Philippines News Archives

Friday, May 11, 2001

AC ( 05/11/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp said it posted a net profit of 1.3 B pesos in the first
quarter. Reacting to a news report that it posted a net profit of 1.3 B
pesos in the first quarter compared with 1.37 B the previous year,
Ayala Corp said: "We will be submitting to the Philippine Stock
Exchange our first quarter income results this afternoon, which will
confirm that our income is at 1.3 B pesos." Ayala Corp did not give
other details. The PSE earlier halted trading of Ayala Corp shares
pending clarification of the news report. Trading will resume at 10:00
am, it said.
- posted by StockMarket @ 8:58 PM

AC ( 05/11/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp said it posted revenue of 11.947 B pesos in the three
months to March, compared with 8.196 B a year earlier. Earlier, Ayala
Corp confirmed a report that it posted first quarter net profit of 1.31 B
pesos, from 1.37 B a year earlier. Costs and expenses totaled 10.561
B pesos, compared with 6.606 B a year earlier. Ayala Corp said high
domestic interest rates in the fourth quarter last year offset the robust
earnings from units Bank of the Philippine Islands and Globe Telecom.
Ayala Land earlier said its net profit was 521 M in the first quarter
compared with 645 M a year earlier. BPI's net profit rose to 2.14 B
during the quarter from 1.07 B a year earlier while Globe Telecom's
rose to 1.07 B from 335 M. Ayala Corp said it is confident of its profit
prospects this year following the continued decline in both U.S. and
domestic interest rates. "With more robust earnings from BPI and
Globe and signs of a more vibrant real estate sales plus savings from
funding costs expected this year, the performance for the remainder
of the year should be better than the previous year," Ayala Corp said.
The statement did not include income figures for Pure Foods Corp.
Ayala Corp yesterday signed a deal to sell its 94 pct stake in Pure
Foods to San Miguel Corp for 7 B pesos excluding Pure Foods' debt.
Ayala Corp closed up 0.10 at 7.70.
- posted by StockMarket @ 8:58 PM

AC ( 05/11/2001 : AFX )
The Philippine Stock Exchange said it has halted trading in the shares
of Ayala Corp pending clarification of a news report, quoting industry
sources, that the company posted a net profit of 1.3 B pesos in the
first quarter from 1.37 B a year earlier. The exchange said trading in
Ayala Corp shares will automatically resume at 10:00 am. Ayala Corp
officials said they will release first quarter figures later today.

- posted by StockMarket @ 8:57 PM

AC ( 05/11/2001 : PSE )
The Company would like to inform the PSE that Ayala Corporation (AC)
and San Miguel Corporation (SMC) signed a definitive agreement for
San Miguel's purchase of Ayala's entire 94% stake in Pure Foods
Corporation. The agreement values the transaction at an equity of P7
B or a price per share of about P124.00. The transaction excludes
Pure Foods' equity and outstanding advances to Philking (the Burger
King franchise operations), MPM Noodles, PT Sinar Pure Foods (tuna
operations), and various real estate assets which have been
transferred to holding companies. The shares of these companies
have been declared as property dividends to Pure Foods stockholders
on record as of May 21, 2001. Upon closing the sale of Ayala's 94%
holdings in Pure Foods later this month, a tender offer at the same
price per share will be made to all other shareholders in accordance
with the Securities Regulation Code. For SMC, Pure Foods will prove
to be an outstanding acquisition. This acquisition is consistent with
SMC's strategy to acquire businesses with strategic fit with its core
categories, allowing it to consolidate its poultry and feed segments
and significantly strengthen its position in the value-added processed
meats segment. For Ayala, the sale of Pure Foods is a resource
allocation decision in support of Ayala's move to strengthen its core
businesses. Ayala has nurtured Pure Foods for more than two
decades and has grown to a size and level of operations which is
considered at par with world-class standards. In the end, it is to the
best interest of Ayala and its shareholders to realize the values in
Pure Foods at this time. Combined, San Miguel and Pure Foods will
own a portfolio of leading brands capable of delivering strong volume
growth and improved margins. Pure Foods is the market leader in the
processed meats and flour categories, holding an estimated 50% of
the local refrigerated meats market and 17% share of the flour milling
industry. San Miguel's dominance in the food industry extends to the
feeds, dairy and poultry segments of the market. Together with Pure
Foods, SMC will become the undisputed market leader in the country's
fast growing food industry, commanding two-thirds of the
refrigerated/processed meat market, and over a third of the poultry
and feeds industries. With its vast nationwide distribution network,
San Miguel is well positioned to expand the reach of Pure Foods
products in the Philippines and potentially overseas.
- posted by StockMarket @ 8:57 PM

