External trade jumped by a fourth to $16.5 billion in August not only due to base effects but also to recovering shipments as the domestic and global economies rebounded from their pandemic-induced slump. The Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) latest preliminary data on Tuesday showed a in total trade last August from $13.2 billion a year…
(Second of two parts) Looking at the country’s top business groups, 11 out of 13 delivered better earnings in the first semester compared to last year, and majority of them attained more than half of market analysts’ consensus forecasts for the full year. Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and DMCI Holdings, for instance, delivered in the…
The Cantilan Bank (CanBank) is expanding its digital footprint through the launch of its app iCAN targeting unbanked Filipinos. CanBank, established in 1980 in Surigao del Sur, said in a statement iCAN would introduce features such as fund transfer, bills payment, prepaid phone reloading and QR code payment to its customers in over 100 communities.…
The finished goods churned out by the country’s factories soared 539.7 percent year-on-year in August due to the base effects from lower output amid last year’s stringent lockdowns. The Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) monthly integrated survey of selected industries (Missi) report for August released Thursday showed a dramatic reversal of the 82.2-percent drop in the…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a re-initial public offering (re-IPO) of as much as n planned by electricity superhighway operator Synergy Grid & Development Phils. as well as a re-IPO of up to P7.5 billion sought by liquor, wine and specialty beverage retailer The Keepers Holdings Inc. The SEC likewise approved the…
Philippine Airlines (PAL) will add long-haul flights to London and North America this month as it expects strong demand for air travel during the Christmas holiday season. In a statement on Friday, PAL announced plans , daily fights to San Francisco and three to four weekly flights to Vancouver on the Canadian West Coast. It…
The still-raging COVID-19 pandemic is no doubt a challenge, but it has also been an opportunity. AIA Philippines, formerly known as AIA Philam Life, and its allied brand BPI AIA, which used to be known as BPI-Philam, found that the pandemic had heightened interest in insurance and also hastened the acceptance of digital technology by…
The manufacturing sector resumed expansion in September as quarantine curbs were gradually lifted, but global supply constraints and expensive inputs pose a threat to sustained recovery. The September purchasing managers’ index for the Philippines released by London-based global information provider IHS Markit Ltd. on Friday showed , reversing the contraction in August when Metro Manila…
More than a year into the pandemic that dragged the economy last year to its worst recession since World War II, corporate Philippines is finally regaining some growth momentum despite the reimposition of tough lockdown protocols and the resurgence of COVID-19 cases arising from the more contagious Delta variant. During the second quarter corporate earnings…
The tourism industry is one of the sectors hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, with travel restrictions forcing the closure of hotels and other establishments offering accommodations. But the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association (HSMA) has always been optimistic that tourism will soon bounce back, and Filipino and foreign travelers will once again queue up…