AC ( 05/17/2001 : BW )
Conglomerates San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and Ayala Corp. are forming a
transition team to plot the business strategy for Pure Foods Corp. SMC
recently bought the food company for 7 B Philippine pesos
(PhP50.136=$1). Ayala Corp. director Delfin L. Lazaro told
BusinessWorld key officers from both companies are being chosen to
sit in the 10-man transition team. He said SMC will be putting in six of
its top men while Ayala Corp. will be represented by four officials
appointed by vice-chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala. "The
transition team will be the one to make the decision for Purefoods.
They will also identify who will manage Purefoods, but at the moment,
they have not decided on it yet," he said. SMC and Ayala Corp. signed
the definitive agreement for the sale of 93.26% in Purefoods last
week. Mr. Lazaro said the sale will be finalized on May 22. Excluded
from the sale are several businesses valued at PhP1.1 B. These are
Philking Restaurants Development Corp., MPM Noodles Corp., PT Sinar
Pure Foods International, and its tuna operations. Purefoods is
expected to be folded into SMC's operations by the second half of the
year. SMC said it intends to use the company as a vehicle to
consolidate all food interests to form a PhP30-B sales force. A
well-placed source revealed that the SMC management is considering
Enrique A. Gomez, Jr. as Purefoods president to replace Renato R.
Montemayor. Mr. Gomez is also the concurrent president of SMC
wholly-owned subsidiary La Tondeña Distillers, Inc. (LTDI). The LTDI
official is also included in the short-list of officers SMC is interested to
install in the new management team for newly acquired bottler
Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI). Mr. Gomez has a long
history in the SMC Group, particularly in the packaging division. Prior to
his appointment as LTDI president in March last year, he served as
president of San Miguel Packaging Products Division for 27 years. Mr.
Gomez established the presence of San Miguel Packaging in Asia by
forming strategic alliances with big packaging firms in the Philippines
and abroad. Meanwhile, Ayala Corp. recently incorporated two
holdings companies which will temporarily handle all assets not
included in the Purefoods sale. Mr. Lazaro said the two firms will be
initially 100%-owned by Purefoods but will later be offered to
shareholders of the company.
AC ( 05/17/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp said it sought permission from the Securities and
Exchange Commission for a block sale of its stake in Pure Foods Corp
equivalent to 93.98 pct to San Miguel Corp. Ayala Corp and San Miguel
earlier signed a definitive agreement where San Miguel agreed to buy
Ayala's entire shares in Pure Foods at 124 pesos each or a total of 7
B. The sale will involve 34.707 M common A shares and 18.348 M
common B shares of Pure Foods. "Subject to the fulfillment by Ayala
and San Miguel of conditions precedent to closing, the crossing of
Pure Foods shares will take place on May 22, 2001," Ayala Corp
managing director Renato Marzan told the SEC. Marzan said San
Miguel has agreed to make a tender offer to minority investors of Pure
Foods to buy their shares also at 124 pesos each. Pure Foods A and
B shares were untraded. They last closed at 120 and 95 pesos,
respectively.
AC ( 05/17/2001 : BW )
With business booming over cyberspace, the Ayala Group is looking
at integrating by mid-year all its companies as buyers into
BayanTrade.com, Inc., the country's first multi-industry exchange.
Newly elected BayanTrade chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II,
who is also chief executive officer at Ayala Corp., said: "Initially we
are starting with the different procurement departments but will
eventually move on to empower end-users to buy through the
exchange... We expect gradually increasing volumes through the
exchange as our companies grow more proficient at using it. Just like
the other consortium members, we are already reaping the benefits in
terms of greater efficiency and direct savings to the bottom line." The
new chairman said BayanTrade has helped member companies
realize savings of over 70 M Philippine pesos (PhP50.136=$1). In
terms of volume, he said more than PhP700 M have gone through the
exchange in the first four months of the year. "This uptake is at par or
even better than most of the B2B (business-to-business) exchanges
in the region. We've successfully conducted over 60 e-bidding events
-- comparable to even the B2B exchanges in North America... And
we're continuing to build the e-logistics and e-payments components
of the exchange," said Mr. Zobel de Ayala. BayanTrade is a joint
venture among Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Ayala Corp., the Lopez
family's Benpres Holdings, the Gokongweis' JG Summit Holdings,
telecom giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., and United
Laboratories. The companies are among the largest in the country,
with interests in telecommunications, manufacturing, transportation,
and media. A B2B e-procurement company, BayanTrade provides
what is known in the Information Technology (IT) industry as the
electronic marketplace, an online, virtual trading place where buyers
and sellers meet. Mr. Zobel de Ayala is optimistic a profitable B2B
exchange is possible in a small economy such as the Philippines. "I
think it's possible, given that the costs of running a B2B exchange
here in the Philippines are also relatively low. One benefit of the
dot-com crash and subsequent tech slowdown is that the costs of
the software and hardware used in the exchange have gone down
as well. So the current burn rate of the company is actually lower
than what was originally forecast," he said.