AC ( 05/11/2001 : PSE )
This is with reference to a news article entitled "Corporate Results"
(1st QTR 2001)" published in the May 11, 2001 issue of the Malaysia.
The article reported that "Ayala Corp. recorded a net income of about
P1.3 B in the first quarter this year, almost flat from the year ago P1.37
B, industry sources close to the company said on Thursday." Ayala
Corporation ("AC"), in its letter, stated that:
"We will be submitting to the Philippine Stock Exchange our first
quarter income results this afternoon which will confirm that our
income is at P1.3 B. Please note that the source of the aforesaid
article was the Q & A discussion during the company's annual
stockholders' meeting held on April 20, 2001 wherein our President, in
reply to a question on the first quarter results, mentioned that our
income will be more or less the same as last year's."
- posted by StockMarket @ 8:56 PM

Thursday, May 10, 2001

AC ( 05/10/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corporation is seeking buyers for its Burger King franchise
after concluding negotiations for the sale of its unit Pure Foods Corp
to San Miguel Corporation, Ayala's managing director Rufino Luis
Manotok said. The Burger King franchise is held by Pure Foods
through its unit PhilKing. San Miguel has asked that Burger King be
excluded from the acquisition deal, due to be signed today, because
of its supply agreements with other restaurant chains. "The plan is for
us to sell to interested parties," Manotok told AFX-ASIA when asked
about Ayala's next step for Burger King. "I believe we have sounded
out several parties. Our focus the past several weeks was on the
bigger sale of Pure Foods, with that sale done we can now
concentrate on the sale of Burger King." He declined to reveal Ayala's
asking price for the 39-store burger chain. Pure Foods officials
previously said the stores were put up at a cost of 20 M pesos
each. Delfin Lazaro, director of Pure Foods Corp, said the company
may conclude the sale of its stake in PhilKing by the end of the year.
He said Ayala Corp will first offer its stake in PhilKing to the US Burger
King parent chain. A similar offer will be made to Pure Foods' joint
venture partners in businesses which will not be acquired by San
Miguel. These include Myojo Foods Ltd and Mitsui Inc of Japan --
partners in the noodles business, and Sinarmas of Indonesia, he said.
Ayala Corp shares closed 0.10 lower at 7.60. Pure Foods was
untraded from the previous close of 95 pesos.
- posted by StockMarket @ 8:59 PM

AC ( 05/10/2001 : AFX )
San Miguel Corp is expected to sign an agreement with Ayala Corp for
the purchase of Pure Foods Corp for 8 B pesos inclusive of Pure
Foods' 1 B debt, BusinessWorld reported, quoting Pure Foods
director Delfin Lazaro. He said the agreement covers San Miguel's
purchase of a 93.26 pct stake of Ayala Corp in Pure Foods but
excludes Philking Restaurants Development Corp -- local franchisee of
the Burger King chain -- and Pillsbury Pure Foods Co Inc.
- posted by StockMarket @ 8:58 PM

Philippines News Archives Home

Philippine Jobs .ph

Summary of Job Openings

Career Articles & Resources Index

Investing in the Philippine Stock Market

Philippine Sites

Jobs in Canada