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Discovery’s P1-b IPO approved

By Jenniffer B. Austria | Posted on Jul. 27, 2013 at 12:01am

[ manilastandardtoday.com ]

The Philippine Stock Exchange approved the P1-billion initial public offering of Discovery World Corp., the property developer of high-end resort Discovery Shores Boracay. 

The PSE said in a memorandum Discovery World planned to sell 306 million primary shares to the public at an offer price of P3.28 apiece next month. 

The offer period was set from Aug. 12 to Aug.19, while listing date was scheduled on Aug. 29.  The shares will be listed under the first board of the PSE. 

It said after the IPO, Discovery World would have a public float of 40.05 percent and market capitalization of P2.5 billion. 

About 60 percent of the offer shares would be sold to the public, 30 percent through trading participants and 10 percent to local small investors. 

Abacus Capital and Investment Corp. was tapped as the issue manager and lead underwriter for the offering. 

Discovery World said it has a dividend policy of distributing to shareholders at least 10 percent of the company’s income for the previous fiscal year. 

Proceeds from the maiden offering would be used for investment in new businesses, debt retirement and working capital purposes. 

The company plans to spend P575 million for new businesses including a resort in Coron, Palawan. 

The leisure development firm is also looking at entering the resort hotel business in Palawan that will feature world-class, five-star facilities for the upper class market. 

It is allotting P100 million to invest in a cruise business and P250 million to acquire a 20-percent interest in Enderun Colleges, a school offering programs in the field of hotel and restaurant management and culinary arts. 

Discovery World is spending P125 million to build another 12 villas in Discovery Shores Boracay.
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Ayala Land secures OK for P21-billion bonds

Posted on July 15, 2013 11:13:11 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]

THE SECURITIES and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the plan of Ayala Land, Inc. to raise P21 billion in fresh funds via issuance of corporate notes, an official of the regulator said yesterday.

“Ayala Land’s bond issuance was approved by the commission today,” SEC Secretary Gerard M. Lukban said in a telephone interview yesterday.

The company told the Philippine Stock Exchange last month that its board had approved the bond issue.

The bonds will have tenors of seven, 10, and 20 or 25 years. Coupon rates were not immediately available.

Net proceeds “will be used for general corporate purposes,” the company had said.

Speaking to reporters in Makati City on Thursday last week, Ayala Land Chief Financial Officer Jaime E. Ysmael said the company planned to issue the bonds this month.

“Hopefully by the end of the month; we are just waiting for the SEC approval of the registration statement,” Mr. Ysmael had said.

“It is intended to partly finance our capex (capital expenditure) program for this year,” he explained, adding that Ayala Land is also “looking at bilateral loans at the subsidiary level that will effectively complete our requirements for this year.”

The company has earmarked P65.5 billion for capex this year -- P46 billion for project completion and roughly P20 billion for land banking -- for 69 property projects worth a total of some P129 billion.

The bond issue will mark another fund-raising effort of the property arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp. Ayala Land just last March raised about P12.2 billion from a share placement.

Ayala Land will join the ranks of other firms that have tapped the bond market this year, including GT Capital Holdings, Inc. which raised P10 billion in February, and San Miguel Corp. which raised $800 million after selling offshore bonds in April.

Early this month, SEC also gave Globe Telecom, Inc. -- another unit of Ayala Corp. -- the green light to sell P7 billion worth of seven-year, fixed rate bonds that will mature in 2020 and 10-year, fixed rate bonds due in 2023.

Ayala Land’s net income grew by 20.83% to P3.19 billion in the first quarter from P2.64 billion in the same period last year as revenues climbed 39.35% to P18.52 billion from P13.29 billion.

Shares of Ayala Land ended yesterday’s trading at P30.40 apiece, unchanged from their finish on Friday last week. -- Cliff Harvey C. Venzon         
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SMIC, ALI expect strong H1 results

By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 13, 2013 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - Two blue chip companies have indicated strong performance in the first half of the year on the back of the continued growth in consumer spending, top executives said.

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the holding firm for the various businesses of the Philippines’ richest man Henry Sy, likely grew its profits by double digits in the first half while property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) gained the same momentum it recorded in the first quarter.

SMIC chief finance officer Jose T. Sio told reporters that the conglomerate’s bottom line likely jumped “14 to 15 percent for the first half.”

“Normally, second quarter is slower but we were able to maintain that growth in the first quarter because of the elections,” Sio said.

The preliminary data keeps SMIC on track with its growth projections. In its 2013-2015 plan, SMIC targets to boost its profits 12-15 percent annually that will be supported the company’s continuous expansion.