AC ( 05/15/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp shares were lower in line with the market after
broad-based technical selling emerged late morning, dealers said.
They said investors largely ignored the company's first quarter
results. Ayala Corp reported first quarter net profit of 1.31 B pesos
from 1.37 B a year earlier. At 11:29 am, Ayala Corp was down 0.10
pesos or 1.30 pct at 7.60 on 964,000 shares traded. The composite
index was down 26.57 points at 1,458.26. "It's ripe for a technical
correction, nearing overbought levels at 7.80-8.20," said Benedict de
Borja, analyst at Magnum International Securities Inc. De Borja said the
market has already priced in the expected sluggishness in the
company's first quarter performance. Erwin Balita, analyst at
Securities 2000, said he expects Ayala Corp's bottomline to improve
later in the year, adding that he projects a net profit of about 4.0 B
pesos for the year against 3.15 B in 2000. Balita said the company's
growth would be driven by the strength of its telecommunications unit
Globe Telecom and the recovery of Bank of the Philippine Islands.
Globe's first quarter net profit rose to 1.07 B pesos from 335 M.
BPI's net profit climbed to 2.14 B pesos during the quarter from 1.07
B a year earlier. "Obviously the recovery of BPI and Globe's
performance is also quite spectacular, and also I see Ayala Land
posting a slight earnings recovery this year," he said. Balita said his
forecast does not include the one-time gains from the sale of Pure
Foods Corp.
AC ( 05/15/2001 : PSE )
Ayala Corporation reported an unaudited consolidated net income of
P1.31 B for the first quarter of 2001, almost at par with the previous
year's P1.37 B. Despite the current improvement in interest rates, the
spill over effect of higher interest rates particularly in the last quarter
of 2000 tempered the robust earnings contributed by Ayala's
investments in BPI and Globe. The operating performance does not
reflect as yet the revenues commensurate with the recent
investments but the potential upsides and realizable market values
from these investments have started to be felt in the results of the
conglomerate's key businesses. In banking, Bank of the Philippine
Islands recorded a 100% increase in consolidated net income to P2.14
B from the previous year's first quarter income of P1.07 B. The bank's
revenues rose by 20.7% to P5.99 B due to wider net interest margins
and higher foreign exchange gains. The bank's cost to income ratio
also improved to 48% due to operating efficiencies generated from the
merger last year with FEBTC and the bank's strong focus on
technology-based services. In telecommunications, Globe Telecom
recorded a 219% increase in net income to P1.07 B from the previous
year's first quarter net income of P335 M. The company continued to
exhibit strong record earnings on account of increasing subscriber
base which reached over 3 M by the end of the first quarter. The
wireless business accounted for a dominant 83% of total operating
revenues while the wireline and carrier services contributed 12% and
5%, respectively. The company's balance sheet has grown to P72.4
B, reflecting the massive expansion of physical infrastructure,
logistical and financial resources in support of business growth.
Ayala Land, Inc. posted revenues of P3.4 B and a consolidated net
income of P521 M for the period, 19% lower than the previous year.
During the first quarter, Ayala Land capitalized on stronger interest
from the end-consumer sector. Its newly-launched townhouse
project, Montgomery Place, was well received with a take up rate of
84%.
AC ( 05/15/2001 : PSE )
Additional sales were generated for One Roxas Triangle, bringing
cumulative take-up rate to 52%. Booked sales in the mass housing
sector nearly doubled from 146 to 284 units which resulted in an 86%
increase in revenues amounting to P222 M. With the dramatic decline
in U.S. and local interest rates, Ayala Corporation continues to view
the future with optimism and confidence. It remains committed to the
investments required by our existing business notwithstanding signs
of global slowdown and local political challenges that arise
occasionally. With more robust earnings from BPI and Globe and
signs of a more vibrant real estate sales plus savings from funding
costs expected thisyear, the performance for the remainder of the
year should be better than the previous year.
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