Philippines News Archives

Friday, August 18, 2000

AC ( 08/18/2000 : STAR )
The e-commerce unit of business conglomerate Ayala Corp. yesterday vehemently denied it was negotiating for a possible buy-in of up to 20 percent stake in upstart Internet company One Virtual Corp. A STAR story published yesterday identified iAyala and US-based Silicon Valley Venture Capital as interested partners ready to infuse as much as P500 M into the local Internet firm. "We categorically deny any involvement by iAyala Co. Inc. in One Virtual Corp. as stated in the article," iAyala executive director Jonathan Madrid said in a letter. "iAyala has not in any way been in discussions with BPI Capital nor with One Virtual Corp.. Neither has iAyala been approached at any time by either party to discuss an investment in One Virtual Corp. iAyala would like to clarify this matter with the STAR, with the financial community and with the public," Madrid added. Set up just over a year ago, One Virtual Corp. aims to build an Internet infrastructure for educational institutions and software development for distance learning. The company was founded by Mike Velarde, who was also responsible for putting up the Sky Cable network of the Lopezes. The STAR reporter who wrote the story said he couldn't confirm the report with officials of Ayala Corp. but added that a top official of One Virtual Corp. revealed this to him.

- posted by StockMarket @ 12:01 AM

Monday, August 14, 2000

AC ( 08/14/2000 : PSE )
Ayala Corporation (AC) informed the Exchange that iAyala Company, Inc., a 100% subsidiary of AC, the Internet investment arm of this corporation, has agreed with Netlife PayWorkz, a leading provider of secure e-finance solutions, to make available payment infrastructure that will ensure a secure e-shopping experience and other online transactions. Netlife PayWorkz is a SET-certified end-to-end suite of e-payment solutions for financial institutions, merchants and consumers. It is feature-rich and supports multiple types of financial instruments, electronic devices and security standards including the Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). The flexibility ensures that banks and businesses in the Philippines can take advantage of existing and new e-commerce opportunities with confidence. In the agreement, Netlife and iAyala will enter into an exclusive arrangement to implement and market Netlife PayWorkz and MobileWorkz suite of solutions. One of the first initiatives will be the launch of a SET-certified e-commerce payment gateway by the end of the year. Based on PayWorkz Gateway, this will establish a robust and flexible bridge to link credit card and ATM car holders and merchants with financial processing and bank systems. The SET protocol also allows other regional SET-certified payment gateways to interoperate. Thus, iAyala provides a secure real-time e-commerce enabling infrastructure for local banks and merchants to become significant players in the regional e-commerce market.
- posted by StockMarket @ 11:59 PM

AC ( 08/14/2000 : PSE )
San Miguel Corporation would like to reply to the PSE request for clarification on the television news report that Purefoods Corporation, a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation, was sold to San Miguel Corporation. The Company wishes to clarify that there is no truth to the above television news report.
- posted by StockMarket @ 11:59 PM

AC ( 08/14/2000 : PSE )
Ayala Corporation posted a consolidated net income of PhP2.4 B for the first semester of 2000. The figure is 22% lower that last year's PhP3.1 B, reflective of the general slowdown in business activity. Consolidated assets stood at PhP132 B with cash reserves amounting to PhP14 B. Current and debt-to-equity ratios remained healthy at 2.16 and 1.06, respectively. Ayala's telecommunications company, Globe Telecom, Inc., continued to generate strong earnings which tempered lower earnings' which tempered lower earnings' contributions from the other subsidiaries. It posted a net income of PhP621 M, 54% more than last year's PhP404 M for the same period. Globe's income growth was supported by revenues from 1.7 M subscribers, a hefty 196% increase from last year's 608 thousand. Its property arm, Ayala Land, recorded a consolidated net income of PhP1.20 B, at par with last year's level. With recovery confined to a few sectors of the property market, the company continued to diversify its revenue mix. Land sales of PhP5.57 B made up 38% of total revenues. This was largely a result of strong take-up rates at Ayala Greenfield Estates and Ayala Westgrove Heights. Rental income, which accounted for 25% of gross, registered at PhP1.4 B. In banking, Bank of the Philippine Islands posted a net income of PhP1.92 B, a decline of 37% compared to the same period last year due to narrower interest spreads and soft fee-based business. Nonetheless, its ROE and ROA of 7.65% and 1.08%, respectively, remained one of the highest among its peer banks. The bank's merger with Far East Bank and Ayala Insurance continues to progress smoothly with the integration of technology and systems, operational processes and rationalization of branches. Pure Foods netted higher revenues of PhP5.6 B on account of higher sales volumes of processed meats, poultry, livestock and feeds products. However, the company's net income from recurring operations declined by 20% to PhP309.5 M due to increased production costs and lower selling prices of flour and chicken. iAyala and Ayala Land launched MyAyala.Com, a lifestyle and entertainment portal which draws on the strong relationship of the company with its merchants. Bank of the Philippine Islands also launched Internet Banking as alternative delivery channel.
- posted by StockMarket @ 12:00 AM

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