In the first quarter, SMCI’s net income climbed 22 percent to P7.4 billion while revenues rose 15 percent to P56.8 billion from P49.6 billion a year ago.

The uptick in earnings was driven by the surge in income of SMIC’s banking business, coupled with strong profit growth from the mall and property businesses.

For ALI chief finance officer Jaime Ysmael, the property firm of the Ayala conglomerate recorded higher profits in the second quarter.

“The numbers continue to be good and consistent with what we’ve seen in the first quarter,” Ysmael said.

“Our numbers continue to be strong in the residential, malls and office,” he said.

In the first quarter, ALI’s net income climbed 30 percent to P2.76 billion from P2.13 billion a year ago on the back of better performance across all business segments.

Consolidated revenues hit P18.53 billion, up 38 percent from the P13.39 billion in the same period last year.

The two corporate giants are optimistic for the second half of the year.

Sio said: “We expect that [growth trajectory] will be maintained in the final six months of the year.”

He said consumer spending remains strong especially given the weakness of the peso.

A weaker peso increases the value of dollar export earnings and remittances from overseas Filipinos. This jacks up the spending power of families that receive dollars.

“A weaker peso, but not so weak, is also good for the whole economy. It is good for overseas Filipino workers, exports and our financing also,” Sio said.
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Belle channels P4.5-B share sale proceeds to mega-casino project

By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The Philippine Star) | Updated July 9, 2013 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - The leisure and gaming unit of property and banking conglomerate SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) has channeled the entire proceeds of its P4.5-billion share sale for the construction of a mega-casino complex along Manila Bay.

In a regulatory filing, Belle Corp. said it used the amount to help in the construction of the $1.3-billion Belle Grande Manila integrated casino and resort.

In April, Belle disbursed P3.19 billion of the proceeds from its stock rights offering, with the remaining P1.33 billion allotted for the construction of Belle Grande Manila.

In October 2011, Belle sold 1.5 billion common shares worth P4.5 billion through a rights offering. Shareholders were entitled to buy one new Belle stock for every six shares they own.

In March, the local unit of Macau casino giant Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. formally inked its partnership with Belle for the 6.2-hectare Belle Grande Manila, whose construction started early in 2010.

The casino complex will offer 20,000 square meters of gaming space and 900 hotel rooms. It is located at Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s (Pagcor) Entertainment City, the Philippines’ answer to the gaming hubs of Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore.
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Melco co-chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho earlier said the company is banking on its vast gaming network of Asians, particularly Hong Kong and Chinese visitors, that can be diverted to the Philippines.

It will be Melco’s first casino outside Macau where it operates the City of Dreams and Altira Macau casinos. The company is developing its third casino, Studio City, slated for opening in 2015.
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SEC stops firm for alleged scams

July 7, 2013 7:24 pm [ Manilatimes.net ]
by MADELAINE B. MIRAFLOR

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a cease and desist order against Philippine Landgroup Inc. (PLGI), a real-estate company victimizing citizens with its “owning your own hotel room scam.”

In an order, SEC said that its enforcement and prosecution department (EPD) found out through a series of investigation that PLGI is offering unregistered security investments to the public through one of its real-estate projects, the Grandview Tower Condotel located in Angeles City.

PLGI is allegedly encouraging investors to buy and purchase their own hotel room in Grandview Tower and will then be asked to pay P50,000 for the initial paperwork and reservation fee.

By purchasing a unit, the buyer will then be required to enter into a management agreement with Grandview Property Management Inc., wherein the unit bought is pooled together with the units purchased by other buyers and operated as hotel enterprise.

The EPD of the commission further uncovered the fact that the price list of units being sold by PLGI and the announcements regarding the Grand Tower Hotel Vacation Club are being posted in social networking site Facebook.

According to the SEC, the overall investment scheme which is being aggressively offered and sold by PLGI has the elements of an investment contract, a form of security which must be registered with the commission before it is sold to the public.

The acts of PLGI in “soliciting sales undoubtedly fall under the definition of public offering,” SEC specified. However, the company failed to “secure the registration of subject of securities with the commission.”

“PLGI and its salesmen must also secure a secondary license to act as broker-dealer or salesmen or associate persons thereof in securities, but they have not complied with the mandatory requirement. Thus, it is necessary that a cease and desist order be issued to enjoin the company from further offering and selling securities to the public,” the SEC cited in its ruling.

“Otherwise, allowing PLGI to continue its business operations will operate as a fraud on investors or is otherwise likely to cause grave or irreparable injury or prejudice to the investing public,” it added.
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