Three local units of international banking groups made it to the The Asian Banker’s (TAB) inaugural Global Top 100 Digital Banks ranking list based on financial technology and retail operations. TABInsights, the research arm of the Singapore-based TAB, placed the local subsidiary of Malaysia-based at 57th, The Netherland’s at 67th, and Singapore-based at 94th. CIMB…
The “social commerce” industry in the Philippines is tipped to surge by 30 percent in 2022 with gross merchandise value (GMV) estimated at $682 million and, from then on , according to Research and Markets. GMV refers not only to the value of the goods sold online, but also includes any fees that may be…
The rate of increase in the prices of basic goods and services in the Philippines settled at 3 percent year-on-year in January, slowing down for the fifth month in a row from 4.4 percent last August through 3.2 percent in December, based on 2018 prices of consumer goods. Reckoned with the previous base year of…
The inflow of US dollars from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is shoring up the Philippines’ external position, with personal remittances growing 5.3 percent year-on-year in the 11 months ending Nov. 30 last year. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said January to November remittances reached in 2021 from $29.99 billion in the same period of…
The 252-megawatt wind farm in Vietnam’s Quang Binh province, a joint venture between the Ayala group’s AC Energy Corp. (Acen) and AMI Renewables, has started commercial operations. This is the partners’ third project together, touted as one of the largest wind farms in Vietnam. It now paves the way for the two companies to pursue…
The Philippines has been slow to action and way behind its commitments to global initiatives on reducing or avoiding gas emissions harmful to the environment, despite the existence of many laws seeking to promote the use of renewable energy sources. Instead of attracting investors in power projects run by nonfossil fuels, the current regulatory environment…
Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) has turned over close to in royalty payment to the Department of Energy for the second quarter, which the coal and electricity producer said was the highest ever in its history. SMPC said in a statement the record-high amount was generated after recognizing P14.8 billion in revenue on the…
AC Energy Corp. (Acen) is boosting its solar energy portfolio by at least 863 megawatts, cuing funds to pursue its own projects while entering into a new partnership to develop other sites. The Ayala group’s power generation unit said its executive committee has approved an expenditure kitty related to a proposed 288-MW new solar project…
DMCI Power Corp. (DPC) has earmarked P3.5 billion to expand a fleet of generators in Masbate and Palawan by a total of 27 megawatts. The Consunji-led off-grid power producer said of that investment kitty, about P2.7 billion would be used to build a coal-fired power plant in Narra, Palawan while P800 million would be spent…
Petron Corp. made a turnaround in the first half of the year, bouncing back with a P3.87-billion consolidated net income after hitting a P14.24-billion net loss in the same period last year, as oil prices picked up and market optimism returned amid the rollout of vaccines against COVID-19. “Though we continue to face some challenges,…