Asia and the Pacific’s (UA&P) Capital Market Research said the country’s economy is vibrant despite the economic woes confronting the United States and Europe— two of the Philippines’s major export markets. The think tank’s projection for the country’s economic growth for 2012 is consistent with that of the government’s forecast of a 5-percent to 6-percent increase. “Continued strong domestic
consumption and further national government spending, as well as improved bank-lending performance, will counter exports deceleration, dampened by weak global demand,” said a periodic report titled “The Market Call.” The think tank said Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) electricity sales in July remained elevated particularly for the industrial sector, bolstering its expectations that gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the second half would be robust. While there are expectations of a slowdown in economic growth for the third quarter, FMIC-UA&P’s Capital Market Research added that this would be “minor.” Economic activity may have decelerated sharply GROWTH/PAGE 6
Leadership, political will affect risk reduction: UNISDR By BONG D. FABE Correspondent
(Part 2) THE United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) said that leadership and political will is the num-
ber one factor that affect a community’s ability and capability to reduce risk. The UNISDR study Making Cities Resilient Report 2012, released on September 4, noted that one of the challenges affecting cities’ and communities’ disaster risk reduction activities is
the “frequent turnover of political leadership.” “Frequent turnover in political leadership can impact the continuity of disaster risk reduction activities. One challenge is the length of the political term at the local level, which generally peaks at
eight years. A great deal of resilience building can be done in the short term, but governance structures and the involvement of various actors must be in place to ensure the continuity and fulfilment of these shorterterm efforts and achieve LEADERSHIP/PAGE 6